Mike Wahle was released by the Seattle Seahawks after failing a physical. If I had to guess, I would say that Wahle’s career in the National Football League is done.
Wahle has been struggling with a shoulder injury, and was recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. This wasn’t a complete surprise, but it definitely comes as bad news for the Seahawks.
I’ll have more posted tonight about how this will change Seattle’s plans up front, and who will take Wahle’s starting spot at left guard.

Yesterday, the Seattle Seahawks came to terms with second-round draft pick Max Unger, ensuring the rookie will report to camp on time. The four-year deal reportedly guarantees $1.95 million and guarantees well over $3 million.
This leaves Aaron Curry as the only rookie yet to sign a contract, but Tim Ruskell is apparently optimistic that the linebacker will report to training camp soon.
From Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times:
Ruskell said the team has been talking non-stop with Curry’s representatives the past two days and still hopes to have him in camp on time.
Unger, who got quite a few reps at left [...]

It is quite obvious that the front office was interested in wide receiver Deon Butler. They were so intrigued by Butler that they felt it necessary to trade back into the third round to select him. Seattle paid a high price to obtain Butler; Philadelphia received a 2010 third-round pick, plus fifth- and seventh-round picks in the 2009 draft from Seattle as compensation.
The draft pick obtained from Philadelphia was obviously used to select wide receiver Deon Butler, but why? Why was Seattle so interested in Butler, an undersized, yet productive, wide receiver from Penn State? Why did they feel [...]

Tim Ruskell showed great proficiency in the second round of last April’s NFL Draft. The Seahawks sent their second-round pick (37th overall) to the Denver Broncos in exchange for Denver’s natural 2010 first-round selection. Staying active late in the first day of the draft, Seattle maneuvered back into the second round, trading their third- and fourth-round selections to Chicago for the 49th overall choice.
Seattle used the pick obtained from Chicago to draft Max Unger, a highly rated offensive lineman who was projected as a late first- to early second-round choice. The Seahawks achieved great value in selecting Unger late in [...]

It isn’t often that a linebacker is selected first overall in the NFL Draft. In fact, it hasn’t happened since 1988, when the Atlanta Falcons made Aundray Bruce the first overall pick.
Since then, there have been a handful of linebackers selected in the top five, but none quite worthy of the top spot. In the 2009 NFL Draft, Aaron Curry was chosen fourth overall. But if the Detroit Lions had selected him with the first overall choice, no one would’ve second guessed the pick. Actually, some people might argue that is what they should’ve done.
Charlie Casserly, a former general manager [...]

Alright, so my assumption was wrong. Long snapper Kevin Houser was not added to entice competition during training camp. Apparently, Seattle signed Houser with the intention of giving him possession of the job, should he perform as expected.
The Seahawks released long snapper Bryan Pittman on Saturday. According to Mike Sando of ESPN.com, Pittman suffered a non-football injury to his hand that could take up to four weeks to heal. Pittman was signed last May to solidify a position that has been unstable since 2006.
An obvious unfortunate set of circumstances for Pittman; it is uncertain whether or not he’ll have to [...]

Jeffri Chadiha of ESPN.com put together a list of NFL stars who need to rebound from harsh 2008 seasons. Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck makes the list at number ten. From Chadiha:
No team’s record was more distorted last season than the Seahawks’. Hasselbeck missed nine games because of back and knee injuries, and his absence was a key reason the Seahawks finished 4-12. But don’t think that Hasselbeck won’t face more questions now that he’s heading into his 11th season. At 34 years old, he’s reached a point in his career that his physical condition should be on the minds of [...]

Deon Butler, the receiver drafted by Seattle in the third round of last April’s draft, has agreed to a four-year contract with the team.
According to a report from ProFootballTalk.com, Butler signed a four-year contract that includes a $680,750 signing bonus and could be worth up to $3.173 million.
The former Penn State Nittany Lion, who is responsible for breaking many of Bobby Engram’s old school records, was a player that Seattle targeted in the early rounds of the NFL Draft. Seattle traded their fifth-round and seventh-round choices in 2009 and their third-round pick in 2010 to obtain the rights to draft [...]

The Seahawks have signed veteran long-snapper Kevin Houser, most likely to provide competition at the position during training camp. Houser will compete with Bryan Pittman, who was also signed this off-season, for the job.
In my opinion, this is just a routine personnel move – you can never have too much competition, and it should bring out the best in both players.
After dealing with snapping problems since J.P. Darche left the team, I’m happy to see that the Seahawks are aggressively pursuing a better option. After the experiments with Boone Stutz and others, I’m ready for the organization to find someone [...]

Some Seattle fans just aren’t ready to let Super Bowl XL go, even over three years later. In fact, a lot of them aren’t – hell, I haven’t even gotten over it myself.
Over forty-four thousand online signatures have been obtained for a petition to the National Football League that protests alleged unfair officiating and corruption. The petition is still open today, and is still attracting the attention of numerous fans.
The petition reads:

To: National Football League:
We, the fans of the NFL, will no longer stand by and allow our pure game to be corrupted by blatant bias. Superbowl XL was the [...]