Two surprising cuts leave Seahawks dangerously 'light' at IDL

The Seahawks might regret two of their cuts from Tuesday.

Aug 15, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Brandon Pili (95) celebrates following a safety against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The Seattle Seahawks, like all NFL teams, made all their cuts yesterday before the 4 pm ET deadline to get rosters to 53. There were plenty of headscratchers across the NFL, like Hunter Renfrow and Kyle Trask. The Seahawks were not immune to making those decisions that boggle the mind a little bit, partly because there are only so many roster spots to go around.

As part of their flurry of moves, the Seahawks moved on from two interior defensive linemen, thereby depleting that position group despite good play from the players. It's something that a team insider considers their most surprising decision. It could come back to haunt them in the regular season, especially if both players go to other NFL teams.

Two Seahawks IDL cuts marked as major surprises

The Seattle Seahawks moved on from Brandon Pili and Quinton Bohanna yesterday. Those two were among the candidates to make the final 53, but their dreams came to an end on Tuesday. It was a bit of a shock to Michael-Shawn Dugar, one of the team insiders for The Athletic.

"Seattle has a strong interior defensive line led by Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed and 2024 first-round pick Byron Murphy II," he began. Depth was a concern coming into camp, though, especially with Johnathan Hankins missing all of training camp with a back injury (he’s on the reserve/NFI list now)."

It seemed like both Pili and Bohanna would make it. They were on the field a lot during training camp and the preseason, thanks to a lot of veteran rest days for both Williams and Reed. "Both played well but didn’t make the cut. They may return via the practice squad but, for now, Seattle is light on interior linemen," Dugar concluded.

The Seahawks now find themselves a little bit top heavy at IDL, as Leonard Williams is as good as they come, but there's not much behind those top players. Pili and Bohanna are candidates for the practice squad, meaning they could come back in the probable event of an injury, but it's still a surprise that Seahawks GM John Schneider didn't keep them originally.

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