5 Veteran Free Agents The Seattle Seahawks Should Sign Before Training Camp Beings

Dec 24, 2011; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (7) passes the ball during the 2nd half against the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field. San Francisco defeated Seattle 19-17. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Now the he who shall not be named has signed with the Patriots (I promised I wouldn’t write about him, so I’m not even going to use his name here), we can finally do this without him being brought up in the comments. There are still some quality free agents out there, and while the Seahawk’s roster is stacked at most positions, there is still room for some additional depth at others.

Here’s my list of 5 free agents the Seahawks should strongly consider bringing in before the start of training camp:

1. Eric Winston – One of the game’s best RTs last year, Winston has apparently priced himself out of a job so far. Hopefully he’s now realized that his price tag was too high, and is willing to take less just to get a job. With OT currently being the thinest position of the team, Winston would be a great addition to add depth and injury insurance heading into training camp.
2. Dallas Clark – Clark’s best years are clearly behind him at this point, but the Seahawks currently one have 1 TE on the roster who’s played more than 15 professional snaps. The Seahawks are one Zach Miller injury away from a catastrophe at the position. Even if Clark doesn’t make the 53 man roster, having him in camp as injury insurance makes a tremendous amount of sense.
3. Evan Rodriguez – Rodriquez was just released by the Bears yesterday. He’s a do-everything FB/TE/special teamer who’s got plenty of talent. I’ve been told that he was released because the Bears no longer wanted to deal with his off-field issues. See the explanation after Dallas Clark for why he’d make sense for the Seattle, and Pete Carroll has never worried about a player’s off-field troubles when looking for talent.
4. John Abraham – The Seahawks have already lost Bruce Irvin for the first 4 games, and Chris Clemons’s status for those same weeks wont be known until we get there. In the mean time, the Seahawks could use another body at the position to make sure they’re set once the games begin. He might be getting up there in age, but you could do much worse than Abraham.
5. Tarvaris Jackson – Released by the Bills yesterday, Seattle’s former starting QB is in need of a job. The Seahawks are still auditioning players to be Russell Wilson’s backup. We know that Jackson isn’t particularly good, but he did show that he can win half his games in this offense, which is all you can ever ask from a backup QB, and something that Brady Quinn has never done.

Obviously, no player on this list is going to make or break the 2013 season, but all of them offer depth in places where the team could use it.