SEATTLE — Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll expressed optimism a week ago that his team would re-sign offensive lineman Stephen Schilling, which would provide much-needed depth for a line that traded center Max Unger and lost left guard James Carpenter to free agency.
When asked again about Schilling on Thursday, however, Carroll’s tune had changed, saying he “had high hopes for that happening,” but that Schilling should speak to why it wouldn’t.
Well it turns out Carroll was being vague because he didn’t want to be the one to announce that Schilling, a Bellevue High School graduate, has decided to retire after four seasons in the NFL.
The 26-year-old Schilling, who was a sixth-round pick out of Michigan in 2011, signed with Seattle last offseason and ended up starting three games at center when Unger was injured. Schilling’s season, however, was cut short by a knee injury.
Despite the Seahawks having interest in bringing Schilling back, especially after the Unger trade, he decided to retire, calling it, “Just a personal choice for me at this time in my life. I wouldn’t say there was any one reason or not. Just more of a personal choice.”
“I loved playing in Seattle and I had a wonderful time playing for the Seahawks and I will be cheering for them. And I loved coach Carroll and coach (Tom) Cable. I will always be a Seahawks fan. I had more fun playing last year than I’ve had in a while. I really enjoyed the Seahawks organization.”
“It was really difficult. But at this point in time it’s just the right decision for me.”
Schilling’s retirement means that, as of now, Patrick Lewis is the only center on the roster, though the Seahawks have hosted several veterans on free-agent visits, including Stefen Wisniewski and Chris Myers.
The Seahawks will likely address the offensive line, and possibly center in particular, in the draft later this month, and while center is one of the most important positions on the line, Carroll said they wouldn’t be afraid to play a rookie there if the right player won the job.
“We’ve had rookies start everywhere over the years,” said Carroll, who was attending the University of Washington’s Pro Day. “It just depends on the guy. If that happens, he’s going to have to be really good and have his act together to beat out some guys in our system. We’ll see how it goes.”
Notable
The Seahawks re-signed FB Will Tukuafu Wednesday, which was not necessarily an expected move considering Derrick Coleman, last year’s starting fullback to open the season, is expected to be “full-go by the time we return,” according to Carroll. But the Seahawks liked Tukuafu’s versatility enough — he played some defensive line last season as well — to bring him back even with Coleman healthy.
“Will’s going to do everything,” Carroll said. “Will’s value is that he’s so versatile, and we plan on going further with that. He’s big enough at 280 that he can get into tight end positions for some blocking situations, so we’re going to see how far we can expand his role. I don’t know how that’s going to work, but we’ll let the competition play itself out at fullback, and he’s got other things he does well too.”
Asked about Russell Wilson contract status — the Seahawks and their star quarterback are working on a contract extension this offseason —Carroll only said, “It’s ongoing. That’s really all we can say about it. It’s underway.”
Offseason workout dates set
The league announced the schedule for teams’ offseason workouts, which for Seattle kicks off with phase one on April 20. The first phase of offseason work is limited to strength and conditioning work, while the later organized team activities and minicamps involve on-field work.
The Seahawks have voluntary OTAs May 26-28, June 2-4 and June 8-11. Seattle’s mandatory minicamp is scheduled for June 16-18, though while players will be at the facility for three days, they can only have one on-field practice, the result of the NFL punishing Seattle for a minicamp practice being too physical last year.
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