You know what time it is. Recs in effect.

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The ever-vigilant Brian McIntyre has spotted a contract extension for 26-year old OT Breno Giacomini in the NFLPA records. Giacomini was to hit the market, but is now signed through to 2013, with base salaries of $1.5 million in 2012 and $3 million in 2013.

Giacomini was a 5th-round pick by the Green Bay Packers back in 2008. The Seahawks plucked him off the Packers practice squad in September 2010, and while he did not play a game in the 2010 season, he was active for 15 games in 2011, starting 8 as a replacement for inexperienced and later injured rookie RT James Carpenter. He was a very adequate replacement as the season went on, and displayed a mean streak that is definitely desirable from a run-blocking right tackle.

With both Okung and Carpenter rehabbing this off-season, the risk always exists that we might have to shuffle around depth in the early parts of next season. Even if both return fully healthy, Giacomini provides valuable, experienced depth.

Contract details will become available later. Contracts are kind of hard to peg now. The per-team soft salary floor (no hard floor, remember that) starts next season, and the new CBA's rookie cap has shifted contracts so we should expect high-level backups/semi-starters like Giacomini to make much more than they would have under the last CBA.

The third quarter ended with Marcus Trufant and Kam Chancellor colliding as Chancellor went up for an interception attempt, on a play that didn't count due to offsetting penalties. The Steelers won the 3rd quarter 7-0 and have the ball in field goal range. How is Pete feelin' right about now?

Yeah...

So, another 2^nd and 29 turns into 3^rd and 29. I like Brandon Browner, but he's had a really rough game. However, he does something good to start the 4th!

Another hogtie type tackle. Gotta love the fight Browner gives when trying to get opposing ball carriers to the ground.

Seattle could have rolled over after the 3^rd and 9 bomb late in the third, but they didn't. Also, the penalty earlier on the drive that set up the 2nd and long helped. The Steelers got chunks of yards at will in this game; four plays of 20 yards or longer and 10 of 15 or more. Seattle allowed two of those plays, including the longest, on this one drive and held them to a 41 yard field goal attempt, which was no good. Seattle's defense started this one strong, and they showed some fight later in the game.

Seattle ball. T-Jax snaps under center and sprints right, then we have a Kris Durham sighting. His first catch!

Eight yards, but we have a three and out. Steelers get the ball on their 11. Seattle blitzes six on 3^rd and 5 and we have another punt. Seattle's ball on their 36.

An already lopsided game is entering a lull. We haven't seen the Steelers blitz much in this game; to this point, Seattle's pass protection has held up better than it did in Week 1. So what happens when Pittsburgh is up 24 with 11 to go, at home and pitching a shutout?

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TGIF IT'S FRIDAY YOU GUYS!

Why Red Bryant should have more value to Seahawks - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
Red Bryant isn't the only premier defensive end scheduled to hit the free-agent market soon. Cliff Avril, Robert Mathis and Calais Campbell are among them, as is Mario Williams, who was a defensive end for five seasons before moving to outside linebacker in 2011 as the Texans switched to a 3-4 defense.

Team Needs: NFC - Offseason Low Down - Rotoworld.com
The 2012 NFL offseason officially began on Monday. Smaller cuts have begun to trickle in (Bryant McFadden, Zac Diles), and big ones (Peyton Manning) will soon follow.

Managing the Pocket Part I: Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill | The Rookie Scouting Portfolio
Former Jets coach and personnel manager Pat Kirwan noted in his book Take Your Eye Off The Ball, that the only scrambling quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl was Steve Young. Some may infer from that fact that scramblers are not the ideal style of quarterback for an NFL team. I think it’s probably more accurate to take this statement as a historic reflection, but not a basic truth about today’s NFL.

Training Day: Learning the 40 with an Olympian | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
Up through the NFL draft, Shutdown Corner's Kristian Dyer will be training at TEST Sports Club in Martinsville, N.J., along with roughly 20 players. All of these athletes are prepping for the NFL combine, different pro days and of course, the NFL draft in April. A former college soccer player, Kristian was a playground legend at quarterback back in middle school but never played a down of organized football. He will be blogging about the life of training for the NFL draft and a career in the league as he lives it firsthand.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2011 Football Outsiders Awards
Welcome to the results of the ninth annual Football Outsiders Awards -- the best and worst players of the year, as voted on by you, our readers. For those curious about past years, you will find links to each of the previous FO Awards articles on this page.

Lions facing big decision with Cliff Avril – Audibles
Martin Mayhew traversed his first three offseasons as the Lions’ general manager without using the franchise tag. If he’s going to push that streak to four, it might come at the expense of Cliff Avril.

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Hello Seahawks Fans,

I had an idea for a mock draft in which your sports nation site acts as your team. Over the next few months I plan to visit each team's site and allow for each reader to help pick your team's draft pick. Please answer the poll to select your team's draft pick.

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Thomas' "Zach Miller, John Carlson and the Value of the Chip-and-Release" piece from last week was a great precursor to this article because it did an excellent job in pointing out the value in having a player like Carlson that, while on the field with Miller, can easily disguise a run/pass play. As Beekers put it, 'these type of tight ends make it near impossible to read run or pass based on alignment, which is often too easy on the current incarnation of the Seahawks offense.'

I couldn't have agreed with the article more and Beekers' argument for re-signing or possibly franchise tagging Carlson is sound, in my mind. The gap between Carlson's skillset and that of Anthony McCoy or Cameron Morrah is a lot wider than some probably assume and with the frequency Seattle likes to run with two tight end sets, spending a little on Carlson makes sense. Having Miller and Carlson on the field together presents interesting matchup issues for opposing defenses, who have to account for both Miller and Carlson as legitimate receiving options down the field and not just someone to keep an eye on. It's why Pete Carroll has raved about using the two together, why he's talked about the plan to do so prior to Carlson's labrum issue, and why he's still talking about re-signing him.

I think we all fall victim to the 'value' idea with this front office in hopes that Cameron Morrah and/or Anthony McCoy can just as easily assume the role that Carlson would be able to fill, but unfortunately both were fairly invisible and ineffective this season, dropping passes and missing blocking assignments and my confidence in their potential has waned quite a bit. My sense is that we've sort of forgotten the talent that Carlson does possess and was showcased in his first two seasons but hasn't been apparent in the last couple years. As Carlson's value is primarily as a receiving tight end, you have to look no further than what happened with Zach Miller this year as an indication of what happens when your offensive line needs help.

Now, operating under the assumption that the line, with an offseason of work together under the tutelage of Tom Cable, may be more ready to protect the quarterback without the dedicated services of a sixth person, one could guess that the tight end group will become more involved in the passing game. I highly doubt the Seahawks spent so much money on a guy like Zach Miller in the hopes he'd be a dedicated blocking tight end. I also think Carroll was being sincere when he addressed the questions of redundancy once Miller was signed, completely refuting the "trade Carlson" rumors.

"Anybody who thinks anything otherwise doesn't get it," Carroll said. "I think those guys will play together in tandem. They'll be on opposite sides. We'll be moving them around for matchups and all kinds of stuff. I think it's a great asset for us now. We've always liked to play with two tight ends in a number of different packages, and this just gives us tremendous flexibility at a really high level, so I'm really hoping this is going to be difficult for our opponents because of the matchups we'll be able to create."

Tremendous flexibility at a really high level. Those words stick out to me. You can't say that type of thing, yet anyway, about Morrah/McCoy. It's easy to forget Carlson had 106 catches for 1,201 yards and 12 touchdowns in his first two seasons when he was actually being used as a chip and release TE and not an in-line blocker or fullback. That talent hasn't disappeared.

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