Seahawks cut D-tackle Bryan Mone in big money-saving move

The day after the Seattle Seahawks released safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs as well as tight end Will Dissly in a series of cost-cutting moves, the Hawks cut veteran defensive tackle Bryan Mone to shed even more salary off the books.

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Mone joined the Seahawks as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2019 out of Michigan and would be a rotational piece on Seattle’s defensive line over the next few years.

Thank you, Bryan.

📰: https://t.co/NpYUPkbZrj pic.twitter.com/b4v0uJGZji

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) March 6, 2024

Mone wound up inking a two-year deal worth over $11 million after the 2021 season. Mone missed all of 2023 due to an ACL tear he suffered late in 2022.

By parting ways with the big 340-pound defensive tackle, the Seahawks will be opening up $5.39 million in salary cap space while taking on a $500,000 dead cap hit.

By cutting Adams, Diggs, Dissly and now Mone, the Hawks have cleared over $40 million in salary cap responsibilities over the last two days. But they have taken on quite a bit of dead cap space, largely by parting ways with Adams.

With Mone’s salary off the books, Seattle now has $41.6 million in available cap space, per OverTheCap. Some of that money is earmarked towards draft picks, practice squad players and other situations, but the Hawks now have far more financial flexibility ahead of free agency starting next week.

If the Seahawks are going to make any more moves to open up cap space, the player to watch is wide receiver Tyler Lockett, who has the largest cap number on the team in 2024.

Cutting Lockett without a post-June 1 designation or trading him before then would open up another $7 million in cap space, but Seattle would take on nearly $20 million in dead cap. With a post-June 1 designation or a trade after that point, the dead cap hit lessens to just under $10 million and Seattle would save $17 million against the cap.

Lockett is under contract through the end of 2025, so restructuring his deal is another way the franchise could free up money for this offseason, which is what the Seahawks did with quarterback Geno Smith earlier this offseason.

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