Cutdown Takeaways: Montorie Foster Jr. Among Seahawks to Earn Spot on Initial 53-Man Roster

RENTON, Wash. - Fielding questions at the podium mere minutes after the Seattle Seahawks announced their final roster cuts on Sunday, general manager John Schneider caught himself mid-answer and hesitated for a split second.

In the midst of discussing second-year receiver Montorie Foster Jr.’s surprising ascendance to earn a place on the final 53-man roster, Schneider decided to choose his words more carefully, not wanting to live in absolutes thinking back to the many players who have come and gone through Seattle’s facility since his arrival in 2010. But after a moment to gather his thoughts, he wielded the type of praise worthy of the former Michigan State standout’s unexpected rise this summer during training camp and the preseason, comparing his performance to the reigning Offensive Player of the Year.

“I've never seen a player - I don't know how I say that. It's hard to remember a player at the receiver position that's improved as quickly as he has,” Schneider gushed. “I told Jax [Smith-Njigba], I felt like he like just took his film and just completely studied it or just followed him around for all spring or something.”

This time a year ago, Foster found himself back in Ohio without a team after the Seahawks released him with an injury designation early in his first training camp, preparing to begin substitute teaching at a nearby high school and not anywhere close to being in the same breath as Smith-Njigba or any other receiver for that matter. While he continued to train in preparation for his next opportunity, he also applied for a real estate license, doing his due diligence readying for life after football even as he remained confident he would get another shot between the lines.

Sure enough, the Seahawks came calling in late December, offering Foster a spot on the practice squad. He quickly hopped on a flight to Seattle, spending the last two weeks of the regular season and the entirety of the team’s historic playoff run on what coach Mike Macdonald calls the “ready” squad, earning a Super Bowl ring and a future/reserve deal days later.

Benefiting immensely from close to seven weeks practicing with the eventual Super Bowl champs, Foster entered his second offseason light years ahead of his rookie campaign. As the spring turned into summer and camp opened, the Cleveland native kept making plays and stacking strong practice after strong practice, drawing unprompted praise from the likes of receiver Rashid Shaheed among others.

By the time the first preseason game wrapped up, though Foster wasn’t perfect with a dropped pass and an offensive offsides penalty, he caught Seattle’s only touchdown in a 17-7 loss to Dallas and led the team in receiving yards. No longer just a feel good story, a strong outing in a loss to Tennessee one week later with several catches, a key run block to spring Jacardia Wright for a 69-yard touchdown, and two special teams tackles may have been the clincher to land a spot on the 53-man roster.

Less than two weeks later, Foster could be seen sporting his No. 87 uniform alongside Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Shaheed, and Cooper Kupp for a mid-afternoon practice on Sunday, having done everything necessary to beat out other competitors at an incredibly competitive position such as Emmanuel Henderson Jr. and Ricky White III.

“His special teams stuff's been really nice too, so he's done a great job,” Schneider said, crediting the coaching staff for their excellent work helping him develop in such a short time. “Really proud of him.”

With the initial 53-man roster officially unveiled, what else stood out from Schneider’s post-cutdown press conference? Here are four other takeaways from the VMAC:

1. A multitude of veterans had contracts terminated, but Seattle hopes most - if not all - will return on the practice squad.

When it comes to working the 90-to-53 cutdown process, Schneider and the front office always are looking for ways to protect as many of their younger players as possible. The NFL changing some of the rules during the last CBA has helped with those efforts to an extent, as teams can now have up to six veterans with four or more accrued seasons on their practice squad, allowing the opportunity to stash vets who aren’t subject to the waiver wire.

This year, the Seahawks announced eight such vested veterans with terminated contracts, with the hopes many of them will either return on the 53-man roster in the near future swapping out with another player or re-signing on the practice squad.

“Having the six veterans on the practice squad has enabled us to not expose certain players to the waiver wire. And yeah, it's a strategy for the initial 53 cut,” Schneider explained. “And then as well as what we're going to look like in the middle of October and then trying to be as strong as we possibly can and as deep as we possibly can with a combination of older and younger players down the stretch, end of November, December, January, hopefully February.”

Among those to be cut on Sunday, veteran cornerback Trevon Diggs had his contract terminated less than three weeks after joining the team and only a few days after recording an interception in his Seattle debut on Friday night in Kansas City. But Schneider indicated the Seahawks have a plan in place for the former All-Pro, who they intend to bring back once he’s able to re-sign on the practice squad as early as Monday.

“He came in a little bit late and he's kind of just getting going,” Schneider said of Diggs. “He's just kind of just getting ramped up, as you saw the other night, just getting his legs under him. But he feels he's confident and we're excited to get him going and see how far he can take this thing. He's really bought into like the culture and the guys and the staff and Karl [Scott] and Neiko [Thorpe] and those guys. So it's been pretty cool to see.”

In addition, Seattle only kept three safeties on the initial roster with veterans D’Anthony Bell and Rodney Thomas II also being cut. Both both of those players are expected to return in coming days on the practice squad and potentially return to the active roster before the season opener.

2. Tory Horton, Julian Neal avoid injured reserve, while Nick Emmanwori’s status for Week 1 bears watching.

Aside from cutting players, which makes up the majority of moves made across the NFL leading up to the roster deadline, NFL teams also have the ability to maintain rights of injured players through a few mechanisms. Those who have been on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list during training camp can remain on the list into the regular season, requiring them to miss at least four games before they can be activated. Teams also have the ability to immediately place up to two players on injured reserve during initial cuts with designations to return, also requiring them to miss four games minimum.

The Seahawks had several potential candidates to place on injured reserve with a return designation, including second-year receiver Tory Horton, who has missed the past couple of weeks with an undisclosed injury. Rookie cornerback Julian Neal, a third round pick out of Arkansas, also has been sidelined for most of training camp and the entire preseason with a quad injury, which put his status for Week 1 in question.

But when asked if the Seahawks considered putting Horton or Neal on injured reserve, Schneider immediately shot the possibility down, indicating that both players appear to be in good shape to be able to play early in the season. Meanwhile, running back Zach Charbonnet, who continues to rehab from a torn ACL, always was intended to stay on the PUP list for at least four games to start the season even as his recovery timeline appears to be well ahead of schedule.

“Tory wasn't going on IR and Charbs was always going to go on PUP,” Schneider said, later adding that Neal had a “slight setback” and now looks to finally be close to fully recovered.

Working back from his own ankle surgery, Nick Emmanwori could be seen on the practice field warming up on Sunday with a jersey and cleats on, taking the next step as he tries to quickly ramp up for the start of the regular season. A few days after Macdonald declined to comment on whether or not the star defender could be ready in time for the season opener, Schneider kept the door open a bit wider, albeit without committing to anything on that front.

“We'll see how that goes,” Schneider said. “See what kind of progress he continues to make.”

As for players opening the season on injured reserve, Seattle did use one of its two possible designations on veteran receiver Irv Charles, who didn’t play in the preseason and has been dealing with an ankle injury for much of the summer. Citing his massive size/speed combination and dominant talents as a gunner on punt coverage, Schneider indicated he would definitely be “worth waiting for” to add to the roster as an elite special teams player down the line.

3. Unsure when he may be able to play, the addition of Terrion Arnold continues to be a “long-term play” for Seahawks.

Finally signed more than two weeks after initial reports broke that the Seahawks would bring Arnold on board, the embattled third-year cornerback will be allowed to come into the building to participate in meetings and train. But with legal proceedings still playing out in Florida due to an incident from February that led to eight felony charges against the former first round pick, the NFL announced that he would be placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, meaning he cannot practice or play in games indefinitely.

Schneider confirmed that Seattle doesn’t know when Arnold may be available to play, as his standing is fully dependent on when Roger Goodell decides to remove him from the exemption list, which likely won’t happen until there has been closure on his legal situation. With his next court date not scheduled until October 5, or after the Seahawks host the Chargers in Week 4, it could be months until a resolution is reached, something the organization knew as a strong possibility before deciding to sign him.

Reiterating comments from Macdonald earlier this month, Schneider indicated that the Seahawks were pleased with what they heard from people connected to the team and in the building, including former star kick returner Leon Washington, who basically became a father figure for Arnold. Those positive recommendations made it easier for the front office to move forward with sights on the future more so than the present.

“There's a ton of different factors that went into it. Obviously the legal stuff has to take care of itself and we totally respect that,” Schneider said. “There’s tons of different buckets to this situation and just the advocates that he had - we had traded for Leon Washington the first year we were here and he's basically like his father. Leon will always be a legend here and has a great relationship with the organization and the character, it just didn't really fit with the allegations and everybody we've talked to. But yes, this is a long-term play. This isn't like, let's see how quickly we can get this done.Let's get him in the building and see how it goes.”

It will be a while until Arnold gets to see the field, if he does at all given the nature of his legal matters, but in the meantime, Seattle did give him a number, as the ex-Alabama star will don No. 34 whenever he does get to return to action.

4. “Phenomenal” preseason coupled with scheme fit led to trading a 2027 pick for undrafted rookie Avery Smith.

Making trades on cutdown day isn’t a new phenomenon for Schneider, who has acquired the likes of tight end Jacob Hollister, cornerback Justin Coleman, and a host of others along the way to building the initial 53-man roster over the years. And even after signing Diggs and Arnold, cornerback continues to be a position of priority to add depth, evidenced by the choice to deal with the Chargers to land Smith.

While some may question why the Seahawks would give up a 2027 sixth round pick in what many pundits view as an outstanding draft class next year for an undrafted rookie corner, Schneider glowed when talking about the former Toledo standout, citing his “phenomenal” preseason performance along with experience in a similar scheme to the one Macdonald runs under defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary. He finished with a pass breakup in coverage along with four pressures on 10 pass rush attempts from the slot in three exhibition games, showcasing a balanced all-around skill set and the versatility to play on the boundary as well as the slot, which made him an appealing target.

“Coming out, we liked him as a smart, tough, reliable guy, very instinctive. They couldn't speak more highly of him,” Schneider said of Smith. “And they had a really nice defensive backfield. They did a really nice job in the offseason and they felt like this was an opportunity. I'm glad they were willing to do it. So yeah, we'll be adding him and get him in the mix. Another young guy that could play some nickel and outside, and then we'll see what he can do on teams.”

The decision to acquire Smith came at the expense of keeping either one of the cornerbacks drafted by Seattle in the seventh round back in April, as both Aaron Fuller and Michael Dansby were waived on Sunday. The Seahawks hope to have both players back on the practice squad if they clear waivers, however, and Fuller’s past connections playing with Smith in college could end up being a major benefit for each player moving forward in their respective developments.

Either way, Schneider feels quite good about Seattle’s situation at cornerback after a flurry of moves in recent weeks, especially with Diggs previously playing for defensive backs coach Karl Scott at Alabama and Smith joining the team after playing in the same defensive system since the spring in Los Angeles.

“You can never have enough guys all the way through [at cornerback]. And we've been in spots before where we've been stuck, where we're signing a guy to the practice squad, two weeks here [and] elevating [to the active roster]. We want to be able to have guys that are in the system for a long time that the coaches feel comfortable about playing in games.”