Feb. 26, 2008

Head coach Mike Holmgren indicated not long after the 2007 season ended that the Seahawks would not be as aggressive in free agency this offseason as they had been the last couple of seasons. Instead, he said, they would concentrate on re-signing key free agents such as CB Marcus Trufant — their top priority after he earned his first Pro Bowl berth — PK Josh Brown, who played under the franchise tag last season, and starting ORT Sean Locklear. Seattle signed Locklear to a five-year extension on Feb. 21. The team wasted no time whatsoever signing former Pro Bowl OG Mike Wahle to a five-year contract a couple of weeks before the start of this year’s free-agent period. What’s more, the Seahawks probably aren’t through working the market, even though they don’t have as much cap room as they had last season, when they ended up making major upgrades via free agency, signing the likes of DE Patrick Kerney and safeties Deon Grant and Brian Russell. The team is expected to focus more on offensive players in both the draft and free agency, with running back, tight end and the offensive line the primary target areas. Besides Trufant (who received the team’s franchise tag) and Brown, WR D.J. Hackett would appear to be the best bet to re-sign among the team’s UFAs, but the Seahawks are not expected to break the bank to re-sign him. Hackett has been a very productive player when healthy, but that hasn’t been the case nearly enough to warrant a lucrative new deal. RFA FB Leonard Weaver is an up-and-coming player who will most likely receive a second-round tender.