 |
|
Shaun Alexander
|
It had been widely assumed that, as soon as he was considered fully healed from offseason wrist surgery, the Seahawks would release former league MVP RB Shaun Alexander. With team doctors’ apparent blessings, that time finally arrived Tuesday. Rumors started flowing Tuesday morning that Alexander could be on his way out, with a family member first leaking the news to one local radio station. By mid-afternoon, it was confirmed by multiple sources that Alexander — who was scheduled to make $4.475 million this season as part of a deal that had him signed through the 2010 season — would be moving on.
It was unknown at this writing whether the Seahawks flat-out terminated Alexander’s contract or released him under a June 2 designation that would enable the team to spread out his salary-cap hit over two seasons.
The PFW spin
It has been a foregone conclusion for a while now that Alexander was likely to be given his walking papers. The handwriting on the wall couldn’t have been more clear after the Seahawks invested in free-agent RBs Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett, theoretically creating a RB-by-committee corps that also included Maurice Morris, Alexander’s longtime backup, and up-and-coming FB Leonard Weaver but not Alexander.
Clearly, the ninth-year pro, whose 112 touchdowns rank as the 14th-best mark in NFL history, had fallen out of favor in the Pacific Northwest after struggling mightily the past two injury-plagued seasons.
After racking up a league-high 27 TDs and being named the league’s MVP in 2005, the year Seattle made it to the Super Bowl, Alexander's production regressed significantly as he missed a combined nine games the past two years due to injuries.
It remains to be seen whether or not another team might be interested in Alexander’s services. If he is indeed completely over his wrist injury, which daily team observers believe made him run even more tentatively than usual last season, Alexander could attract a handful of potential suitors — in the right role at the right price.
|
|
