Who will Seahawks keep next season?

Who will Seahawks keep next season?
When the season is over after this Sunday, the Seahawks will have decisions to make on players that are eligible to become free agents.
By José Miguel Romero
Seattle Times staff reporter



RENTON — As the Seahawks' season of misfortune and underachievement comes to a close, it's hard not to look ahead.

Part of looking ahead is the firm belief within the organization that so many injuries to starters cannot occur again to the degree it did in 2008. Part of it is knowing that Jim Mora will be head coach and that there will be at least a few new faces on the roster and conceivably the coaching staff.

Looking ahead also means evaluating those Seahawks who can become free agents after this season. The list of names contains a few key players, namely linebacker Leroy Hill, wide receiver Bobby Engram, running back Maurice Morris, fullback Leonard Weaver and defensive tackle Rocky Bernard.

Hill could be the biggest priority to re-sign. Before he was sidelined for the final four games of this season with a pinched upper shoulder nerve, he led the Seahawks in tackles with 81. Hill has missed a few games with injuries in the past four seasons but has been a starter since midway through his rookie year of 2005. He's often the third guy mentioned when people talk about Seattle's linebackers, which include Pro Bowlers Lofa Tatupu and Julian Peterson, but is no less a contributor.

Hill made $927,000 in base salary this season and is due for a significant raise based on his play. He said he'll start to think about his expiring contract after this Sunday's regular-season finale at Arizona is over.

"That's the next part of my life in the NFL year," Hill said. "After this game I'll start talking to everybody and we'll see where it takes us."

Hill prefers to remain and finish his career with the Seahawks. He's built good relationships in the organization but understands that the NFL is a business and looks at free agency as a new chapter in his life.

Engram has eight seasons as a Seahawk and 13 in the NFL. As quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's most trusted target and a third-down specialist, he'll be a topic of conversation among team executives and coaches. Engram is also a couple of weeks from turning 36 and has already publicly talked about this possibly being his last season as a Seahawk.

"You start with our own players," offensive coordinator Gil Haskell said of the postseason evaluation process. "You say, 'I want this guy, I want that guy. Don't let him go, he's better than anybody I can get.'

"Number two, there might be a hole that you've had for a while and you need it filled, and so you try to get that person. But usually when you do that, you get somebody else's problems. If they let a guy go, there's a reason why that happens."

Coordinators and assistant coaches advocate for their players. For Haskell, that should include fourth-year offensive tackle Ray Willis, facing free agency after nine starts this season, six at right tackle and three at right guard. Willis has been praised for his high-effort play.

"We've taught him. He's a really good player for us," Haskell said. "So we want Ray Willis to stay here."

Weaver showed flashes of brilliance as an offensive weapon, especially with his two-touchdown catch game at San Francisco. Bernard, the longest-tenured defensive starter with seven seasons as a Seahawk, has had another steady season and will get attention from other teams in the offseason.

Morris, who's also been a Seahawk since 2002, is 100 rushing yards from a season best and has taken the starting job from Julius Jones. He's been a backup and spot starter his entire career.

"He's a special young man and I appreciate players in this day and age that are that unselfish," coach Mike Holmgren said. "Because typically the amount of money you make is based on catches, or carries, or yards ... But he chose to stay with me when he probably could have gone other places in free agency. There are a lot of reasons I like Mo Morris."

Notes

• Holmgren said Hasselbeck will serve as the third quarterback Sunday, meaning Hasselbeck's back hasn't healed enough to allow him to be anything beyond the emergency third quarterback. That means Hasselbeck will have missed the last four games of the season and nine total in 2008. "Barring any unforeseen injury and stuff, I believe his best years, honestly, and he's had some great ones, I think they're still ahead of him," Holmgren said.

• Holmgren said definitively that he's not planning to work next season. "I want to see how I'm going to react to not working and my life being different," he said. "I'm going to take some time off and not think about this for a while."

• Hill and LB D.D. Lewis will not play Sunday because of injury. DB Jordan Babineaux is expected to play after missing last week's game with a concussion.




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