A new TE, a three-way QB battle, and other Seahawks notes

The Seahawks wrapped up a three-day OTA today, which meant a chance to chat with new tight end Kellen Winslow, who Seattle acquired in a trade Monday.

Winslow said he has no ill will towards the Buccaneers, who decided to trade him after making a coaching change in the offseason despite him being a very productive pass catcher the past three seasons, and that he is just happy to have a new opportunity in Seattle. He also joked that he liked it here because, "I can breath out here," which apparently wasn't always the case in humid Florida.

"I just wasn't part of their vision," he said of Tampa Bay. "I'm here now and I'm happy. . . I'm just happy to be a piece of the puzzle."

Winslow said he envisions he and Zach Miller teaming to form a TE duo similar to what the Patriots have in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Now obviously the Seahawks would be thrilled to even get anything close to that production out of their tight ends, but the point Winslow was making is that the two have different enough styles that they will compliment each other well. While Miller is a more traditional tight end who is both a good pass catcher and blocker, and a player who mostly lines up next to a tackle, Winslow is someone who will move around the formation more and play similar to a receiver.

"He's a wide receiver in a tight end's body," Carroll said.

Other than the addition of Winslow, the big topic of discussion in this OTA--and let's face it, the big topic of conversation between now and when a starter is named--is the three-way QB battle between Matt Flynn, Tarvaris Jackson and Russell Wilson.

The three split reps on Thursday, though on this day Wilson got a few more reps than the others. The other two days, which weren't open to the media, saw Jackson and Flynn get a bit more action. What is clear is that this three-way competition is a lot more than simple Pete Carroll coach speak. When Carroll announced after the rookie minicamp earlier this month that Wilson would be in the competition, some people just chalked that up to Carroll hyperbole, but based on what we've seen so far, Wilson will get a chance. Now granted it is only May, and Carroll said he has no timetable on how this competition will play out, but he did indicate that it could come down to how the three play in the preseason, which seems to mean he is in no hurry to name a starter or narrow the field.

Among those absent were DE Bruce Irvin, who is in West Virginia for the funeral of former Mountaineers coach Bill Stewart, WR Golden Tate, who injured his hand Wednesday and is in a cast (Carroll didn't give any further update on the injury) and DE Chris Clemons, whose absence Carroll did not explain other than to say, "he's not here."