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NFL

Seahawks to release Shead, keep word to CB
6:37 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

SEATTLE — The Seahawks plan to release DeShawn Shead in a procedural move but hope to re-sign the versatile defensive back and former starter.

The move, which is expected to happen on Monday, has nothing to do with the purge of veteran Seahawks defenders that has already claimed Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett and Jeremy Lane. Instead, the Seahawks are honoring the promise they made to Shead that he would become an unrestricted free agent.

Shead’s free-agent status had been in question after he spent all but two games of this past season on the physically unable to perform list while working his way back from a torn ACL. Per the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, that would technically require Shead’s contract to toll, or to roll over to 2018 on the same terms.

The tolling rule applies to players who, in the final season of their contract, remain on PUP as of their team’s sixth regular-season game. As in Shead’s case, that includes players on one-year deals. A restricted free agent last offseason, Shead signed a one-year deal worth $1.2 million. So if his contract were to toll, he’d be signed for 2018 at the same amount.

Shead’s agent, Cameron Foster, told ESPN that the NFL recently informed the Seahawks that Shead’s contract was going to toll. But general manager John Schneider had already ensured Shead that he would be an unrestricted free agent.

“John Schneider called me saying they were going to release DeShawn on Monday because per the league rule, it’s the NFL’s position that DeShawn’s contract is to toll,” Foster said. “But it’s our position, the NFL Players’ Association’s position and the Seattle Seahawks’ position that it does not toll. John had already informed DeShawn that his contract was expiring after this year, and the Seattle Seahawks are just living up to their word.

“They called me and they said, ‘just giving you a heads up that we’re going to release DeShawn on Monday, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want him. That means we are living up to our word and we’re going to release him, otherwise his contract would be required to toll.’ So kudos to the Seahawks for doing the right thing. It’s them living up to their word, letting DeShawn test the free-agent world, but they have said they’d like to have him come back.”

Once released, Shead would be eligible to sign anywhere without having to wait until the start of free agency on March 14. He already has a visit lined up with the Detroit Lions, according to Foster.

Shead, who turns 29 in June, started for a season and a half opposite Sherman at right cornerback before he tore his ACL in a playoff game in January of 2017. He has experience at all five positions in Seattle’s secondary since the team signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2012. That includes one start at strong safety in 2015 while Kam Chancellor was holding out.

With Chancellor’s football future in jeopardy because of a career-threatening neck injury, the Seahawks have approached Shead about possibly playing strong safety next season.

“He’s such a versatile player, he’s played both for us,” coach Pete Carroll said last week at the scouting combine. “We’ll see what happens. We know he can play corner and we like the way he plays at corner, but everything is open. I have not talked directly to him about that, but we have mentioned it to him.”

Cornerback has suddenly become a position of need for Seattle following Sherman’s release and that of Lane, which had been expected for some time. Byron Maxwell, who was brought back following Sherman’s season-ending Achilles injury, is also a free agent. Of the four cornerbacks the Seahawks have under contract for 2018, only one — 2017 rookie Shaquill Griffin — has started for Seattle.

Soccer

How Tottenham's Champions League campaign ended in less than 3 minutes

If Tottenham’s game plan was to simply prevent Juventus from getting a shot on target, then manager Mauricio Pochettino was likely ecstatic with how the first hour of Wednesday’s Champions League knockout match unfolded.

What followed in the second half, however, will keep the Argentine up for days and weeks to come.

Similar to its north London neighbour, Tottenham’s Champions League journey ended in the round of 16 – a phase in which Arsenal’s European dreams expired for seven consecutive years before the club failed to qualify this season – after quick-fire goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala propelled Juventus into the next round.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

But, unlike those Arsenal teams – whose hopes of advancing were often erased following first-leg encounters against powerhouses like Bayern Munich and Barcelona – this year’s quarter-finals were in Tottenham’s sights after a promising first leg in which the English side scored two valuable away goals during a 2-2 draw.

That result inspired talk that Spurs were coming of age, as did the first half of the second leg at Wembley Stadium when Tottenham dominated Juventus, a side that’s competed in the Champions League final in two of the last three years.

Tottenham’s excellent first-half performance was rewarded just before halftime when Heung-min Son’s scuffed shot floated into the back of Juve’s net.

And it wasn’t just that go-ahead goal that made it seem as if the Italian club was on its way out of the tournament, as Spurs had outclassed the visitors on multiple levels in the opening half:

However, Tottemham’s early success was followed by a disastrous three-minute spell in the second frame that won’t soon be forgotten by players, coaches, and supporters.

Juventus eventually broke free of Tottenham’s grip on the match after manager Massimiliano Allegri abandoned his back-three formation in favour of a traditional back-four scheme.

Needing two goals to advance, there was initially some confusion regarding Allegri’s decision to adapt to Tottenham’s relentless attack by removing Blaise Matuidi – arguably one of Juve’s best midfielders – for left-back Kwadwo Asamoah in the 60th minute, before replacing Medhi Benatia with another defender, Stephan Lichtsteiner, a minute later.

But while observers were scratching their heads in bewilderment, the gamble paid dividends almost immediately.

The new-look visitors stormed back into the encounter as Higuain scored from close range while Tottenham was caught ball-watching. Juventus then turned the tie on its head as Dybala capped off an unchallenged 20-yard run with an impeccable finish that goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could only watch helplessly. In less than three minutes, Spurs had found themselves on the ropes.

And while Allegri’s tactical change had shifted momentum, it was also perfectly suited to defend as Tottenham desperately attempted to even the match.

Still, the mission was far from complete in the 23 minutes plus stoppage time that followed Dybala’s superb strike. Pochettino introduced a pair of attack-minded players, Erik Lamela and Fernando Llorente, in an attempt to force extra time.

In fact, the hosts were inches from grabbing that valuable equaliser, but a pair of veteran Juventus defenders saved the day. When the dust finally settled, a vital interception from Giorgio Chiellini and a goal-line clearance from Andrea Barzagli had ensured the visiting supporters were singing songs of joy at England’s national stadium, dashing Tottenham’s European dreams in the process.