Don’t look now, but the Seattle Seahawks, a team known around the league for its great chemistry, suddenly has a chink in its armor from a very unlikely source — veteran WR Bobby Engram. In his eight solid seasons in Seattle, Engram has been the epitome of a “team” player. But coming off a career season in which he more than picked up the slack created by injuries to fellow WRs Deion Branch and the departed D.J. Hackett, Engram raised eyebrows at the Seahawks’ voluntary veteran camp this week when he decided to steer clear in protest over his current contract. Engram believes he deserves more than the base salary of $1.7 million he is scheduled to earn this season as part of the two-year, $3.4 million contract he agreed to after an injury-plagued 2006 season. Based on his production in ’07, there are few daily team observers who can find fault with his assertion. The problem is that the Seahawks are paying Engram based on his intended role, which is to be the team’s slot receiver and not the emergency starter he became both in 2005, when No. 1 receiver Darrell Jackson was out for a prolonged stretch due to injuries, and last season, when Branch missed major time. Making the issue even touchier is the strong possibility that Engram will enter the ’08 season as the starting flanker over Branch, who team insiders tell us is looking more and more like a strong candidate for the physically-unable-to-perform list after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery this offseason. Did we mention that Branch is set to make $3.5 million in base salary in ’08, plus a $600,000 roster bonus? And did we also mention that Engram is 35 years old, although last season he had never looked better? “It’s a pretty delicate situation,” one team insider told PFW. “But the consensus is that Bobby will eventually stay true to form and suck it up. He’s been around for all the mandatory stuff, so I don’t think he’ll be too much of a distraction.”
