Seahawks still making moves

By Chris Cluff  |   Thursday, September 06, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Seattle Seahawks
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The Seattle Seahawks had a very busy final preseason weekend, dealing with three disappointments and adding three new veterans on the eve of the season. And they're not done yet.

The big downers were the loss of ace run stopper Marcus Tubbs for the season, as well as the regression of third quarterback David Greene and safety Michael Boulware.

Tubbs, the former first-round defensive tackle who was coming back from major surgery on his left knee, tore his right ACL in the final preseason game and had to go on injured reserve.

Greene, in his third camp with the Seahawks, continued to play poorly, and the team wisely - and somewhat surprisingly - chose to cut him to save a spot for a better player at another position.

And Boulware, the former starter who faced an uphill battle after the Seahawks signed Deon Grant and Brian Russell in the offseason, was traded.

The team quickly found a replacement for Tubbs, signing former Tampa Bay defensive lineman Ellis Wyms and cutting tackle Russell Davis. But the Seahawks acutely felt - and will continue to feel - the loss of Tubbs, whose career seems to be in jeopardy after two separate serious knee injuries.

"It's hard. It's very, very hard," coach Mike Holmgren told reporters. "He worked so hard to come back and was looking forward to playing.

"He's just one of those players ... where you have a very talented player that can't get on the field. Call it unlucky. Call it whatever. The injury bug has prevented him from reaching his potential on the field. I feel bad for him."

Holmgren also feels bad about having just two quarterbacks on his roster - the first time he has ever had fewer than three. And he says that is only a temporary situation. The Seahawks have been looking for a veteran third quarterback, with Kelly Holcomb and Mark Brunell among the players they reportedly looked into acquiring via trade. They also brought in Ken Dorsey for a look earlier this week, and others are sure to follow.

Greene, a third-round pick in 2005, was cut because he couldn't hit the broad side of a receiver and had not gotten any better in his two-plus years with the team. The Seahawks cut him after they traded for running back Alvin Pearman.

That deal was made after the 'Hawks had sent Boulware to Houston for defensive end Jason Babin.

The emergence of undrafted safety C.J. Wallace made Boulware, the team's second-round pick in 2004, completely obsolete.

Babin (6-foot-2, 259 pounds) probably will become the fourth end -- behind Patrick Kerney, Darryl Tapp and Bryce Fisher but ahead of rookie Baraka Atkins.

Babin said the Seahawks told him, "We're going to give you some chances to do some damage."

"This is a great move," Babin told reporters. "In Houston, they want bigger, taller defensive ends, and I'm more of a smaller, speed guy. So they knew -- and I knew -- I didn't fit there. I think I'm a better fit in Seattle because that's what they want."

Although he still wants a third quarterback behind Matt Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace, Holmgren liked the acquisitions of Babin, Wyms and Pearman.

"I am happy with who we acquired," he said. "We got two real active defensive players and then Pearman."

And they're not done yet.
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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding, ...
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