Wrotto, Vallos latest cuts

The roster cut to 53 players on Saturday, as it turns out, was only the warm-up act for Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider.

Sunday, they really got busy.

The club announced that offensive linemen Mansfield Wrotto and Steve Vallos had been released, along with safety Kevin Ellison. Replacing them on the 53-man roster are veteran offensive lineman , who was acquired in a weekend trade with the Philadelphia Eagles; and two players awarded to the Seahawks as waiver claims – guard and defensive back .

The players return to Virginia Mason Athletic Center for an afternoon practice to begin preparing for Sunday’s regular-season opener against the San Francisco 49ers at Qwest Field.

Wrotto and Vallos had started a combined 13 games the past two seasons, and Wrotto was the starter in the last two preseason games at left tackle because first-round draft choice is sidelined with a sprained ankle. Ellison, who played for Carroll at the University of Southern California, had been added during the offseason.

When a weekend filled with trades, releases and additions has settled, the Seahawks will be left with eight players from the team that went to the Super Bowl in 2005, and only six are on the 53-man roster: quarterback , offensive linemen and , middle linebacker , cornerback and defensive lineman . Linebacker has been suspended by the league for the season opener, while tackle was placed on injured reserve Saturday.

Even more telling with regard to how much the roster has been turned over since Carroll and Schneider arrived is that fact that only 19 players will remain from the last team coached by Mike Holmgren in 2008: tight end , defensive end , running back , linebackers and , kicker , punter , defensive tackle and wide receiver and Ben Obomanu, as well as the previously mentioned players.

Andrews (6-7, 342) was a fourth-round draft choice by Cincinnati in 2004 and the Bengals named him their franchise player in 2008. But after having knee surgery late that season, the Bengals opted not to re-sign him and Andrews joined the Eagles. He became expendable on Friday, when the Eagles made a trade with the Arizona Cardinals to acquire offensive lineman Reggie Wells.

Andrews arrives at an opportune time, because Okung remains iffy for the opener against the 49ers. Compounding the situation is that just returned to practice last week, one of the final steps in his recovery from having microfracture knee surgery last season while playing for the Houston Texans; Willis is out for the remainder of the season after being placed on IR; and Wrotto is now gone.

Wrotto, a fourth-round draft choice in 2007, started four games at guard in 2008 and one last season. Vallos, a seventh-round pick in the same draft that delivered Wrotto, had started at center (two games last season and five in 2008) and guard (one game last season).

Dietrich-Smith (6-2, 305) played at Idaho State and signed with the Packers after the 2009 draft. He played in 13 games last season, but was waived when Green Bay trimmed its roster to 53 players.

Ness (6-1, 190) spent time last season on the practice squads of the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, after playing in three games for the Dolphins. He also was waived when Miami made its cuts to reach the 53-man roster limit.