The Seahawks have signed 33-year old free agent defensive end Patrick Chukwurah. Chukwurah, a former 5th round draft pick out of Wyoming by the Vikings, has been out of organized football for two years; he most recently played in the United Football League, where he led the league in sacks two years in a row, and has out of the NFL since 2008. He beat out Aaron Maybin, Ray Edwards and Travis LaBoy in a tryout this week, apparently, and will look to contribute on special teams this week against Atlanta, perhaps even see time on defense.

This is a classic John Schneider/Pete Carroll move, the true 'always compete' roster addition/reclamation project. A 33-year old, two years out from any form of organized football, beats out Ray Edwards, Maybin, a former first-rounder that flamed out, and LaBoy, a grizzled veteran. Chukwurah, a 6'1 native of Nigeria, has been working as a personal trainer the past two seasons years, and is reportedly 250 pounds with less than 5 percent body fat. That means, to the lay person, he's f*cking cut, and is surely in damn good aerobic shape. He may seem small for a DE at 6'1 250, but remember that Seattle likes their LEO ends to be fast, explosive, and strong, and that's about it - size is less of a factor. Think Jameson Konz/Dex Davis.

This move is also not as random as you'd think: as Scott Enyeart pointed out, Chukwurah was most recently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008, where he played under now-Seahawks' DC Gus Bradley and now-Seahawks DL Coach Todd Wash, not to mention Monte Kiffin, who is still very close with Pete Carroll and company. It seems easy to guess that Chukwurah is probably a high-motor, high-effort team guy that can contribute on special teams a la a Heath Farwell/Chris Maragos, then come in at DE in a major pinch. As Ian Rapoport noted, "Not gonna lie. Hear he looks like a beast." Sounds about right.

UPDATE: F*cking cut, dreadlocked Chukwurah: CONFIRMED. (h/t Davis)

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Also noteworthy: We all saw that the Seahawks signed K Ryan Longwell to a contract today, and it now looks like Steven Haushka will indeed head to the IR. Once Longwell and Chukwurah are officially on the roster, they'll be the two oldest players.