The Seahawks will say goodbye to the longest tenured member of the team.
Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times reports that cornerback Marcus Trufant met with the team on Wednesday and that his release will be announced later in the day. Trufant has been a starter since the team selected him out of Washington State with the 11th overall pick of the 2003 Draft and made the Pro Bowl after the 2007 season. Trufant only played four games for the team in 2011 because of a back injury and the emergence of Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman helped make him expendable.
Their emergence made Trufant’s $7.2 million salary for the 2012 season an extravagance for Seattle. While it is tempting to link Trufant’s departure with a desire to clear cap space for a quarterback who became available at a press conference in Indianapolis, this move likely would have happened regardless of Peyton Manning’s availability.
O’Neil reports that Trufant plans to continue playing and, as long as he’s healthy, he’ll likely find teams interested in his services. He’s definitely on the back end of his career, but he’s been a solid corner for a long time and those are always in demand around the NFL.