Seahawks’ Ben Obomanu tweets he’s been released
Mar 15, 2013, 3:40 PM | Updated: 6:10 pm
By Brady Henderson
Ben Obomanu might have had a hard time sticking with the Seahawks even before the team traded for fellow wide receiver Percy Harvin.
Ben Obomanu |
With Harvin’s addition and the money Seattle gave him (as well as pass rushers Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett), the writing was on the wall.
The Seahawks have not announced a transaction, but Curtis Crabtree of ProFootballTalk.com confirmed with Obomanu that he has been released.
Obomanu tweeted his goodbyes Friday afternoon.
“Seattle it’s been grt! 7th rd pick & 7 good years for #87! Now for an opportunity to play and continue to live my dream. Thanks 12thMan,” he wrote on his verified Twitter account.
Obomanu, 29, was a seventh-round pick out of Auburn in 2006. His toughness and versatility helped him stick with the team for seven seasons, even as the current regime remade the roster primarily with its own draft picks. He was one of the remaining holdovers from previous general manager Tim Ruskell’s tenure.
Obomanu was entering the final year of a three-year extension he signed toward the end of a breakout season in 2010. His contract was scheduled to count $2,466,667 against the Seahawks’ salary cap in 2013, an amount they apparently deemed excessive for what would have been their fifth receiver, at best.
Obomanu was placed on injured reserve in October due to a chipped bone in his left wrist. He thought he could have played with a cast while the injury healed. But the Seahawks were thin at receiver at the time and felt the cast would have affected Obomanu’s ability to catch passes.
Obomanu finishes his Seahawks career with 87 catches for 1,209 yards and seven touchdowns.