Making room on their 90-man roster ahead of rookie mini-camp Friday, the Seahawks Wednesday released five players, including C Drew Nowak, who started the 2015 regular seasonal but lost the job to Patrick Lewis, then was re-signed to the practice squad.
Others released included RB Cameron Marshall, TE Ronnie Shields, DE Josh Shirley and WR Tyler Slavin.
A converted defensive tackle, Nowak started seven games but couldn’t master the switch. Lewis took over and helped the offense become one of the NFL’s most productive in the season’s second half.
Shirley is a former Washington Huskies linebacker who had 8.5 sacks in 2011, but improved little thereafter.
He transferred to Nevada-Las Vegas, and has been on the practice squads in Tampa and Oakland (twice) before signing a futures contract with the Seahawks Jan. 20.
Mitchell was signed out of the Canadian Football League, but the Seahawks drafted three running backs.