Hawks kicker Brown signs 1-year tender

The Seahawks will have Mr. Clutch for at least another year and likely longer, with kicker Josh Brown signing his one-year franchise tender Tuesday.

Brown, who enters his fifth NFL season, is expected to report to the team's mandatory minicamp this weekend. He will make $2.078 million in base salary in 2007, almost three times what his salary was last season.

The Seahawks effectively kept Brown off the free-agent market in February when they gave him the franchise tag. Any team that wanted Brown after he was franchised would have had to give the Seahawks two first-round picks in exchange for signing him, and Seattle also had the right to match any offer.

Brown has made six game-winning field goals over the past two seasons, four of those in 2006 in the final minute of games to tie a season NFL record. Few kickers have ever been designated a franchise player by their respective teams.

Seattle has franchised running back Shaun Alexander and left tackle Walter Jones, both Pro Bowlers, in recent years. Brown has been a Pro Bowl alternate.

The next step for the Seahawks is to work out a long-term contract with Brown. The team is believed to already have started talks with Brown's agent.

A seventh-round draft pick out of Nebraska in 2003, Brown ranks fifth on the team's all-time scoring list with 444 points. He is second in percentage of kicks made from 50 or more yards, 58.8 (10 of 17).

Jose Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com