Seattle Seahawks news, rumors, links, info, interviews, analysis, and more! Check out what's going on in Seahawks-land this morning.
Notes on the quarterback carousel | National Football Post: Some notes as we hit the true business of football, after months of the labor of football. Keep in mind: nothing – except for rookie contracts, both drafted and undrafted – can become official until Friday night. But the deals are starting to fly in. Here are some initial thoughts on the quarterback carousel:
NFL.com news: Hasselbeck's departure leaves Seahawks with leadership void: When the NFL lockout sent players scrambling to look for structure and organization to stay sharp, it was Matt Hasselbeck serving as the de facto leader for players based in the Seattle area, regardless of what team they played for last season. It was just part of the role Hasselbeck grew into during his decade as the Seahawks' quarterback. And it's a massive void the team will need to quickly fill when training camp begins Thursday, with Hasselbeck now a member of the Tennessee Titans and the only two quarterbacks on Seattle's roster with NFL experience having a total of 22 NFL starts.
Ex-coach Brad Childress endorses Tarvaris Jackson as Seahawks' starter - Blog - MyNorthwest.com: Seahawks fans may not know what to make of Tarvaris Jackson, the quarterback the Seahawks will sign in lieu of bringing back starter Matt Hasselbeck. But one man who knows exactly what the Seahawks have in Jackson is his old head coach in Minnesota, Brad Childress. New Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson will reunite with former Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. (AP) Childress joined the Kevin Calabro Show on Wednesday to grant his insight into Jackson and why he thinks the Seahawks have found their starting quarterback.
Visit with Max Unger | Seahawks Insider: Had a quick chat with Max Unger this morning. Column about it will be in the TNT in the morning. His foot is fine. His rehab was not impeded by the lockout since he was cleared to play by the end of last season and did not need further work from the training staff.
Pelissero: Uncommon hip surgery didn't cost Sidney Rice in the end - Minnesota Vikings news | 1500 ESPN Twin Cities – Minnesota Sports News & Opinion (Twins, Vikings, Wolves, Wild, Gophers): Throughout the contentious saga of Sidney Rice's hip last season, the Minnesota Vikings and the standout receiver's camp refused to reveal details of the injury or the surgery that sidelined him for three months.
Seattle Seahawks Blog - Hawk Blogger: Seahawcalypse? Hasselbeck Era Ends, Matt Leinart and Tavaris Jackson Join Seahawks: The next time you see Matt Hasselbeck in Seattle, it will either be for an opposing team or for his induction into the Ring Of Honor. He is the best Seahawk in history. Walter Jones may have been the best player, but nobody approached Hasselbeck's contributions to building a winner on and off the field. Emotions run high in a transition like this. Paying homage to Hasselbeck will come in a different post. The focus now is on what the moves today mean for the franchise. It takes more than the superficial analysis you will get from national sports coverage to understand what happened today.
Agent tweets Pep Levingston, Seahawks’ 7th-round pick, has agreed to terms | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News - seattlepi.com: LSU defensive tackle Lazarius "Pep" Levingston became the first of the Seattle Seahawks’ draft picks to agree to contract terms, Levingston’s agent announced on Twitter. Levingston was selected with the 205th overall pick in the seventh round of this year’s NFL draft, the only defensive lineman the Seahawks selected. That’s obviously an area of need — an area they can begin to address by getting a deal done with DT Brandon Mebane in the near future.
Sidney Rice's addition large for Seahawks - NFC West Blog - ESPN: The NFL lockout prevented the Seattle Seahawks from wheeling and dealing the way they did during Pete Carroll's first season with the team. Rice Carroll and general manager John Schneider are making up for lost time. Their five-year agreement with Minnesota Vikings receiver Sidney Rice caps a long-running push to secure front-line talent at the position. The physical examination Rice must pass will be important given the hip troubles Rice has endured in recent seasons. But once Rice clears that hurdle, Seattle will have daunting size at wideout.
QB situation a mess, but blame lies in the past " Seahawks Draft Blog: The Seahawks quarterback situation lingered in the air like a bad smell throughout the lockout. At times the debate became quite heated as fans, the media and sometimes even the players chimed in to discuss the future at the position. Would Matt Hasselbeck return? Should Matt Hasselbeck return? Will the Seahawks make a trade for Kevin Kolb or Carson Palmer? Is it time to see what Charlie Whitehurst has to offer? Endless debate that often went round in circles.
17 Power, A Seattle Seahawks Blog: Hawks and Hasselbeck: The Eulogy: Longtime Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck has moved on from the Emerald City, signing a lucrative contract with the Tennessee Titans as many outlets have been speculating he would. (Stay tuned for my thoughts on the Tarvaris Jackson signing.)
A new-look line: When Max Unger arrived as a second-round draft choice in 2009, the rookie from Oregon stepped in at right guard on a Seahawks offensive line that included Sean Locklear at left tackle, Rob Sims at right guard, Chris Spencer at center and Ray Willis at right tackle.
Robert Gallery big upgrade for Seahawks - NFC West Blog - ESPN: Mike Gibson, Ben Hamilton, Chester Pitts and Tyler Polumbus started at left guard for the Seattle Seahawks last season. No wonder the team went after Robert Gallery when the free-agent negotiating period opened Tuesday.
The Brewery | Seahawks move on, but to what? | Seattle Times Newspaper: His last pass was for a touchdown, at least. Matt Hasselbeck threw 192 of them, counting the playoffs, during his Seahawks career, and this was one of the most unmemorable and insignificant. We didn't think to preserve it. We didn't remember that goodbye is inevitable.
Seahawks Blog | Phone etiquette and free-agent realities | Seattle Times Newspaper: The fact that general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll called Hasselbeck personally was to make sure he heard the news directly from them, and not from media reports or an indirect message through the agent. Hasselbeck's brother, Tim, mentioned on 710 ESPN Seattle that it was a respectful move and one that Matt appreciated. Professional football is a big-boy business. Hasselbeck had a chance to re-sign with Seattle back in March. He didn't accept the Seahawks offer. It's perfectly valid to criticize the Seahawks for not offering more just as there's room for an interpretation that the offer was very reasonable even if it didn't meet Hasselbeck's asking price.
Thirty Acre Fortress - A Seahawks Blog: The Quarterback Situation: There's a lot to process today. There are a lot of emotional reactions today. The average Seahawks fan feels angry, confused, and maybe a bit betrayed. This is totally natural. This is a rebuild. This is going to suck at times.
So much for Leinart-Carroll reunion - NFC West Blog - ESPN: Matt Leinart told Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak he wanted a chance to compete for a starting job, John McClain reports. Why, then, would Leinart choose the Texans over the Seattle Seahawks when agreeing to contract terms Tuesday? Leinart wasn't going to get very good money in Seattle after the Seahawks gave Tarvaris Johnson about $4 million per year, about what Charlie Whitehurst was already earning from the team.
The Shutdown Corner Scouting Report: Sidney Rice - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports: With Santonio Holmes(notes) heading back to the New York Jets, the most intriguing receiver on the free agent market is Minnesota Vikings wideout Sidney Rice(notes). When Brett Favre(notes) signed with the Vikings in 2009, he found that Rice was an ideal target for the offense run by offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Rice became one of the NFL's best receivers that season, but things took a downturn in 2010. Favre got hurt and lost his effectiveness, and Rice suffered a hip injury that limited his time on the field. Early Wednesday reports out of Minnesota indicate that the Seattle Seahawks (Bevell's new team, where he's already been reunited with backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson(notes)) are looking hard at Rice to be their #1 receiver — pending a physical — and the Vikings may be outbid.
Thiel: After Hasselbeck, new Seahawks QB a placeholder | Seattle Seahawks: Tarvaris Jackson’s undistinguished five years in Minnesota suggest that the new Seahawks QB is a temp in the pursuit of a replacement for Matt Hasselbeck.
A mystery no more: Seahawks part ways with Matt Hasselbeck - Blog - MyNorthwest.com: The Matthew Hasselbeck era in Seattle has come to an end. The most prolific passer in the history of the franchise, owner of three Pro Bowls, five division titles, and a magnificent run to the Super Bowl has taken his final snap as a Seahawk. It is not the decision I would have made, but it is obvious the Hawks had their reasons, and the pre-draft press conference back in April told us the end was near for No. 8. When reading through the transcripts of that press conference, there were three answers to questions fired at Pete Carroll that day which help us understand the move made Tuesday.
TheDay.com - Waterford's Hurd agrees to a deal with the Seattle Seahawks | Southeastern Connecticut News, Sports, Weather and Video | The Day newspaper: For most prospective National Football League draftees who go undrafted, the wait to sign a free agent contract lasts only a day or two. In Zach Hurd's case, the wait was three months. After finishing a UConn career that saw him garner All-Big East honors twice, set a school record for games played and captain a team that made a BCS bowl game for the first time in program history, Hurd finally gets his NFL shot.
What's Up NFL: Shorecrest Grad Hoffman Signs With Seahawks - Shoreline-Lake Forest Park, WA Patch: Nearly six years after he rewrote the Shorecrest High School record books, Jesse Hoffman is taking his football prowess to the NFL. Though he had worked out with the Jacksonville Jaguars in April, Hoffman signed as an undrafted free agent with the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday. For Hoffman, the signing was a culmination of years of hard work and determination, dating back to his days with the Scots.
Seattle Seahawks sign former USC Trojans linebacker, UDFA Michael Morgan - Los Angeles USC Trojans | Examiner.com: One of the most athletic outside linebackers in recent memory, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Morgan is said to run a 40-yard dash in about 4.40, a speed matched by few professional and collegiate linebackers. He was expected to be a major contributor for the Trojans in 2010 after notching 49 tackles and 4.0 sacks as a junior, but Morgan was unable to duplicate his success rushing the passer from the outside edge and finished his senior year with 57 tackles and just 0.5 sacks.
Seahawks Sign West Liberty All-American - WOWK-TV - WOWKTV.com: Travis’s 285 career catches rank No. 5 on the all-time NCAA Division II career receiving list and he leaves West Liberty as the school’s career leader in catches (285), receiving yards (3,228) and receiving touchdowns (34). A 6-3, 235-pound graduate of Massillon (Ohio) Tuslaw High School, Travis earned first-team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), AP’s Little All-America Team, Daktronics, D2Football.com and Don Hansen’s Football Gazette following his senior season. Travis was selected to play in the 2011 Cactus Bowl NCAA Division II All-Star Game and had an outstanding game, pulling in four passes for 60 yards – including a 23-yard TD grab – and having a spectacular 30-yard reception wiped out by an offensive holding call.
Vulcans' Portis gets deal with Seahawks - Washington Greene PA Sports - www.observer-reporter.com: Former California University quarterback Josh Portis has agreed to terms on a rookie free-agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks, the team announced Tuesday. "We had an inkling this would happen after the lockout, when everything came to pass. Obviously, we knew (Seahawks coach) Pete Carroll was interested in Josh for awhile," said California head coach John Luckhardt, who said Tuesday night that he has a new three-year contract that runs through 2013.
Seattle Seahawks: A Balanced Crop of Undrafted Players to Yield Contributors? | Bleacher Report: It’s no secret that John Schneider values undrafted free agents, as they had a major impact in helping the Packers build their Super Bowl team. Unfortunately, none from the 2010 group has cracked the rotation for Seattle; 2011 could bring better luck.
HeraldNet.com - Sports: Seahawks beef up O-line: The Seahawks made their offensive line the top priority in this year's draft, and now that free agency has begun, they are continuing to upgrade the line. Robert Gallery, a veteran left guard who has spent his entire seven-year career in Oakland, agreed in principle to a three-year deal with the Seahawks Wednesday according to his agent, and is expected to make the deal official when free agents can start signing contracts Friday.
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