Seahawks Mini-Camp News And Notes

The Seahawks begin a three-day Mini-Camp today, in what's sure to be rife with little tidbits and storylines. Principal among them is, of course, the quarterback competition - something that has sprung up, again, as a main talking point this week in local and national media. The Seahawks' 'open competition' idea has been all over these last few days - the National Football Post, NFL.com, CBSSports.com - as it's sort of being realized or postulated that Tarvaris Jackson does indeed still have a chance to win the starting job in Pete Carroll's eyes, based on the merit of his play. This week's Mini-Camp, hopefully, will give the team a better idea of which QB is the front runner - whether it's Tarvaris Jackson, Matt Flynn, or Russell Wilson - and for my sanity I'm just hoping one of the above three separates themselves from the pack. Of course, that probably won't happen.

In more uplifting news though, Brian Banks has accepted the Seahawks' offer for an extended tryout for the next few days so it will be fun to see how he does up against some of the top competition the team can offer. He's a long, long shot to make the 53-man roster, but if he shows enough of what made him a blue-chip prospect prior to going to prison (falsely convicted), I suppose there's a little shorter long-shot he could break into the 90-man roster. His speed and conditioning will be put to the test, and my guess is that he'll be in direct competition with guys like Heath Farwell, Mike Morgan, Jameson Konz, and a few others as a 'core special teams' contributor type.

Finally, jogging memories of your 2008 fantasy football team, the Seahawks will also host WR Antonio Bryant for a tryout during this week's mini-camp. At 31, Bryant hasn't played in the NFL since 2009; he signed in Cincinnati but never played a down for them in 2010 when it was found his knee issues were much worse than originally thought. The former 2nd rounder out of Pitt has had two 1000+ yard seasons (2005, 2008) and at one time was a nice deep threat on the outside, which is what the Seahawks are looking for, I'm sure. Bryant would likely be competition for Mike Williams, Kris Durham, Ricardo Lockette, and maybe Deon Butler and Golden Tate.

Also invited to camp, per ProFootballTalk, is 7th year WR David Anderson, previously of the Redskins and Texans. The former 7th round pick is 5'10, 193 pounds and has 88 passes for 968 yards and 4 touchdowns in his career.

Here is the official language from the CBA concerning Mini-Camps, for those of you that enjoy reading legalese (h/t Pqlqi and MileHighReport).

ARTICLE 22 MINICAMPS

Section 1. Number: Each League Year each Club may hold a maximum of one manda-tory minicamp for veteran players. If a Club hires a new head coach after the end of the prior regular season, that Club may hold one additional voluntary minicamp for veteran players. Any mandatory minicamp for veteran players shall count as one of the nine weeks of the Club's official offseason workout program under Article 21, Section 2(a) of this Agreement. There is no limitation on the number of minicamps a Club may hold for Rookie players during the seven weeks of the Club's Rookie Football Development Program.

Section 2. Mandatory Veteran Minicamp: No mandatory veteran minicamp may exceed three days in length, plus one day for physical examinations. The minicamp must be conducted during the week (Monday through Friday), with physicals taking place on Monday but no practice or workouts on that day, practices on Tuesday through Thurs-day and a day off on Friday. The minicamp must be conducted during week three or week four of Phase Three of the Club's offseason workout program.

The Phase Three rules set forth in Article 21, Section 2(b)(iii) of this Agreement shall apply to all mini-camp activities. Two-a-day practices shall be permitted at two of the three practice days of the Club's one mandatory minicamp, subject to the following rules: (i) players may be on the field for a total of no more than three and one-half hours per day; (ii) players may participate in one practice for no more than two and one-half hours of on-field activities under Phase Three rules; (iii) the second practice may only be for the remaining portion of the players' daily three and one-half hour on-field activities and shall be limited to walk-through instruction only; (iv) no organized team activities (including treatment and taping) may begin prior to 7:00am local time or end after 8:30pm local time, and players shall be given at least one hour for lunch and dinner each; (v) players may only be asked to participate in Club activities for a maximum of ten hours per day including taping and treatment but excluding meal time. The on-field time limits described above shall begin as soon as position coaches begin to coach players on the field.

Section 4. Expenses:

(a) Any veteran player who attends a minicamp will receive meal allowances in accordance with Article 34, Section 1 of this Agreement, plus all travel expenses to and from the camp, plus "per diem" payments at the rate provided in Article 23, Section 4 of this Agreement. In addition, the Club will provide housing at minicamps for players coming from out-of-town.

(b) If a "first-year player" (as defined as in Article 23, Section 1) signed a Player Contract with any Club for the prior League Year, he shall receive, for each day that he attends minicamp, the following compensation, but no other compensation: (i) the prorated portion of the weekly per diem specified for the current League Year (as set forth in Article 23, Section 3); (ii) the meal allowance specified for the current League Year (as set forth in Article 34, Section 1); and (iii) all travel expenses to and from the camp, plus housing (for players coming from out-of-town).

(c) Any "rookie player" (defined as a person who has never signed a Player Contact with an NFL Club in a prior League Year) shall not be entitled to compensation for his participation in any minicamp, other than the reimbursements or payments per-mitted under the Club's Rookie Orientation Program.

Section 5. Contact: There will be no contact work (e.g., "live" blocking, tackling, pass rushing, bump-and-run) or use of pads (helmets permitted) at minicamps.

Section 6. Injuries: Any player injured in a Club's minicamp shall be protected in the same manner as if injured during the Club's preseason training camp.