Our updated 34-category roster is available for those whose weekends wouldn't be the same otherwise. We see 90 players on the roster, counting unsigned draft choices and NFL Europe exemptions. Average age is 25.7 years (28.5 for starters). We see 43 on offense, 41 on defense and six specialists. We see 33 drafted by the Hawks, 19 drafted by other teams and 38 who were not drafted. We see 25 first-day picks and 27 second-day picks. We see 71 acquired during the Tim Ruskell era, with 16 holdovers from Mike Holmgren's first six seasons with the team. We see it's 7 p.m. on Friday, which means we're outta here for the night unless something breaks.

Better make that $1.06 million. That's how much the Seahawks saved in 2007 salary-cap room by releasing veteran cornerback Kelly Herndon today. Herndon's contract had been scheduled to count $3.22 million against the cap. That number falls to $2.16 million with his release. Seattle could have pushed $1.44 million of that $2.16 million figure into 2008, but the team apparently decided there would be little advantage going that route.

Seattle is in good position to take the full hit this season because the team has no first-round choice to sign, and kicker Josh Brown is the only prominent player needing a long-term deal in the short term. Pushing the money into 2008 might have made more sense if the Seahawks needed extra cap room to sign players.

The bottom line is that Herndon has been injured, he is 30 years old and the team is going with younger corners. Herndon would have been competing to be the fourth cornerback. He was a starter for most of last season. Herndon passed a physical examination today, clearing the way for his release after two seasons with the team.

The Seahawks have released CB Kelly Herndon and T Steve Morley. Herndon had been on notice since the team drafted Josh Wilson from Maryland in the second round. We analyzed this, and other issues, in our recent look at the Hawks' defensive backs. Like Morley, Herndon had been rehabbing from injury.

Herndon had been scheduled to earn $2.5 million in base salary this year. He does not get that money. His 2007 cap number will depend upon whether this is designated as a post-June 1 cut. Players generally have to be on the roster June 1, then released after that date, to qualify as a post-June 1 release.

If this is a pre-June 1 release, Herndon's contract counts $2.16 million against the cap in 2007, down from $3.22 million. If this is a post-June 1 release, the contract counts $720,00 against the 2007 cap and $1.44 million against the 2008 cap. I'll seek clarification on this. The league's internal waiver wire did not show this as a post-June 1 release, according to someone I spoke with who had seen it (teams are allowed two such designations for players released before June 2, and Seattle used one on Grant Wistrom). UPDATE HERE.

The Seahawks finished seventh last season in the Dallas Morning News' authoritative special-teams rankings. Seattle had finished 30th during its Super Bowl season. The 23-spot jump was the largest in the league last season, but not enough for the Seahawks to stick with Bob Casullo as special-teams coach. The decision seemed to have as much to do with style as substance, Casullo breathing more fire than the typical Mike Holmgren assistant. Whatever the reasoning, Seattle emerged with an accomplished special-teams coach in Bruce DeHaven, best known for the years he spent in Buffalo (1987-1999).

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