RENTON — It took a bit longer than they had hoped, but the Seahawks finally got their man Tuesday, acquiring running back Marshawn Lynch in a trade with the Buffalo Bills.
“We’ve been interested in Marshawn for a long time, and it finally came together,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “(General manager John Schneider) got it worked out with their people, and we’re pleased to get him. It’s a guy that I’ve known for a long time, going through recruiting in high school.”
The hope for the Seahawks is that Lynch can provide a spark for a rushing attack that has struggled through the first four games, averaging 79.5 yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry. In the past nine games, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has Seattle’s only two rushing touchdowns. The team announced that the trade was for two undisclosed draft picks, which according to multiple reports are a 2011 fourth-rounder and a conditional 2012 pick.
Julius Jones was released to make room for Lynch on the roster. Jones, the team’s leading rusher each of the past two seasons, has seen his role decrease with each game this season to the point that he wasn’t even active for Sunday’s game in St. Louis.
Lynch, 24 and a former first-round pick out of the University of California, rushed for 1,115 yards as a rookie in 2007 and 1,036 a year later. He went to the Pro Bowl following the 2008 season as an injury replacement for Chris Johnson, but lost his starting job the next season when he was limited to 450 yards on 120 carries. The Bills then drafted running back C.J. Spiller in the first round this year, and Buffalo has been shopping Lynch ever since. As Carroll said, the Seahawks were one of the teams interested going back several months, but it took until this week to get a deal done.
“We bring a guy into the program that we think is going to give us a little boost,” Carroll said. “We’ve emphasized trying to get this running game in order, and we hope that he’ll help us in that regard. So we’re pleased to get that done.”
The assumption is that Lynch will come in as the immediate starter. Carroll wouldn’t go so far as to say that, but he made it clear that Lynch will be a big part of the offense.
“We’re going to bring him in to play a lot, and we’ll wait and see when we get him here, but we’re going to play him a bunch,” he said.
The Seahawks hope to get Lynch into Seattle in time to practice today, which will give him a head start in preparing for Seattle’s next game, which is Oct. 17 in Chicago.
Lynch should be an upgrade to the Seahawks’ running game right away. Carroll also stressed that they see him as a part of their long-term plans as well.
“The fact that Marshawn is 24 years old and he’s just getting started in his career and he’s got a couple of years left on his contract, we know that we’re digging in with him as one of our guys,” Carroll said. “We like the fact that he’s a young productive guy that can come to the program, but we’re counting on him coming to help us now. This is a move to help us immediately that we know has longevity to it because of his makeup and his age and all.”
Carroll is very familiar with Lynch, having recruited him when Lynch was a high school standout in Oakland. Lynch turned down Carroll and USC, however, to go to Cal, where he was teammates with current Seahawks running back Justin Forsett and defensive tackle Brandon Mebane.
And even though Lynch likely will cut into the playing time of Forsett, who has started all four games this season. Still, Forsett said he is happy to be reunited with his former college teammate. The two talk every week, Forsett said, and Lynch was a groomsman in Forsett’s wedding this summer.
“He’s been like a brother to me for a while now,” he said. “… Coach definitely stressed competition, and me and Marshawn have worked together in the past, so I definitely have no issue with that.”
Lynch also comes to Seattle with baggage, however, having dealt with legal troubles during his time in Buffalo. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to a traffic violation after striking a female pedestrian with his car and driving away. Last year, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge in Los Angeles after police found a semiautomatic handgun in the trunk of a car Lynch was sitting in. He was suspended for three games last season for violation of the league’s personal conduct policy.
The troubled player in Buffalo is not the person Forsett knows well enough to refer to as a brother, however.
“He has a big heart,” Forsett said. “He’s one of those guys that goes out, and I can recall many times on campus somebody would say, ‘Hey Marshawn, I love those shoes’ or, ‘Hey, I love that shirt’ or something. He would take it right off his back and give it to them, literally. Took his shoes off, his shirt off, it didn’t matter. He’s a guy that literally takes his shirt off for you.”
Pitts returns
The Seahawks confirmed that they have re-signed guard Chester Pitts, who was released last week. Carroll said when the team cut Pitts, who is coming back from microfracture surgery, that they hoped to bring him back soon. Guard Evan Dietrich-Smith was released to make room on the roster.
“We’re happy to have him back,” Carroll said. “He’s one of us and we want him to be a big part of us. And we’re shooting on the Chicago game for him to contribute… But we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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