RENTON — On their first day back at the team’s headquarters, Seahawks players learned of big changes.
Matt Hasselbeck, a free agent who has been the team’s starting quarterback for the better part of a decade, will not be re-signed by Seattle. Instead, a league source confir
med, the Seahawks have agreed to terms with former Minnesota backup Tarvaris Jackson, who is expected to compete with Charlie Whitehurst for the starting job. The Seahawks and Jackson cannot sign a contract until Friday.
According to ESPN, Seattle also is in talks with former USC standout qua
rterback Matt Leinart, but a deal is not yet done.
“You could feel the mood in the locker room,” receiver Mike Williams said. “It was a little different. But we’ve got to move forward.”
And Tuesday’s move is certainly a sign that the Seahawks are ready to move forward from the Hasselbeck era. Hasselbeck, who turns 36 this season, is three-time Pro Bowl player who holds nearly every significant franchise passing record. He led Seattle to six playoff berths and its only Super Bowl appearance, but he also struggled during the past three seasons, including last year when he threw 17 interceptions compared to 12 touchdowns during the regular season.
Hasselbeck was dominant in a playoff win over New Orleans, however, and put up another strong performance in the season-ending loss to Chicago, leading Pete Carroll to declare after the season that re-signing Hasselbeck was the team’s “top priority.”
But a day after the lockout lifted, Carroll and general manager John Schneider instead elected to get younger at the game’s most important position, bringing in the 28-year-old Jackson to compete with Whitehurst, who turns 29 next month.
Jackson, a second-round pick in 2006 out of Division I-AA Alabama State, has started 20 games for the Vikings, including 12 in 2007, and has a career passer rating of 76.6 while throwing 24 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. He was expected to compete for the starting job in 2009, but Minnesota instead signed Brett Favre, who eventually stuck around for another year, leaving Jackson to serve as a backup again.
Touted for his arm strength and athleticism, it appears Jackson, whose deal is worth $8 million over two years according to ESPN, will finally get his chance to battle for a starting job.
“I don’t know much about Tarvaris Jackson, but I know a little bit about his situation,” Williams said. “He might come in here and have that back-against-the-wall attitude that seems to be the culture around here. A lot of guys, the list goes on and on — me, Leon (Washington), Marshawn (Lynch), (shoot) coach Carroll — it’s a fresh start for everybody. It’s good to get guys in that part of their career where they feel like they have a lot to prove and (have) a lot of want-to.”
Of course nobody is handing Jackson a starting job. In Carroll’s world, competition is gospel, and Whitehurst is expected to get a fair shot at the starting job. Whitehurst, who came to Seattle last year after four seasons as a third-string quarterback in San Diego, said he is sad to lose a friend in Hasselebeck, but is excited for what he knows could be his best shot at becoming a starter.
“I think it’s as good of an opportunity as I’m going to get and I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
Despite being new to the team and having little time to prepare, Jackson should feel comfortable in Seattle, where he will be reunited with Darell Bevell, who was the Vikings’ offensive coordinator in 2006 to 2010 before taking the same position in Seattle this offseason. And while acquiring another team’s backup may not be the move a lot of fans were hoping for, it’s at least worth noting that Jackson would not be coming here if Bevell, who knows the quarterback’s skill set and limitations as well as anyone, didn’t endorse the move.
“He played for the Vikings, so if you think about it, it makes sense,” receiver Golden Tate said. “He knows the system, so we won’t have to worry about him having to learn it.”
Tate, like several of his teammates who were on hand Tuesday, was sad to find out Hasselbeck won’t be back.
“I was hoping Matt was going to come back, because I learned a lot from him last year, and I could have learned more from him this year,” the second-year player said. “It’s weird because when you think of the Seattle Seahawks, (you think) Matt Hasselbeck, and now he’s not going to be a part of the team. I’m sure a lot of people are hurt like I am, especially the fans because they’ve been repping No. 8 for a long time now. … I hope the best for Matt, I’m going to miss him.”
Williams, while excited to see what Jackson and Whitehurst can bring to the team, said losing Hasselbeck hurts because of what the quarterback did for him last season when Williams was attempting to come back from a two-year absence from the NFL.
“I was looking forward to playing with him again,” he said. “It’s a big deal when you’re a young dude and you get a veteran quarterback to say, ‘You’re my guy, I’m going to get you the ball. Even when you’re not open, I’m going to get you the ball.’ That was a big deal to me.”
In addition to reaching an agreement with Jackson, Seattle also signed a pair of undrafted free agent quarterbacks, Josh Portis of Division II California University of Pennsylvania, and Zach Lee of Nebraska.
In addition to Lee and Portis, Seattle agreed to terms with 17 other undrafted free agents Tuesday, a group that includes University of Washington fullback Dorson Boyce and Eastern Washington and Shorecrest grad Jesse Hoffman.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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