Chester Pitts will not play for the Seahawks on Sunday against the Rams. He may not play for the Seahawks on any Sunday after today’s release. The mishandling of the Pitts roster spot deserves a little mention considering how sparkling almost every other front office move has been.
I wrote a few weeks back that the team appeared to misjudge the severity of Pitts’ injury. He was an obvious choice for the PUP list that would have stowed him away for six games while opening a roster spot for someone else. Whose to say that a guy like Steve Vallos or any other substitute roster member would have panned out, but it was a strategic misstep to lose the chance to find out. Carroll is already on record as saying they might re-sign Pitts once he is healthy, which assumes someone else won’t beat them to it.
If Pitts was stashed away on the PUP list, he would be untouchable for another four weeks. Releasing him this early increases the chances he will catch on elsewhere. As happy as we all should be with the offensive line play thus far, we cannot afford to miss a chance to add an upgrade at the guard position. As things stand, all is not lost and so the front office gets a mild slap on the wrist. Should Pitts sign elsewhere and become a multi-year starter on another team, the punishment will quickly upgrade to an atomic wedgie.