Seahawks waive Troymaine Pope and Speedy Noil, sign two safeties
May 31, 2017, 2:18 PM | Updated: Jun 1, 2017, 7:56 am
Troymaine Pope was a preseason standout as an undrafted rookie last summer. (AP)
(AP)
The Seahawks did a bit of roster shuffling on Wednesday, waiving running back Troymaine Pope and wide receiver Speedy Noil to make room for safeties Jordan Simone and Marcus Cromartie. Seattle’s 90-man offseason roster remains full.
Simone is an undrafted rookie from Arizona State who took part in the Seahawks’ rookie minicamp as a tryout player. He attended Skyline High School – where he was teammates with two current Seahawks, wide receiver Kasen Williams and quarterback Jake Heaps – and began his college career at Washington State before transferring to Arizona State.
The Seahawks list him as a strong safety and at 5 feet 11, 191 pounds. He joins starter Kam Chancellor and rookie third-round pick Delano Hill as the only strong safeties listed on Seattle’s roster.
Cromartie has spent time with four NFL teams since entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin in 2013. He’s made one start – with San Francisco in 2015 – and appeared in 21 games. The Seahawks list him as a free safety and at 6 feet, 195 pounds.
This move typifies the bottom-of-the-roster tweaking that’s common in the NFL this time of the year. Pope, though, had become a fan favorite after standing out during the preseason last year as an undrafted rookie. He didn’t make the team out of training camp, landed with the Jets and returned to the Seahawks later in the season when injuries hit them hard at running back. Pope then hurt his ankle and finished the season on Injured Reserve.
The Seahawks’ decision to waive him may have simply been about numbers. They had eight other tailbacks on their roster, including three who are expected to be significant contributors in 2017 (Eddie Lacy, C.J. Prosise and Thomas Rawls), a recent pickup (Mike Davis) and a seventh-round draft pick who’s something of a favorite of coach Pete Carroll (Chris Carson).
Noil, meanwhile, is an undrafted rookie out of Texas A&M. He was signed by the Seahawks earlier this month after taking part in their rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.
The Seahawks now have 12 wide receivers on their roster. Here’s a look from earlier this month on how the competition at that spot is shaping up.
