Seahawks cut veteran DEs Carlos Dunlap and Kerry Hyder Jr.

Carlos Dunlap rejuvenated the Seahawks’ pass rush in 2020 and finished with a team-leading 8.5 sacks in 2021, but he’s  hitting the open market.

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A year after releasing Dunlap and ultimately bringing him back on a two-year deal worth up to $13.6 million, the Seahawks are releasing the veteran edge rusher again. The team announced he and fellow veteran defensive end Kerry Hyder Jr. have been released.

Dunlap, 33, is entering his 13th NFL season in 2022 and had 96 career sacks to his name. Dunlap played a bit out of position as the Seahawks tried new things with their defensive line in 2021, and that resulted in the veteran playing a career-low 38% of his team’s defensive snaps despite playing in every game. Dunlap did finish with a team-leading 8.5 sacks, but eight of those sacks came over the final six games of the season.

The Seahawks acquired Dunlap, who was unhappy in Cincinnati, at the 2020 NFL Trade Deadline for backup offensive lineman B.J. Finney and a seventh-round pick. The deal immediately paid dividends for Seattle as Dunlap had five sacks in eight games and helped a struggling Seahawks pass rush finish seventh in the NFL in sacks in 2020.

According to Jeff Lowe of The Athletic, the Seahawks are releasing Dunlap with a post-June 1 designation. That means that the move will save Seattle $5.1 million for 2022 and $2.8 million in 2023, but they will have dead cap hits of $1.4 million each season through 2024, per OverTheCap. Seattle also won’t see that salary relief for 2022 until June 1, so the team can’t use that savings towards current deals, though the Seahawks are still well under the cap.

Hyder, who signed with Seattle on a two-year deal last offseason, had just 1.5 sacks in his lone year with the Seahawks.

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