One question: Who was in charge of making the “Hello, My Name Is …” badges before the Seahawks’ team meeting on Monday?
After a whirlwind weekend of roster additions and deletions, the team that gathered to begin preparing for Sunday’s regular-season opener against the San Francisco 49ers at Qwest Field was very different from the one that closed the preseason on Thursday night against the Raiders in Oakland.
There are six new players on the roster that was reduced from 75 to 53 on Saturday and then tweaked again Sunday and Monday: running back 
Among the players released were two starters from last season – wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and free safety Jordan Babineaux; and three others who had started games – fullback Owen Schmitt and offensive linemen Steve Vallos and Mansfield Wrotto. Houshmandzadeh was the team’s leading receiver in his only season with the club, while Babineaux registered a career-best 105 tackles last season to finish second on the team.
The roster now includes 27 players who are in their first season with the Seahawks, and another eight who are in their second – or, 66 percent of the roster – compared to six who remain from the team’s run to the Super Bowl in 2005.
“We’re bigger. We’re faster,” general manager John Schneider said. “We’re clearly a more talented football team.”
That’s because the Seahawks treated the weekend where almost 700 players hit the open market like a second draft. Just as they had with the college players in April, the team’s pro personnel staff – vice president of football operations Will Lewis, director of pro personnel Tag Ribary and assistant director of pro personnel Trent Kirchner – stacked a “draft board” of players that could become available and interested the Seahawks.
“John has been talking about this the whole time; that we’d have free agency, we’d have the draft and then we’d have this period right here,” Carroll said. “And if we wanted to compete, this would be a very active opportunity for us.
“So we were very well prepared for it, we had our sights set on some guys and went after it very aggressively. We worked the whole weekend trying to come up with the decisions to make.”
But was it the prudent thing to do with the regular-season opener at the end of the week?
“The fact that the season’s right there, if you look at it there’s very few adjustments in any way at all to the starting units on either side of the ball,” Carroll said. “The guys that are coming in here are going to fight to try and help us when they can, as soon as they can.
“We needed to do this. We could have sat back on it and I think John and I both would have regretted the opportunity passed. So we had our sights set on this time. This is not a surprise to us at all. I’m thrilled at the results.”
Here’s what the second “draft” weekend delivered:
Michael Robinson. He will help immediately on special teams. Robinson had 27 coverage tackles for the 49ers in 2007.
“Michael Robinson is a fantastic ‘get’ for us to bolster special teams,” Carroll said. “We’ll look for him to be a factor.”
Junior Siavii. He doesn’t have as much bulk (315 pounds) as Vickerson (333), but Siavii is a natural nose tackle and probably more athletic.
“Vick was a big, strong man; he did some good things for us,” Schneider said. “But in terms of pure players, they’re both strong point-of-attack players. They’re both big men.”
Stacy Andrews. He brings size (6-7, 340) and experience (34 career starts) to an offensive line than can use both. That’s why the trade was made to acquire him from the Philadelphia Eagles.
“With Stacy it’s a matter of getting bigger and stronger,” Schneider said. “In terms of that trade specifically, that was one of those that kind of just kept coming to us. It came to a point where we just felt like we’d be silly not to do it.”
Evan Dietrich-Smith. As Carroll did in assessing the former USC players during the college draft, Schneider used his first-hand knowledge of the former Packers offensive lineman. Schneider came to the Seahawks in January from Green Bay
“So I obviously have a good feel for who their younger ascending players are,” Schneider said. “We’re adding a guy that maybe doesn’t have ideal size (6-2, 308), but is an extremely smart, tough, quick and nasty football player.”
Nate Ness. The Seahawks like bigger defensive backs who also are versatile. The 6-1, 190-pound Ness can play safety as well as cornerback. That’s a needed plus, since starters
“He’s a real intriguing guy,” Schneider said. “He’s a guy I actually went in there and evaluated at Arizona. He has that size and length that we’re looking for. He always has his hands on the ball. He’s always around it. He’s one those players that the ball kind of bounces to him. He’s got real nice ball skills.
“I always kind of had a hankering for the guy. Then to watch him move from safety to corner and spend the whole offseason working there, to be able to perform the way he did was intriguing.”
Raheem Brock. To the on-going discussion regarding how the Seahawks will generate a better pass rush this season, add Brock’s name. He had 28½ sacks the past eight seasons for the Indianapolis Colts and provides needed depth behind
“The spot I’m playing here isn’t that much different than I’ve been playing,” said Brock, who was here as a member of the Tennessee Titans for the preseason opener last month – when he had three tackles and a QB pressure.
“I didn’t think I’d be coming back here. But anything happens in this league.”
Does it ever. The Seahawks have now made 180 roster moves since Carroll and Schneider were hired in January.
While Schneider admitted there is some risk involved in making this many roster moves this close to the season opener, he also said that acquiring the players who were added was worth the risk. And Carroll concurred.
“I think we’ve really helped our football team, and made it known what we’re all about as far as in this locker room,” Carroll said. “These guys know we’re going to keep battling to make this team as good as we can make it, as soon as we can.”
