Joe Seahawk
04-09-2005, 02:04 AM
Sharper ends visit, but Hawks will keep talking
Other teams also competing for LB
By CLARE FARNSWORTH
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
KIRKLAND -- Jamie Sharper was wearing a Seahawks hat -- backwards -- as he left the team's headquarters late yesterday.
Whether the veteran linebacker will be wearing a Seahawks helmet this season remains to be seen.
Sharper and his agent, Tony Agnone, wrapped up their visit, and the two sides will continue to talk through the weekend as the Seahawks look to acquire a player who would help upgrade a defense that ranked 26th in the NFL last season.
Before meeting with club officials and coaches yesterday, Sharper took a tour of Qwest Field and also was given a physical. Thursday night, he and Agnone went to dinner with president of football operations Tim Ruskell and linebackers coach John Marshall.
Sharper, 30, became a free agent last week when the Houston Texans released him to clear nearly $5 million under their salary cap.
If the Seahawks sign Sharper, it might mean they will have to release linebacker Chad Brown, who is scheduled to make $4.2 million this season and has been reluctant to restructure the remainder of the five-year, $28.5 million contract he signed in 2002.
Brown, who signed with the Seahawks as an unrestricted free agent in 1997, will be 35 in July. He has missed 19 games and has rarely been able to practice the past three seasons because of a foot injury that required surgery, a broken leg and arthroscopic surgery on one knee.
Sharper, meanwhile, has missed only one start in his eight-year career, including 48 consecutive starts at middle linebacker the past three seasons with the Texans. He played outside linebacker the previous five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before going to the Texans in the 2002 expansion draft.
His size (6 feet 3, 240 pounds) allows Sharper to play in the middle. But he still has enough speed and quickness to play outside and drop into pass coverage.
Sharper has also met with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars also have expressed interest in him.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/219484_hawk09.html
Other teams also competing for LB
By CLARE FARNSWORTH
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
KIRKLAND -- Jamie Sharper was wearing a Seahawks hat -- backwards -- as he left the team's headquarters late yesterday.
Whether the veteran linebacker will be wearing a Seahawks helmet this season remains to be seen.
Sharper and his agent, Tony Agnone, wrapped up their visit, and the two sides will continue to talk through the weekend as the Seahawks look to acquire a player who would help upgrade a defense that ranked 26th in the NFL last season.
Before meeting with club officials and coaches yesterday, Sharper took a tour of Qwest Field and also was given a physical. Thursday night, he and Agnone went to dinner with president of football operations Tim Ruskell and linebackers coach John Marshall.
Sharper, 30, became a free agent last week when the Houston Texans released him to clear nearly $5 million under their salary cap.
If the Seahawks sign Sharper, it might mean they will have to release linebacker Chad Brown, who is scheduled to make $4.2 million this season and has been reluctant to restructure the remainder of the five-year, $28.5 million contract he signed in 2002.
Brown, who signed with the Seahawks as an unrestricted free agent in 1997, will be 35 in July. He has missed 19 games and has rarely been able to practice the past three seasons because of a foot injury that required surgery, a broken leg and arthroscopic surgery on one knee.
Sharper, meanwhile, has missed only one start in his eight-year career, including 48 consecutive starts at middle linebacker the past three seasons with the Texans. He played outside linebacker the previous five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before going to the Texans in the 2002 expansion draft.
His size (6 feet 3, 240 pounds) allows Sharper to play in the middle. But he still has enough speed and quickness to play outside and drop into pass coverage.
Sharper has also met with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars also have expressed interest in him.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/219484_hawk09.html