The Seahawks have signed 6'2, 270 lb defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson, 30, to a one-year, $1.5 million contract per Aaron Wilson and confirmed by Danny O'Neil. Wilkerson played with the Saints last season and was originally a 6th round pick out of Oklahoma.
Wilkerson has been a target for the Seahawks before -- they pursued him briefly during last year's offseason, but he ultimately signed with the Saints. His best two seasons came in 2008 and 2009; in '08 he started one game for the Buccaneers and registered 5 sacks and 23 tackles, and in '09 he started 15 games and had 6 sacks, 46 tackles and 2 passes defensed. He tore his ACL late in the season though and hadn't fully recovered last season, as we often see with ACL injuries.
It's now been nearly two years removed from his injury and we're at a time where you can hope for a full recovery of quickness and strength in the knee. He'll come in as the veteran replacement for the now-probable departure of Raheem Brock at LEO DE. I'd say that Chris Clemons is in no danger of losing his starting job but we could see both Wilkerson and Clemons on the field together in certain sets. He's 30 years old and on the cusp of that age where defensive ends start to drop off considerably so I'm hoping he has a solid year or two of effectiveness in him. At worst, he'll provide a little depth in the case of injuries on the line.
It also should be noted that Todd Wash, Seattle's defensive line coach, was a position coach at Tampa Bay when Wilkerson had his best two seasons.