Brock Huard has said that all his sources are indicating that Mike Wahle will announce his retirement this afternoon. This is substantial news, but not unforeseen. We heard a few weeks ago that Wahle's injury was "bone on bone" in his shoulder. No one could be expected to play with that sort of pain, and it appears that Wahle will not.

We'll update this thread as we hear anything.

[By the way, nothing new on the Curry situation, but he has until 3:30 to sign and get to the first session of training camp.]

Let it be known now, before camp begins firing on all cylinders:

Tim Ruskell has said the Seahawks will not carry two kickers this year.

Kicker Olindo Mare did a fine job on kickoffs and field goals last year for the Seahawks, who replaced former franchise player and winner of the Lifetime Assclown Achievement award, Josh Brown. Mare went 24-for-27 on FG attempts and had excellent range and accuracy on kickoffs -- something that challenger Brandon Coutu will be hard-pressed to match in camp.

Ruskell then went on to explain the reasoning behind why the team carried both Mare and Coutu last year.

"We like Brandon and think he can kick in the National Football League," Ruskell said. "That won't happen this year. We'll go with one guy. And it'll be a nice battle to watch. They've both done well so far.

"Part of the reason for holding on to him last year was we were getting interest from other teams. So we thought maybe at some point prior to the trade deadline (they'd make a deal), but it just didn't happen. And with the injuries we had enough room to keep him and it didn't hurt us. So we just kept him and said we'll have this competition go for another year."

The only knock on Mare's continued tenure with the team that I can think of would be age. Coutu is much younger and would offer more longevity to the Seahawks' kicking game. Offseason workouts with Morten Anderson can't hurt, either. Hopefully Mort worked on kickoff power, which is an area that makes the incumbent Mare a little more favorable then Coutu.

Camp this year will offer no shortage of position battles, and this is one we haven't really thought about much until now. I wouldn't see a problem with keeping either, but right now I'd say the edge goes to Mare just on the basis of his solid performance last year. Coutu will have to put in everything he's got to oust him.

Based on a tweet from 11 minutes ago, it sounds like that might not change prior to the start of camp today. (Hat tip to Mrs. Seahawk Addict for catching this!)

Still in contract negotiations....congrats to jason and darius for having theirs done and be able to play the game we all love

Well, not exactly the best news, but it's better than nothing, eh? When do you think Curry will sign?

Sando is reporting that today may indeed be the most critical day in Mike Wahle's career. Wahle's first day of Training Camp physical may determine what he does for the rest of his career - and if that career ends today.Sando:

Wahle, 32, has struggled to recover from a shoulder injury and might be forced to miss the season or retire if he fails the physical exam Friday. Seahawks veterans are reporting to camp Friday, but the team has already bought some insurance against losing Wahle.

Losing Wahle is not the end of the world, but it certainly would be a blow to this line. Despite Wahle being the culprit of two back-breaking penalties in 2008, both calls were suspect (and both were claimed to be bad calls by the announcers, just for the record). Wahle played very well and, as I've said before, he made Walter Jones play much better. Playing next to a Pro Bowler like Wahle, someone who lives, breathes, sleeps the game is markedly different from... well, Rob Sims.

Cross your fingers, guys. Without Wahle, this line and this team gets a little worse. Your thoughts?

A majority of observers figured that Seattle was going to draft an offensive lineman in the 2009 draft at a fairly high position. Some figured the team would draft more than one and there was talk that their first choice could be an offensive lineman. When the dust settled, Ruskell had at first seemed to bypass the opportunity to draft one of the best offensive line prospects by trading the Seahawks second round choice to Denver for their first rounder in 2010 but he kept making calls and kept the Seahawks in the game until another opportunity presented itself. He then traded the Seahawks third and fourth round choices to move back into the second round and grab Max Unger of Oregon.

Unger, who played tackle and center in college, will initially work at guard for the Seahawks. He was one of the top 50 guard prospects in the nation coming out of high school despite only playing organized football since the ninth grade. He recorded close to 100 pancake blocks as a junior for the 2002 BIIF champions.  Although he hasn’t had experience playing guard in college, he projected as a guard/center with most NFL teams. Considered one of the two elite centers in this draft along with Alex Mack, Unger was expected by some scouts to go in either the bottom of the first round or early in the second. As Unger kept falling past the top of the second round, Ruskell kept trying to make a deal to get back in the round and nab him knowing he wouldn’t last long and he finally got his lineman with the 49th overall selection after making the trade. Seattle figures to have gotten very good value by acquiring Denver’s first rounder next year and drafting Unger too for whom they would have gladly spent the high second round pick they traded to Denver if the draft had gone in a different direction.

Ruskell has a history of trading up in the first three rounds and spending one of Seattle’s first four picks in the process to nab a player he covets. He did it with Lofa Tatupu who then made the Pro Bowl his first three seasons with the Seahawks. He then did it again last season with John Carlson who then set most of the current Seahawk single season tight end records in just his rookie season. Now, you can add Unger to that list of players that Ruskell spent picks to move up and grab before another team could move in and steal the player away from him. He also traded up to acquire Deon Butler in the 2009 draft. Both players warrant keeping your eyes on this season to see if Ruskell once again spent draft picks wisely to acquire special players as his prior acquisitions turned out to be. Unger has that kind of ability according to most scouts. To continue reading press Read more... below. no comments

Put this one in the "Mike Wahle, *gulp*" file: The Seahawks have signed OG Cory Withrow, according to Danny O'Neil's twitter feed.

This isn't a big signing, but it does provide more depth at the guard position which is increasingly looking like the top position battle on the Hawks this year. He did not see any action in 2008, but started 4 games in '07 and has seen action in 103 games in his career (16 starts). He's given up only 2.75 sacks in his career which is, y'know, hard to really measure with 103 games over 8 years. Still. Welcome to the Hawks!

A few of you have emailed me the Yahoo Sports / National Football Post article saying that "multiple league sources" are "mentioning" that Mike Vick "could land in Seattle" to Matt Bowen. This is being put forth by Bowen as a rumor or a news item, but it simply isn't. Multiple league sources have mentioned that Seattle could go after Vick. Seattle could go after a trade for Braylon Edwards too, but they aren't going to.

I understand that a lot of fans want Michael Vick to become a member of their team. This includes Seahawk fans. That's fine. I personally do not, and can actually think of almost no less desirable teammate for the locker room that Ruskell has put together over the last four years. Vick is an excellent athlete who has a way of making things happen on the field that are simply fun to watch. He had one excellent year and a number of okay years. His last 32 games he started, he went 15-17 with a team that was not markedly worse than the one Matt Ryan saved last year. He has a lifetime QB rating of 75.7 and completion percentage of 53.8. The only time Matt Hasselbeck has ever been below either of those numbers was last year when he was injured.

There is absolutely no sensible reason for the Seahawks to go after Vick. I think he deserves a second chance, I hope he gets it, and I hope he does fine. More than that though, I hope he's not getting that second chance in South Alaska, and I can not think of a single reason why he would be.

(Sidenote: I stand by my argument that Mora and Knapp inherited Vick and would not seek him out, regardless of personal feelings for the man. He's not a west coast quarterback, period. Also, note that Vick's only stand out years were under Reeves, despite his team's best year coming under Mora.)

As discussed in this morning's press briefing with Tim Ruskell, Jordan Babineaux is apparently going to get a shot in camp at unseating starting FS Brian Russell.

Some fans are probably going to break out the champagne at the very mention of this happening, as Russell has been taking a verbal bludgeoning on local blogs (see here, for one) for being the weakest link in Seattle's secondary last year. Also, the natural position of "Big Play Babs" is safety rather than cornerback, and many have been calling for his re-insertion into the starting lineup over Russell.

From where we stand now -- one day before the start of training camp after a dreadful season -- Babs has every chance in the world to beat out Russell for the job. Babs has unrelenting athleticism and hustle, possesses superior instincts over Russell and plays much more physically (not unlike SS Deon Grant.) Riding on all this, I see no reason why Babineaux can't one-up Russell in camp. If that ended up happening, the Seattle secondary would end up with that much more toughness and physical play. (And someone who isn't likely to bounce off a quarterback like a spitball hitting the ceiling.)

Questions to consider, while I'm at this:

-Was Russell's lackluster play in 2008 another casualty of John Marshall's schemes? After all, he played decently in 2007.

-If Babs can't oust Russell, does this spell bad news for the secondary in 2009?

-What is Babs' fate if he remains bound for the bench?

-What is Russell's fate if Babs wins the job?

As we near the start of training camp, the Seahawks will have many position battles that could decide whether or not this team is a legit contender, or another team that tears our hearts out. One of those battles rests at defensive end.

Defensive end will be a position to watch this training camp as we should see a fantastic battle for the starting left end position between Cory Redding, Lawrence Jackson and Darryl Tapp.

The right defensive end position will be anchored again by Patrick Kerney who returns from his season ending shoulder surgery. Kerney should (we hope) be healthy again and looks to repeat his 2007 season where he registered 14.5 sacks and won NFC Defensive Player of the Year honors

Where things get tricky is who is going to start at left defensive end between new-comer Cory Redding, second year man Lawrence Jackson, and fourth year veteran Darryl Tapp. Redding had been slotted in to start at RDE, but in the first official depth chart of the preseason, the Seahawks have him listed as Brandon Mebane's backup at the 3-Tech DT position. Lawrence Jackson will be playing with the first team come Friday, and it is largely his job to lose. 

However, Jackson really disappointed as a rookie last season, recording only 29 tackles and two sacks.  He often looked lost, missed gaps, and ultimately did not look like the 28th overall pick.

Darryl Tapp has been up and down since he started here in Seattle.  He has had flashes of brilliance (four sack game against St. Louis in ’07) but has never been consistent.  Tapp becomes a free agent after this season and could look to have a big year, but erratic play could signal his way out of Seattle.

As I prepare to go and see training camp first hand, I will keep an eye on this battle.  Both players have the ability to be great defensive ends.  Tapp has a great first move and can shed blockers very quickly on his way to the quarterback.

Jackson has strength and agility; he also has tenacity, but in watching him play last season, he looked like a player who got tired as the game wore on. This could also have something to do with the fact that most of his rookie campaign, Jackson played with an injured right foot.  

Perhaps the NFL season wore on him as it did the entire defense.  When your offensive has the lowest time of possession in the NFL, it wears on your defense tired, especially an undersized defense like the 2008 Seahawks.

If the Seahawks plan to return to the playoffs they will need to put pressure on the quarterback.  That is why this camp battle is so important.  Kerney could command double teams, and there are not too many outstanding right tackles in the NFC which leaves these players one-on-one. 

Its sink or swim time for Tapp and Jackson.