Report: Seahawks placing CB Johnson on IR

The Seattle Seahawks placed cornerback Dontae Johnson on injured reserve, the NFL Network reported. Johnson was dealing with a hip injury and had been listed as questionable, but was placed on IR because of a groin injury, according to the report. He is expected to return in the second half of the season. The move further thins a Seattle secondary. Cornerback Byron Maxwell was among three players released by the Seahawks with injury settlements. Quarterback Austin Davis and linebacker Erik Walden also reached injury settlements, multiple media outlets reported. Johnson spent his first four seasons with San Francisco since the team selected him in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He started all 16 games in 2017, posting 76 tackles and one interception that he returned for a touchdown. Maxwell was placed on injured reserve last weekend due to an ailing hip. Signed to a one-year, $3 million deal this offseason, he was expected to serve as the Seahawks' starting left cornerback. Selected by Seattle in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Clemson, Maxwell spent his first four NFL seasons with the Seahawks before signing a lucrative contract as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015. Maxwell spent one season in the City of Brotherly Love before being traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2016, but was released last October and signed with the Seahawks for the rest of the season a month later. In 83 career games, Maxwell has 245 tackles (203 solo), 11 interceptions, 59 passes defensed and 11 forced fumbles. Walden was signed last month after Seattle terminated the contract of defensive end Marcus Smith. An 11-year veteran, he collected 4.0 sacks and 36 tackles with the Tennessee Titans last season. Davis was re-signed by the Seahawks in mid-April. He did not throw a pass in his three games last season, but made eight starts for the Rams in 2014.