KIRKLAND — When the Seattle Seahawks announced Friday that they had crossed off the biggest name from their 2009 to-do list, they did so with a somewhat misleading tagline.
“This will essentially make him a Seahawk for life,” team president Tim Ruskell said when the team announced a long-term extension for Pro Bowl middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu.
In reality, Friday’s news means that Tatupu will be a Seahawk for as long as the team will have him.
The Seahawks’ most important free-agent-to-be ended any speculation almost a year early by signing an extension through the 2015 season. Tatupu’s new deal could pay him up to $42 million over six years, with $18 million of that guaranteed.
During a time when the Seahawks are still trying to get Pro Bowl cornerback Marcus Trufant under a long-term deal and figure out what to do with running back Shaun Alexander, the news of Tatupu’s signing bodes well for the future.
“He’s a cornerstone of this team,” Ruskell said. “We feel like this will be a jolt for everybody on the team: ‘Hey, did you hear Lofa signed? I’d better sign too.’”
Wearing a spiffy suit while sitting between Ruskell and head coach Mike Holmgren on Friday, Tatupu beamed with pride when the announcement was made.
“I’m going to finish my career here as a Seahawk,” Tatupu said, “and it’s very rare to have a chance to do that.”
The Seahawks will have the final say on how long Tatupu, 25, remains in Seattle, but for now they have no designs on letting him move on. A Pro Bowler in each of his three NFL seasons, Tatupu has been a huge part of what the Seahawks have been able to put together on defense.
“Players like Lofa, they don’t come along all the time,” Holmgren said. “He’s a special man and a special player.”
Tatupu was a second-round pick in the 2005 draft, and he became an immediate starter who helped lead the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl appearance.
His rookie contract was scheduled to expire after the 2008 season, and the Seahawks did not want to get themselves into another sticky position about whether to use their franchise tag. Instead, they locked up their most high-profile impending free agent until after his 32nd birthday.
“Now it feels like we can go wherever we want to go” in future free agency periods, Ruskell said.
The deal probably means the Seahawks are finished signing high-profile free agents for this signing period. In order to make the deal happen, Ruskell said, four Seahawks restructured their contracts. Defensive end Patrick Kerney, safety Deon Grant, defensive tackle Craig Terrill and defensive back Jordan Babineaux made financial sacrifices to get Tatupu signed.
“I owe them a dinner, to say the least,” Tatupu said.
He’s probably got plenty more years to pick out the perfect Seattle restaurant.
“I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Tatupu said. “I couldn’t picture myself in any other uniform, and now I don’t have to.”
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