All signs point to the end for Shaun Alexander in Seattle

Published 10:08 pm Saturday, March 8, 2008

You have to wonder what’s going through Shaun Alexander’s mind right about now.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren and team president Tim Ruskell say they have no plans to release the team’s all-time leading rusher.

Yet, they signed free agent T.J. Duckett last week and agreed to terms with free agent Julius Jones Friday. This, despite Holmgren’s claim at the end of the season that he believes Alexander still has productive years in him.

The quandary: It’s getting pretty crowded in the Seahawks backfield.

Duckett isn’t the player who would replace Alexander. At 275 pounds, Duckett is the big-bodied, short-yardage specialist the Seahawks have needed to shore up their third-and-short situations. Duckett also can play some fullback.

But he won’t replace Alexander.

Jones, who is expected to sign a 4-year deal worth nearly $12 million, may be a sign that the Seahawks are going in a different direction. Since earning the 2005 MVP award, Alexander, 30, has been injured and largely ineffective.

Jones, 27 in August, is just two years’ removed from the only 1,000-yard season of his career. He was made expendable by the Cowboys with the emergence last season of Pro Bowler Marion Barber, and ran for just 588 yards and two touchdowns, the lowest numbers of his career.

Jones’ expected signing may also affect the future of backup Mo Morris because of the numbers both in the backfield and in the salary cap. Jones is thought to be more durable, able to physically withstand 250-carry seasons, which he did in 2005 and 2006. Morris, more elusive than Jones, has never approached 250 carries.

Alexander’s presence is problematic, considering his immediate, unproductive past. He is scheduled to make $4.475 million next season. His contract counts $6.775 million against the salary cap because of the pro-rated part of his signing bonus — $11.5 million spread over the first five years of his contract.

If the Seahawks released Alexander now, they would not have to pay his salary, but he still would count $6.9 million against the salary cap. They could designate him as a post-June 1 release, in which case he would count $2.3 million against the cap this season, $4.6 million next year.

Or the Seahawks could elect to keep him.

It’s possible, too, that Seattle could draft a running back in April, especially if Oregon’s Jonathan Stewart of Illinois’ Rashard Mendenhall is available in the 25th spot of the first round.

That might well mean the Seahawks could have a complete backfield makeover for next season.

The latest additions continue to revamp the Seahawks’ weak running game. They fired offensive line coach Bill Laveroni at the end of the season, replacing him with former Kansas City offensive coordinator Mike Solari. They also signed former Pro Bowl offensive guard Mike Wahle after Carolina released him.

Jones’ prospective contributions are questionable. Proven valuable as a situational back or a complementary runner, he hasn’t shown to be a consistent feature back. He may serve as a stopgap between Alexander and the Seahawks’ next franchise back.

The real question is whether the Seahawks are better with Jones or Alexander, who has missed nine games the past two years and appears to have lost at least a step from his prime.

What’s certain is that neither Jones nor Alexander is the longterm answer, which only elevates the probability of the Seahawks drafting a running back.

Actions, however, don’t lie. And the Seahawks’ recent actions lead to the inevitable conclusion that Alexander’s time here appears short.

Regardless of what Holmgren and Ruskell might say.

Sports columnist John Sleeper: sleeper@heraldnet.com. For Sleeper[`]s blog, “Dangling Participles,” go to cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/danglingparticiples.