Alright, so the Seahawks have been wheeling and dealing now for a little over three days now and have made some major moves. We've kept you up to date on the happenings so far -- the initial UDFA signings (agreements) in real time on Monday night, the rest of the UDFA signings on Tuesday, the Tarvaris Jackson, Robert Gallery, and Sidney Rice signings.
We've seen Matt Hasselbeck leave the Seahawks and sign a big deal with the Tennessee Titans. We've seen Olindo Mare leave to take a big contract with the Panthers.
We've seen Matt McCoy, Michael Robinson, and Junior Siavii re-sign with the Hawks. We've seen DT Alan Branch defect from the Cardinals and sign on here as an excellent (or, competent anyway) rotational lineman that can play the NT spot or the 5-tech defensive end spot on the strong side. I am looking forward to seeing what Branch can provide.
Going off of twitter, there are some other notable roster changes happening as well.
- It looks like Lawyer Milloy won't be back in 2011. On his twitter account, he had this to say to presumptive starter in his spot, Kam Chancellor: "Make me proud bro. It's your time!! #KamBam"
- Tyler Polumbus, Seattle's only restricted free agent, is expected to sign a one-year tender today, per Danny O'Neil. I like this move because I like Polumbus. I think he filled in admirably when called on to play in Russell Okung's place at LT last season. He filled in at LG and other places along the line as well so he's a valuable piece of the puzzle.
- Also per Danny O'Neil, "#Seahawk absences from practice (yesterday): OL Chris White, S James Brindley, DT Barrett Moen, OL Stacy Andrews, LB Anthony Heygood, LB Joe Pawelek." Stacy Andrews and Anthony Heygood have both been released by the Seahawks so it's probable that White, Brindley, Moen, and Pawelek have also been released as well. This is totally unconfirmed and speculative on my part, so watch for official notice on these players soon.
- Former Seahawk Leonard Weaver was released by the Eagles yesterday. Before you get your hopes up though, it's because he failed a physical for the team. It's likely he'll be out for the year and possibly longer. He is a free agent though, so keep an eye on what happens with Weaver this season.
- Brandon Mebane is still in limbo (as of 10:30pm last night). Yesterday, he tweeted a disconcerting " I pray I made the right choice." Which, to me, sounds kind of like "I'm leaving for another woman" type of comment but we'll see. Danny O'Neil and John Clayton, as of Thursday night, are still tweeting that the Seahawks are very much in the race for his services though. If we can lock Mebane up our defensive line predicament starts to look a lot better.
- WR Brandon Stokley was originally going to sign with the Redskins but decided otherwise at the last minute because of Washington's choice to sign several other receivers. It's unclear at this point where he'll try and sign now. Seattle hasn't been a rumored landing spot, as far as I've seen.
- DE Jay Richardson is apparently still in play for the Seahawks, or at least was yesterday afternoon. He signed mid-season last year and provided rotational depth along the line and, as far as I can tell, wasn't a liability. Not sure if the Alan Branch signing affects the talks with Richardson, (who is also in talks with his former team, the Raiders, as well), but I woudn't be against adding more depth and more competition.
- John Clayton reports that Houston 3-tech DT Amobi Okoye has been told he can seek a trade. He's a prototypical 4-3 undertackle that is now the odd man out in Houston's switch to a 3-4. He's 6'2, 315, and has recorded 11 sacks in his 4-year career. He's started every game for Houston in the past two seasons and is still only 24 years old. Rumor has it that he could be fetched for a 4th or 5th round pick so this is something to watch very carefully today. Even if Mebane is retained, I still think Okoye is a very attractive target as a rotational attacking 3-tech DT.
- Per Adam Wright's Seahawk Talk twitter account (and an aggregation of Clayton, Schefter, and other reliable sources),"#Seahawks rumored to have interest in linebackers: Ben Leber, Travis Laboy, Nick Barnett, Zac Diles, and were in on the Takeo Spikes race." This isn't super surprising -- the Hawks are relatively thin at linebacker and Lofa Tatupu is a big, big question mark. Don't be surprised to see the Hawks sign a linebacker today or this weekend.
- Jimmy WIlkerson, a DE that has played in Tampa Bay the last two seasons, still has a visit scheduled with the Hawks as well. Keep an eye on that today.
That's what I've got for right now. I'll try and keep this updated throughout the morning but let me know what I'm missing. I've got a feeling that today is going to be crazy.
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