The Seattle Seahawks waived and released approximately two dozen players during Tuesday’s roster cut-down process. One of the minor surprises included rookie cornerback DJ James, who was waived and passed through the waiver wire process. A bigger surprise arrived when the Seahawks declined opportunities to add James to their practice squad, seemingly admitting defeat on a player they drafted four months ago.
General manager John Schneider drafted James with the No. 193 overall selection in April’s 2024 NFL Draft. It wasn’t necessarily surprising that James didn’t make the roster. He joined a deep cornerback room that features Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Tre Brown, and his former Auburn teammate Nehemiah Pritchett, who was drafted one round earlier.
The real shocking development was that James wasn’t re-added to the practice squad. The Seahawks announced a 15-player practice squad, leaving one spot open (16 maximum) for another addition. Veteran corner Artie Burns is the only cornerback on the practice squad. Other defensive backs include safeties Marquise Blair and Ty Okada.
Perhaps that final practice squad addition will be another cornerback, but early indications are it won’t be James. That seemingly indicates the Seahawks didn’t see enough developmental potential to continue investing in James. It sounds harsh, but it means they did not assess his abilities to be NFL-caliber throughout training camp.
James definitely struggled throughout the preseason. Pro Football Focus tagged the former Auburn product with eight receptions on nine targets for 84 yards and two touchdowns. His coverage grade was a generous 60.8 considering opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 145.1 when targeting him.
Sixth-round selections flame out of the league all the time. What makes this particular case unique is how quickly the Seahawks are calling quits on James, a prospect they drafted ahead of 65 selected players in the 2024 draft. That indicates the scouting staff failed when it came to assessing James’ abilities.
