Seattle Seahawks Cut Defensive End Chris Clemons

The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks have a lot of tough decisions to make this offseason. With a number of key players needing to be re-signed and/or have their contracts extended, there will be several cap casualties.

They've already cut defensive end Red Bryant, who signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. They've now cut backup DE Chris Clemons, according to Albert Breer of the NFL Network.

Clemons will be 33 in October, so he'll likely get a deal worth around the veteran minimum. He started 11 games and notched 4.5 sacks in 2013 after missing the first two while still rehabbing an ACL surgery.

The move had been anticipated since Clemons is due to make $9.6 million in 2014. By cutting him, the Hawks save $7.5 million. Seattle is also hosting Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Jason Hatcher for a visit, and Minnesota Vikings DE Jared Allen could also be someone they target.

Depending on how the market for Allen and Clemons shapes up, the Cincinnati Bengals could look at both of them as replacements for Michael Johnson after he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Neither of them is single-handily capable of replacing Johnson's production, but alongside Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap, Margus Hunt and Wallace Gilberry, the loss of Johnson doesn't quite seem as big.