A not-so-funny funny thing has happened to what is widely considered the NFL’s most “together” team.

Don’t look now, but the Seattle Seahawks’ team chemistry — which president of football operations/GM Tim Ruskell has spent considerable time and effort brewing into one of the league’s finest blends — suddenly seems to have soured somewhat.

That’s what happens when Bobby Engram suddenly becomes an unhappy camper.

In his seven seasons as a key cog in the Seahawks’ receiving corps, Engram has been a selfless but consistently productive force on the field, as well as a model citizen of the highest order off the field.

But four months into the offseason, following the best season of his career — a season in which he picked up the slack created by prolonged injuries to fellow WRs Deion Branch and D.J. Hackett by catching a franchise-record 94 passes and surpassing 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in his 12-year career —  Engram apparently has decided the time has come to look out for himself first.

He has been conspicuous by his absence at Seattle’s minicamps this offseason, including the four-day session currently going on in Kirkland, Wash. In no uncertain terms, he has made it clear that he wants a new contract. In the second year of a two-year, $3.4 million contract he agreed to after an injury-plagued 2006 season, he is scheduled to make $1.7 million in 2008.

Branch — who missed five games due to injuries last season and is an increasingly strong candidate for the physically-unable-to-perform list after tearing his knee to shreds in the Seahawks’ playoff loss in Green Bay — is scheduled to make more than twice as much ($3.5 million) as Engram, plus a $600,000 roster bonus. That's for a No. 1 receiver who caught only 49 passes for 661 yards and four touchdowns in 11 games last season and 53-725-4 in 14 games during 2006.

Do the math, folks.

Bobby Engram

A substantial increase in salary for such an indisputable NFL graybeard is hard to justify, especially when Engram’s intended role is as a “third wheel” slot receiver and not the featured role he ended up filling so masterfully last season.

What we have here is a delicate little problem that must be taken care of, the sooner the better. Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren has been insisting this week that Engram will show up for training camp, but Engram isn’t saying anything.

A deserved increase in Engram’s paycheck wouldn’t be a bad idea right about now. We’ve already pointed out how his production compares to that of Branch, who has been mostly a disappointment since being acquired for a first-round pick two seasons ago. We should also point out that few, if any, 35-year-olds are as physically able to handle the NFL grind as Engram.

That might be hard to believe, considering that he missed nine games two seasons ago due to a mysterious thyroid ailment that made him seriously consider calling it quits at one point. Truth be told, though, a new diet and training regimen following the illness appears to have, if anything, rejuvenated Engram.

A few months ago, after they re-upped with star MLB Lofa Tatupu, who willingly settled for a little less money, and subsequently sealed a new deal with “franchise” CB Marcus Trufant, the Seahawks moved to the top of my list as the NFC favorite this coming season, along with the Cowboys.

Their apparent chemistry was a big reason.

Suddenly, I’m starting to have some doubts. Tatupu, the team captain, was arrested on a drunken-driving charge May 10 with the ink on his new contract having hardly dried. Although he couldn’t be more remorseful for what does indeed appear to be a rare one-time slip-up, Tatupu’s timing just seems like a bad omen.

Then there are other concerns — most notably a shaky special-teams situation caused by the departure of PK Josh Brown and the team’s top two special-teamers (Kevin Bentley and Niko Koutouvides) and a lengthy list of key players who won’t be healthy enough to do anything until training camp (OLT Walter Jones, DE Patrick Kerney, DTs Rocky Bernard and Marcus Tubbs, C Chris Spencer, ORG Rob Sims).

If the Seahawks could somehow see fit to make Bobby Engram happy again, I’d feel a lot better about their chances.