The Seahawks didn't draft or sign a big-name receiver in free agency, but Steve Kelley believes Seattle upgraded the receiving corps when it traded for tight end Kellen Winslow.

Kelley writes: "Winslow can be the field-stretching receiver the Seahawks needed but didn't get in the April draft. He can be a big-play guy. He can be dangerous in the red zone."

General manager John Schneider told Kelley: "This falls under the category of a team need. He's a guy that brings that energy and passion that fits our group and our locker room right now.

"Kellen is so passionate about the game. He really is all ball. And those are the kind of guys you feel like it's worth bringing into your program. He's the type of guy who wants to be great."

So what do you think about the newest Seahawk?

The Seahawks wrapped up their third and final offseason team activity (OTA) this week and for once the quarterback derby wasn't the biggest news of the day.

All eyes were on Kellen Winslow (right) who wore No. 82.

It's not as if the 6-4, 240-pound tight end was limited in practice, but he didn't have a lot of opportunities to make plays. That's was probably to be expected considering Seattle traded with Tampa Bay on Monday for the one-time Pro Bowler.

Still, the Seahawks are expecting big things from Winslow. Last season, they used two tight ends on about a third of their plays and Seattle hopes to pair Winslow with Zach Miller much like New England uses Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

"We added a guy that we know can make things happen," coach Pete Carroll said. "He's got some health issues that we're going to deal with and make sure we monitor him really well so he can play his best. ... We think it's just a fantastic addition. He can make things happen. He should be a big factor on third downs and in the red zone.

"We like guys with special dimensions and he's got them. He's a route runner and he's a great, great catcher. And he does stuff after the ball when he catches it too. Zach is a dynamic Y tight end in this offense We can use him for so many special things because he's good at it. These two guys going and the way we can mix it, it's real exciting for our offense."

Winslow said he was a little surprised to be traded to Seattle. He acknowledged a clash with new Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano and said: "New regime comes in and sometimes you just don't fit."

"I'm going to miss my teammates out there, my boys," Winslow added. "I've grown together a lot with those guys, but it's the NFL. It's hard. It's good to have a job you know. It's good to have a job so I'll be OK."

Winslow has a chronic knee injury suffered in a 2005 motorcycle accident that will force him to manage his practice time.

He has allergies and is happy to be in Seattle because he had difficulty breathing in Tampa.

Winslow considered playing for Rich Neuheisel at Washington before starring at Miami.

"Yeah small world," he said. "So I'm finally here."

IN OTHER NEWS:

--- The quarterback competition continued between incumbent Tarvaris Jackson, newcomer Matt Flynn and rookie Russell Wilson.

Jackson took the bulk of the reps with the starters Tuesday and Flynn got the lion's share Wednesday. Today it was Wilson's turn.

During the non-contact practice, the 5-11 rookie was effective rolling out of the pocket and displayed good mobility while scrambling to extend plays.

However, he had some struggles throwing out of the pocket particularly during a gruesome four-play stretch in a 7-on-7 drill. It started with a sensational diving interception by Kam Chancellor on a pass intended for Doug Baldwin. Wilson then misfired on the next three passes, twice overthrowing open receivers down field.

Rookie linebacker Bobby Wagner also intercepted a pass from Jackson, which was the only substantial blemish for the quarterback. He had a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage and was whistled for a sack, but otherwise zipped passes all over the field.

Meanwhile Flynn showed good grasp of the offense and accuracy while floating the ball into tight spaces for long gains.

"This is a complex test that they're up against," Carroll said. "The fact that they're functioning and holding it together is a good sign. ... T-Jack and Matt had a big day yesterday. It's going to go a little bit like that as we go through it. We'll just accumulate a lot of information and figure it out as we go down the road. We're really thrilled about the way they're battling."

--- The competition got a little heated at times between the receivers and defensive backs. Receiver Ben Obomanu tangled with rookie cornerback Jeremy Lane, which sparked a verbal feud between Baldwin and safety Earl Thomas.

"It was guys competing and battling and it's get heated," Carroll said. "We're asking these guys to work really hard and it really matters to the. They really care. They want to make their plays and their statements and I don't blame them one bit. But there is a line they can't cross and that's what we talked about afterward. We want to be able to take it as far as you can and demonstrate the poise that you need to."

--- Rookie linebacker Bruce Irvin missed today's practice to attend funeral services for Bill Stewart, his former coach at West Virginia.

--- Receiver Golden Tate fell and hurt his hand Wednesday, Carroll said. He's wearing a cast and did not practice.

--- Defensive end Chris Clemons also did not attend yesterday's voluntary drills.

--- Longtime Seahawk Marcus Trufant got plenty of work at nickel back. "He has so much savvy and ability, we think it can be a good spot for him," Carroll said. "It's going to take awhile. We're just starting to get the snaps in him."

--- Offensive linemen Russell Okung (pectoral) and John Moffitt (knee) sat out due to injuries.

--- Carroll expects WR Kris Durham (shoulder) and SS Winston Guy (shoulder) to be able to return to practice soon.

--- OL James Carpenter (knee) didn't practice, but did some running. "He went out there and he was jogging and everybody was fired up for him," Carroll said. "He's made a couple of big steps just recently. That's really encouraging."

Photo credit: AP Photo - Ted S. Warren

Wow. That's not a whole heck of a lot for a player who was once the No. 6 overall pick in the draft and who caught 75 passes for 763 yards last season.

Winslow has led the Bucs in receptions in three successive seasons in fact.

His role in Seattle will likely be the one John Carlson filled last year. Or at least the one he was going to fill until he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in training camp.

Zach Miller still figures to be the starter, but Seattle will go with the heavy-diet of two tight-end sets it envisioned a year ago before Carlson's injury.

Programming note: Danny O'Neil is on vacation this week, and will be returning to the blog on May 29.

Rookie Kris Durham -- the Seahawks' fourth-round pick in 2011 -- was, too.

Both underwent surgery to repair an injured labrum. In fact, Rice underwent two such procedures, one on each shoulder, and the fact that both had progressed to running routes is a positive sign in their recovery.

Mike Williams, however, remained an observer. He's also coming back from a surgery.

In terms of numbers, wide receiver is a very deep position for the Seahawks. Seattle currently has eight wide receivers who caught at least one pass for the team last year.

The exact pecking order of those receivers, though, is going to be something that will be sorted out in one of the most wide open competitions over the course of this offseason and into training camp.

Can Rice stay healthy? Can Williams rebound to the form he showed in 2011? Can Golden Tate continue the progress he showed in the second half of last season.

And then there's Doug Baldwin, who only became the first undrafted rookie since the AFL-NFL merger to lead his team in receptions last season. What are his expectations for this season? Well, we'll let him tell you:

Just for accounting purposes: Tarvaris Jackson and Russell Wilson weren't on the field for the workout, and before anyone starts hemming and hawing, I want to emphasize that these workouts are not mandatory, and the team does not offer an explanation of attendance. We are seeing only one of the team's workouts per week, and to generalize from that one example on a player's participation is misleading at best and disingenuous at worst.

Basically, this is a pre-emptive attempt to prevent the bunching of undies from various people who are going to use this observation to start screaming, "Why isn't so-and-so there!!!!"

They were among the more than 30 players who tried out for Seattle over its three-day minicamp and also were two of the four who will be added to the roster, the team announced Tuesday. Seattle also agreed to terms with tight end Cooper Helfet and tackle Andrew Mitchell. To make room on the 90-man roster, Seattle released cornerback London Durham, linebacker Adrian Moten, tackle John Opperud and guard Brent Osborne. Of those four players, only Moten appeared in a game for the Seahawks. He was claimed off waivers from the Colts last year.

Lisowski earned the attention of coach Pete Carroll over the three-day minicamp, Carroll complimenting his speed. Lisowski attended O'Dea High School in Seattle.

Barron is a former first-round pick of the St. Louis Rams, chosen No. 19 overall in 2005. He played five seasons with St. Louis and started one game for Dallas in 2010. Barron was signed by New Orleans last year, but placed on injured reserve before the season began and did not appear in a game.

Barron is recovering from a knee injury, and he appeared to be in good shape during the Seahawks three-day camp.

Those were two of the top storylines out of the Seahawks rookie minicamp, which concluded Sunday.

Seattle concludes Phase II of its offseason program this week, and next week is scheduled to begin the next tier of organized training activities. That leaves us time this week to break down what we learned the previous three days. We'll start with the review material:

Russell Wilson in the running to start
By Danny O'Neil | The Seattle Times

Memories of brother help keep Turbin motivated
By Steve Kelley | The Seattle Times

Tall task for Seahawks Russell Wilson
By Danny O'Neil | The Seattle Times

Here's the Clift Notes version of this weekend:

What we learned

1. Robert Turbin is more than a battering ram out of the backfield
The man's got huge biceps, but anyone who saw the pictures from the scouting combine knew that, and to be honest, I expected a big, bruising tailback built along the lines of T.J. Duckett. You know, a short-yardage specialist. Well, his lower body is lean, he's got some burst, and he ripped off a couple of long runs during Sunday's practice to punctuate the minicamp. He certainly projects as more than a short-yardage specialist.

2. Korey Toomer is an impressive linebacking specimen
In a draft where the Seahawks surprised a number of people, Toomer was perhaps the most under-the-radar selection. A linebacker Idaho recruited out of junior college, he missed the 2010 season after breaking his hand, and while he played well as a senior, he was not invited to the combine. He is long-armed and fast with incredible athleticism. His vertical leap measured 42 inches in a workout, and he looked every bit as athletic as advertised in this first weekend of workouts. He's playing strongside linebacker, a spot that is locked down by K.J. Wright now, but it's possible Toomer could land a role in the Seahawks' nickel defense sooner, rather than later.

3. Bruce Irvin is fast. Like really fast. Like by the time you read this sentence, he's already sacked the quarterback, celebrated and returned to the huddle to prepare to do it again.
The first day of practice was a little bit of a challenge in his conditioning, but even then, you saw bursts of that speed off the edge as he jetted around Alex Barron. Yes, Barron has been out of the league for a year, but we're also talking about a former first-round pick of a tackle. Irvin might not start right away, but he's going to have a role as a pass rusher right off the bat, and he showed this weekend he has the speed to make the most of it.

What we don't know

1. The extent of Bobby Wagner's role.
He's working at middle linebacker exclusively to start with, trying to get up to speed. Barrett Ruud is another consideration there, but he's recovering from multiple injuries, as is Matt McCoy, a special-teams mainstay who had a role as a nickel linebacker last year before suffering a knee injury. It's not unprecedented for a rookie to start there. Lofa Tatupu did it in 2005, but already it's clear that Seattle won't be relying on Wagner as much as Seattle relied on Tatupu that year. Wright would call the defense from the strongside spot were Wagner to start, with Wagner then echoing the calls.

2. Where Seattle will find tight end depth.
Maybe the Seahawks are, in fact, happy with Cameron Morrah and Anthony McCoy serving as the backups to Zach Miller. After all, Seattle didn't sign Visanthe Shiancoe after hosting him on a visit, and the Seahawks didn't draft a tight end, either. The most consistently productive tight end during the rookie minicamp was Cooper Helfet, who was on a three-day tryout from Duke University.

3. Just how the quarterback competition will play out.
A week ago, I felt it was unlikely Tarvaris Jackson wouldn't be on this team in 2012. After all, even the most ardent of his critics would have to concede that he's an above-average backup quarterback in today's NFL. Pete Carroll's straight-forward declaration that Wilson would be part of the competition for the starting quarterback job shows that the situation under center is more fluid than I expected. Wilson is not someone the Seahawks plan to develop quietly in the background for a year. Does that mean Jackson is gone? Not necessarily, but it certainly opens up that possibility if Matt Flynn and Wilson were to both outperform Jackson in training camp. If nothing else, it just made an already unclear situation at quarterback even more complicated.

"He showed us enough," Carroll said. "He's in the competition."

Wilson was the team's third-round pick, and he will join a competition that already included free-agent addition Matt Flynn and incumbent starter Tarvaris Jackson.

Russell was chosen in the third round by Seattle with the No. 75 overall pick. It was the highest pick the franchise has used on a quarterback since 1993.

Wilson was very impressive on Friday when the Seahawks began the minicamp, taking every repetition during the 11-on-11 drills. He was intercepted on several deep passes during Saturday's practice, but after concluding the workouts on Sunday, Carroll raved about his readiness.

"He did an excellent job of demonstrating that he prepared for this," Carroll said.

The coach estimated Wilson was on the field for 500 snaps all told and threw close to 400 passes. Carroll estimated there was only one time he stumbled on the verbiage of calling a play, demonstrating Wilson's familiarity with a West Coast offense. Wilson ran that system first at North Carolina State and later at Wisconsin.

Carroll did not provide a timeline for making a decision for a starting quarterback nor did he sketch out the framework for structuring the competition. Previously, he has said that Flynn and Jackson would split time with the first-unit offense with Jackson getting the first snap, something he'd earned as last year's starter. Josh Portis -- an undrafetd rookie last year -- is also on the roster, and is also a player the Seahawks hope progresses from the raw promise he showed a year ago.

As for Wilson?

"We need to see where he fits in with these guys," Carroll said. "It won't be because he doesn't understand or that he can't learn it or any of that. It isn't going to be because he can't throw the football. Because he can. He's got a terrific arm. We'll just have to see how he fits as time goes on.

"It's going to take us a long time to do this. It's going to be frustrating for you guys. You're going to keep asking and want to know. I'm just going to be more patient than you can imagine as we go through this process, and we'll just figure it out when we do."

Did Seattle expect Wilson to be ready to compete for the starting job as soon as it drafted him in the third round?

"I'd hoped that, and we confirmed it in these three days," Carroll said. "He left really no question about he needs to be involved in the competition."