Seahawks waive 5 players, including former starting center Drew Nowak and former Husky Josh Shirley

The Seahawks on Wednesday waived five players, including former starting center Drew Nowak and former Huskies defensive end Josh Shirley.

Others waived were running back Cameron Marshall, tight end Ronnie Shields and wide receiver Tyler Slavin.

The Seahawks had 80 players on their roster entering the day and are expected to sign at least 13 undrafted free agents in time for a rookie minicamp that begins Friday. So they had to make some moves to get down to the 90-player limit (though draft picks can participate in this weekend’s rookie minicamp even if they have not signed contracts).

Nowak was one of the surprises of the Seahawks’ 2015 training camp, earning the opening-day job as the starting center. He started the first five games of the year and seven of the first eight overall before losing his spot to Patrick Lewis. After being waived he was re-signed to the practice squad, and after the season he signed a futures contract and was on the 90-man roster.

But the Seahawks drafted three offensive linemen over the weekend, including center Joey Hunt.

Shirley signed as a free agent after the season after having played in five games for Tampa Bay last season.

Marshall was signed after the season after having played last year in the Canadian Football League. He was projected as a candidate to fill a third-down back role. But the Seahawks drafted three running backs, including two with significant receiving backgrounds who could fill the third-down role in C.J. Prosise and Zac Brooks.

Shields and Slavin also each were at positions were the Seahawks drafted a player over the weekend — tight end Nick Vannett and receiver Kenny Lawler.