Cornerback Marcus Trufant will miss the first six games for the Seattle Seahawks. And veteran safety Brian Russell is gone, about to be replaced by 35-year-old Lawyer Milloy.
Latest cuts
Keep up to date with NFL cuts as teams reduce their rosters to 53 players. Veteran RB Dominic Rhodes, cut by the Bills, is one of the high-profile casualties. **More ...**
Those were the biggest moves the team announced Saturday while trimming its roster to 53 players for the regular season.
"It's official ....I'm a Seahawk!" Milloy posted on his Twitter page. "Let's go!!!!"
Milloy signed a one-year deal, sources with knowledge of the situation told NFL.com's Steve Wyche.
Milloy started for the Atlanta Falcons the last three seasons, but he wasn't re-signed. He worked out for the Detroit Lions this week. The 13-year veteran grew up in Tacoma, Wash., and played college ball at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Trufant, a Pro Bowler in 2007, hasn't practiced since before training camp because of a disc issue in his back. He begins the season on the physically unable to perform list. He isn't eligible to play until at least Nov. 1 at Dallas, after Seattle's bye.
Seattle also decided its kicker again will be veteran Olindo Mare when it waived 2008 draft pick Brandon Coutu.
Mare, 36, made 89 percent of his field-goal attempts and boomed kickoffs deep for valued touchbacks last season, yet the Seahawks kept Coutu on the roster all last season as a rare backup kicker. Coutu had worked in Atlanta this summer on kickoffs and mental preparation with Morten Anderson, the league's all-time scoring leader who retired from the Falcons last spring. Yet Coutu's kickoffs still were shorter than Mare's in the preseason.
"He's just going to be a Cracker Jack kicker in this league, in my opinion," Seahawks special teams coach Bruce DeHaven said of Coutu during training camp. "I think Brandon is more than ready to kick in the league. He has the disadvantage right now of going against a guy that is really good, too."
At the start of training camp, Seahawks president Tim Ruskell said Russell was fighting for his job at free safety. Saturday, he lost.
Russell, 31, joined Seattle as a free agent from the Cleveland Browns before the 2007 season. He and fellow newcomer Deon Grant fixed a problem of allowing big plays that year, but they were repeatedly beaten last season when Seattle had the NFL's worst-rated pass defense.
The Seahawks also released wide receiver Courtney Taylor, who started four games last season when the position was decimated by injuries. That means Ben Obomanu has won the final wide receiver spot.
Safety Courtney Greene was the only 2009 draft pick to be released.
Seattle terminated the contract of veteran backup linebacker D.D. Lewis, who became expendable when Leroy Hill re-signed and the team drafted Aaron Curry fourth overall in April.
The release of Baraka Atkins, a fourth-round pick in 2007, means undrafted free agents Derek Walker of Illinois and Michael Bennett of Texas A&M are backups on the defensive line. Summer star Nick Reed, a rookie seventh-round pick out of Oregon, is another backup defensive end.
The Seahawks kept six defensive ends, one more than usual. That includes the veteran starters: 32-year-old Patrick Kerney and 28-year-old Cory Redding.
Also released: safety Jamar Adams, guard Brian De La Puente, cornerback Marquis Floyd, offensive tackle Na'Shan Goddard, wide receiver Mike Hass, cornerback Kevin Hobbs, fullback David Kirtman, rookie running back Devin Moore, cornerback Nate Ness, tight end Joe Newton, wide receiver Logan Payne, linebacker Dave Philistin, offensive tackle Andre Ramsey, tackle William Robinson and quarterback Jeff Rowe.
The Seahawks reached an injury settlement with wide receiver Jordan Kent, then waived him. Kent, a former multi-sport star at Oregon and the son of Ducks basketball coach Ernie Kent, was injured in the second half of Thursday night's preseason finale.
Guard Cory Withrow, a native of Spokane and a former Washington State player signed to a free-agent contract this summer, also received an injury settlement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
