Three undrafted rookies were waived after the Seahawks’ rookie minicamp:
DB London Durham, McNeese State
OT Jon Opperud, Montana
OG Brent Osborne, Harvard

LB Adrian Moten, a second-year player out of Maryland, was also waived.

Alex Barron had 78 penalties over a five-seasons stretch.

A first-round pick by the Rams in 2005 out of Florida State, Barron was known more for his penchant for flinching pre-snap than he was for driving defensive linemen downfield – he had 78 penalties in a five-season span. His passion for the game was questioned and by 2009 the Rams gave up on him. Dallas scooped Barron up fr 2010 and he started one of 11 games he appeared in, but was a huge disappointment after Jerry Jones hoped he’d take over a starting job.

Barron fell off the radar while on injured reserve last season, but popped up at the Seahawks’ rookie minicamp over the weekend. He fared well enough that the Seahawks decided to give him a shot. With James Carpenter still recovering from knee surgery and reportedly in danger of missing the 2012 season, the team needed some veteran depth behind Breno Giacomini.

Also signed after the camp were offensive tackle Andrew Mitchell (Cincinnati), cornerback Donny Lisowski (Montana) and tight end Cooper Helfet (Duke).

“This is real good, especially when you consider that I had to sit out all of last year on injured reserve,” Barron told Seahawks.com. “But I’m over that now and moving forward. I’m here to help the team the best way I can.”

Russell Wilson had an impressive throwing session at the Combine.

He was impressive, showing a good command of running the offense, and at the end of the camp coach Pete Carroll announced that Wilson did enough to be thrown into the mix for the starting quarterback job along with Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson.

“He showed us enough,” Carroll said. “He’s in the competition. That is going to tax us, as we know. It was already going to be taxing with two, but he’s shown us enough that we need to see where he fits in with these guys.”

How real a threat is Wilson to the two veterans? Likely not much, at least in terms of the starting job. He is a terrific athlete with a strong arm and great on-field leadership skills. But at under 5-feet-11, Wilson does have a distinct disadvantage as our research leading up to the draft showed that only two quarterbacks in NFL history have had success at his height.

Carroll loves competition, and this is a spur in the side of Flynn and Jackson to be aware that no one’s job is safe. That’s particularly true for Jackson, whose roster spot could be in jeopardy if he loses the starting job to Flynn and Wilson really impresses during training camp.

Jackson has a non-guaranteed $4 million salary. I really don’t see the team cutting him this year. The Seahawks have seen what happens over the past several years when their starting quarterback goes down and there’s a big drop-off to the No. 2 spot.

As hard a time as the fans give T-Jack, the coaching staff still holds him in high regard. He played through a significant injury last year, never complained and has the support of his teammates.

In all likelihood, Flynn wins the starting job and Jackson plays out his contract with Wilson learning the ropes as the No. 3 quarterback. Who it really puts in peril is Josh Portis, a tantalizing raw prospect who fans like to fill the airwaves talking about but who also is a football vagabond unlikely to ever mature into a capable NFL passer.

DT Adrian Taylor out of Oklahoma was waived after failing his physical, and WR Raymond Webber, a second-year player out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff was also waived.

Signed were a half dozen undrafted rookies: WR Phil Bates (Ohio), DB London Durham (McNeese State), OG Rishaw Johnson (California, PA), DE Cordarro Law (Southern Miss.), TE Sean McGrath (Henderson State) and DE Monte Taylor (Cincinnati).

Red Bryant blocked three kicks in 2011.

For the first time in his four-year career Bryant stayed healthy and played all 16 games, finishing with 32 tackles, two interceptions and just one sack last season.

And he also made an impact on special teams, blocking three field goals and an extra point attempt.

But Bryant understands those aren’t the kind of numbers that the elite defensive ends in the league like Chicago’s Julius Peppers and Minnesota’s Jared Allen post every year.

And he wants to show the rest of the league that he’s worth every penny.

“You’ve always got something to prove,” Bryant said. “A lot of guys get big contracts and then they kind of go in the tank because you get comfortable. So I feel like not so much to justify it, but I have bigger expectations than just a contract.

“You hear that all the time, but I definitely want to be a guy that when my playing days are over with and they think about the Seahawks, they think about big Red Bryant.”

Generating more sacks also is at the top of Bryant’s to-do list with just two in four seasons.

“I at least want to get that major stigma off of me because I know I can get to the quarterback,” Bryant said.

Post courstesy of our Seahawks report from The Sports Xchange.

Incumbent Tarvaris Jackson and high-dollar free agent signee Matt Flynn took snaps from under center out on the plush practice fields at the team’s headquarters for the first time together recently.

And head coach Pete Carroll will get his first look at third-round draft choice Russell Wilson during the team’s rookie minicamp.

For now, Carroll said that Jackson will take snaps with the first unit while Flynn and Wilson learn the offense.

Carroll said Jackson earned those reps with the first unit by virtue of his role as the team’s starter last year.

“T-Jack is taking the first snap right now,” Carroll said. “That’s what he does every day out here. He’s already earned that out here. But from that point, the competition is on. And those guys are well informed about that.”

Carroll said there’s no timeline on when he will name a starter for the 2012 season.

“The format is really just to do everything I can to organize it and orchestrate, so they get a legit shot of showing what they can do with all of the guys that are available,” Carroll said.

Jackson finished 7-7 as the starter in his first year in Seattle, but he also struggled in late-game situations, and understood there would be competition for the starting job in his second season.

“I knew,” said Jackson, when asked if he was disappointed that Seattle added Flynn in free agency and drafted Wilson in the third round. “It’s going on my seventh year, so I understand the game now and understand how things work.

“I’m not a (general manager), I’m not a head coach, so I can’t go and pick exactly who they want, or say, ‘Don’t get a quarterback.’

“If I could I would, believe me,” he said with a laugh. “But that’s not how things work, so I’m just here to compete and may the best man win.”

Flynn looked smooth, got rid of the ball quickly and appeared comfortable during Seattle’s 45-minute workout last week, the first opportunity for reporters to see Flynn in action.

“I know that everything I do matters,” Flynn said. “In Green Bay I kind of had the luxury of kind of sitting back and learning, and being able to take my time in the progression of becoming a better quarterback.

“But I come in here, and now I get to compete and get the opportunity. And that’s what I came here for, and that’s what I’m excited about.”

Flynn said learning Seattle’s new offense has been helped by the fact that Seattle’s version of the West Coast offense is very similar to the West Coast offense he was groomed under in Green Bay.

Post contributed from our Seahawks report for The Sports Xchange

That meant the release of LB Tressor Baptiste, DE John Graves and DB Jesse Hoffman, a local product out of Eastern Washington who was in training camp with the Seahawks last year.

Baptiste (Texas A&M-Kingsville) and Graves (Virginia Tech) spent time on the practice squad in 2011, but none of the three players released Monday has spent time on an active roster in the NFL.

And the Seahawks wasted little time, announcing deals with eight picks Monday, including first-round pick Bruce Irvin.

The others to sign are:
LB Bobby Wagner (2nd round)
QB Russell Wilson (3rd)
LB Korey Toomer (5th)
CB Jeremy Lane (6th)
S Winston Guy (6th)
OG J.R. Sweezy (7th)
DE Greg Scruggs (7th)

The NFL also announced the offseason schedules last week. The Hawks have a rookie minicamp this Friday through Sunday, and the organized team activities get underway May 22-24.

There will be another OTA May 30-June 1 and a minicamp June 12-14 before the team breaks until training camp.

We’re no different. I admittedly loved Aaron Curry. Met him at the Combine, thought he was intelligent, witty and driven. Unfortunately, that didn’t make up for a disturbing lack of instincts for the game.

So looking back at the Hawks’ draft over the weekend, we really won’t know what to make of it until about 2015. Will Bruce Irvin prove to be a reach or a steal? Will Russell Wilson‘s incredible athleticism overcome his lack of height?

Time will tell. But my early impressions are this: the Seahawks think they’re closer to competing than most of the “experts” believe. That explains the Irvin pick – he was targeted by the team weeks ago despite being a two-down player. He’s the difference-maker the staff believes the defense lacked.

The only real disappointment in my opinion was the lack of offensive line depth or adding a wide receiver in a deep draft class at the position. Stacking up on linebackers and defensive tackles and seeing who pans out is a shotgun approach in the middle and late rounds. I would have loved to have seen a versatile OL in the group – someone who can play guard or tackler and provide legitimate backup depth for inevitable injuries.

I also wasn’t particularly high on the Robert Turbin pick – yet another backup running back certainly wasn’t a need in the fourth round. Jeremy Lane is a kid who didn’t even start until his senior year at Northwestern State, although he was heavily in the rotation as a junior. But an extremely raw prospect we didn’t even have a profile on entering the draft.

Ultimately, this draft will be graded on Irvin, Wagner and Wilson, and perhaps one or two mid- to late-rounders who emerge and be productive. We’ll check back after the 2015 season and give you our real thoughts.

If you’re curious, the 2009 draft included Curry, Max Unger, Deon Butler, Mike Teel, Courtney Greene, Nick Reed and Cameron Morrah.

Granted, it was the previous regime, but using the three-year guidline, that class gets a solid C-. Curry is gone, Unger is a solid starter, Butler was derailed by the leg injury, Teel is out of the league, Greene and Reed are teetering on it and Morrah is a decent rotation player.

So here are my initial reactions to the Seahawks’ first three picks based on the year-long analysis of our draft business.

–Bruce Irvin: Like the pick or not, the argument that the Seahawks could have waited for another pass rusher deemed to be rated in a similar area is off base. Bottom line, Irvin has a unique skill set that fits a very specific role in this defense. It’s a role that Charles Haley played for the 49ers and Clay Matthews and Brian Cushing played at USC, and not just any pass rusher can handle it. Chris Clemons has done an admirable job, and hopefully he can mentor Irvin. Is it a gamble? Yes. Could it bomb? Absolutely. But denigratig the pick based on where Irvin’s “value” in the pass rushing class should be is off base at best.

–Bobby Wagner: A typical Pete Carroll linebacker. He played outside at Utah State, but probably lacks the speed to stay there in the NFL. Wagner pops a serious punch and will continue to add to the physical nature of the defense. He was the MVP of the Senior Bowl, and is a good candidate to move inside and compete with Barrett Ruud for the starting job right away.

–Russell Wilson: He’ll probably cause an even bigger divide among the fan base than Irvin. Only two QBs as short as Wilson have been successful in NFL going back to 1954 — Eddie LeBaron (5-7) and Doug Flutie (5-9 3/4). That said, I love the pick.

If the kid was two inches taller he’d be a first-round pick. Granted, he’s not, and Wilson faces an uphill battle. But he’s a winner with a big arm and is an on-field leader. I flat out really like the kid and the way he competes. Let him get some practice reps behind Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson, and with Jackson potentially leaving as a free agent after next season, Wilson can potentially step into the backup role.

Sure, Josh Portis has some exciting natural talent, but he is nowhere near ready to play in the NFL – and quite honestly may never be. The Seahawks can stash Wilson on the roster, see how he acclimates to the pro game and potentially have Flynn’s backup for years to come.