Seahawks sign Marcus Trufant for 6 years

KIRKLAND — Marcus Trufant is getting married on Saturday.

And before he ties the knot with his fiancee, Jessica, the Seahawks tied him up for the next six years.

Trufant signed a six-year contract Wednesday that totals $50.2 million. The deal includes a $10 million signing bonus, another $10 million in roster bonuses over the next three years.

Trufant has played in this state for every step of his football career, and now he's staying put.

"You have your gut feeling," Trufant said Wednesday at the Seahawks headquarters. "You know what's right and you know where you're supposed to be at the end of the day, and it just felt like I'm always supposed to be a Seahawk."

The deal ends a negotiation that began before the season started, the stakes increasing as Trufant played his way to the Pro Bowl for the first time in 2007.

The Seahawks designated him their franchise player in February, which required the team to offer him the average of the five highest-paid NFL players at that position. For cornerbacks, that number was $9.5 million.

The sides continued working toward a long-term agreement.

"It never got ugly," president Tim Ruskell said of the negotiation. "It was long and it was hard and it was -- at times -- tough, but when two entities have the same goal of having Marcus Trufant be here for a long time, you keep pushing and you keep pushing and it gets done."

Trufant will now count less against the Seahawks' salary cap in 2008 than he would have as the franchise player. That gives the Seahawks room to sign the rookies it drafts in April. Without a deal with Trufant, the team may have had to restructure contracts or change the roster.

Trufant, 27, was a first-round draft pick in 2002, he intercepted a career-high seven passes last season. This is the second long-term agreement the Seahawks have struck on the defense in the past week. The team agreed to a contract extension for linebacker Lofa Tatupu last week.