Seahawks go shopping with tight budget

KIRKLAND — The corner. It's the spot where Marcus Trufant played his way to the Pro Bowl this past season.

The corner is also the spot the Seahawks find themselves with NFL free agency under way and no long-term agreement in place for Trufant.

The Seahawks are not in danger of losing him. By designating him their franchise player, they can match any offer and keep him or get two first-round picks as compensation. But that designation comes at a steep price: nearly $9.5 million. They can still sign him to a long-term deal, which would lessen the impact on this year's salary cap because signing bonuses are prorated over many years.

As it stands now, Seattle has little room to add free agents under its current payroll structure.

"It's made it tough," president Tim Ruskell said. "We would have been better off if we had got a deal done."

Trufant would have preferred that, too, and get the big-bucks signing bonus that comes with a multiyear contract.

The Seahawks could have then used the franchise tag on kicker Josh Brown. Now, Brown is an unrestricted free agent who officially hit the open market at 9 p.m. Thursday night and Ruskell said the Seahawks payroll is so tight that any addition is probably going to be counterbalanced by subtraction.

"Some moves that we make the next few days will show you it's very tough," Ruskell said. "Some players may have to leave the roster."

A year ago, the Seahawks cannonballed into free agency. They courted San Diego guard Kris Dielman and then doled out more than $18 million in signing bonuses to add defensive end Patrick Kerney and safeties Deon Grant and Brian Russell in the first week.

Tight end Alge Crumpler was in Seattle to be evaluated Thursday, but this year, free agency isn't as much about big-budget additions for Seattle as avoiding attrition. The Seahawks agreed to an extension with tackle Sean Locklear. The other priorities were re-signing Trufant and Brown.

"We want to be focused on signing our own," Ruskell said. "You do a good job of drafting and it comes to the point where you want to sign your own. Keep that continuity going."

That brings us back to Trufant, a product from this state at every level from McCarver Elementary School up to Truman Middle School and on to Wilson High School in Tacoma. He went to Washington State, played his way into being the No. 11 pick of the draft in 2003 and this past season he intercepted seven passes and played his way into the Pro Bowl.

Now, there's a divide between the Seahawks and their cornerback.

"It's more than the money deal," Ruskell said. "It's a philosophical difference ... 'Who is in the elite class and where in the elite class is Marcus?' is kind of what it boils down to."

Ruskell said there are shutdown corners and listed Darrell Green, Deion Sanders and Denver's Champ Bailey.

"Those guys have been the guys that have got the big bucks throughout the last 20, 25 years," Ruskell said.

Then, Ruskell talked about cornerbacks who are well-rounded. Players who cover and tackle.

"I think Marcus is at the very top of the very good, does everything-well-type category," Ruskell said. "That's where our offer is."

Ruskell indicated Seattle is willing to offer up to what Bailey received from Denver (seven years, $63 million). That was done in 2004 under the previous NFL collective-bargaining agreement, and the salary cap has increased significantly.

The current landmark deal for cornerbacks is the contract Nate Clements signed with San Francisco last season, which is scheduled to pay him more than $40 million over the first five years of the contract. The next deal to watch is what cornerback Asante Samuel will sign as an unrestricted free agent, a contract most expect to occur within the first week of NFL free agency.

That's the next domino to watch for.

"The good news is that will get us talking again," Ruskell said. "That would be the next event. We're never going to miss an opportunity to do that. It helps our team to get him done, and he's an important part of our football team."

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com