I have confirmed with the Seahawks that they have signed Shaun Alexander to a one-year contract. Alexander will report to camp on Friday.
In exchange the Seahawks agreed not to franchise Alexander in 2006 and not to trade him without his permission.
This is a brilliant move on both sides. Alexander had nowhere to go and had no leverage to negotiate. Moreover, the Hawks had not shown any interest in signing Alexander to a long-term deal.
From the Hawks standpoint you are seeing the influence of Tim Ruskell. Having a football guy in charge of football, Ruskell understood that he had to have his full compliment of players in camp on Friday. In addition, if Ruskell is going to set this increased standard of behavior you can’t go into your first camp with one of your stars playing by different rules.
It is huge to have Alexander in camp. Ruskell has never seen how he reacts day to day in the locker-room, at practice and on game day. At the end of the year, Alexander becomes a free agent. However, between now and then the Hawks can negotiate a long term deal if the two sides can agree on a price.
Overall, a terrific move for the Hawks and a clear sign that Tim Ruskell is changing the Hawks.
Seed Newsvine
3 comments:
On paper it seems like a win/win. Shaun acts like a mench and produces he will be a wanted men at Free agent time. If Shaun acts like a jerk, then he can shake hands with the Hawks and go on his way.
Exactly it is a great deal. I was convinced this would be a lose lose for both sides when SA came to camp late or not at all and then the team lost games trying to assimilate him into the team. Instead the exact opposite.
Now what do we do to bolster our defense?
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