By Mike KahnSeahawks Insider
The excitement was palpable for the trio.
Three days ago, none of them expected to be flying across the country to Seattle, but Monday afternoon, all three were just thrilled to be in the Seattle Seahawks locker room.
On the weekend that changes lives in the NFL, the Seahawks just like everybody else, cut their roster to 53. But in the process, they released quarterback David Greene and traded a conditional draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for running back Alvin Pearman; dealt safety Michael Boulware to the Houston Texans for defensive end Jason Babin; and Monday they signed defensive end/defensive tackle Ellis Wyms off the waiver wire and released veteran defensive tackle Russell Davis.
"I didn't get to see them very much (on film), but I am happy with who we acquired," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. "We got two real active defensive players and then Pearman. He comes with great credentials and he did a nice job in Jacksonville. So he'll add to our special teams and I think he's a pretty good runner. Time will tell, but right now it's going OK."
Pearman, who was a teammate and classmate of waived Seahawks running back Marquis Weeks at the University of Virginia, coincidentally had gotten a phone call from Weeks shortly after he was released by the Seahawks on Saturday to share the details. A few hours later, Pearman called him back and told him he had been traded to Seattle. He was overwhelmed by the beauty of flying into Seattle, but the circumstances with Weeks ended up being bizarre.
"We're pretty good friends and I'd gotten a call from him about 1 o'clock," Pearman said. "He told me Seattle let him go and he asked me what my status was, and I was saying I'm still here and planned on being in Jacksonville … not four hours later I get a call and I'm going to Seattle. Fifteen minutes later I call Weeks back and said, 'I got traded.' And he said, 'You got traded … to who?' And then I told him it was Seattle."
Monday night, the two were headed out to dinner. The 25-year-old Pearman was a fourth round pick by the Jaguars in 2005 out of Virginia. The 5-10, 205-pound Pearman is also a punt-returner and has the reputation of being very effective on punt and kick coverage. He has played in 29 career games with 238 yards on 58 carries (4.1 avg.), with a long of 45 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught the ball well out of the backfield, garnering 34 passes for 252 yards.
Babin got caught up in a numbers game, The 6-3, 267-pound Western Michigan product is representative of four consecutive years that the Texans drafted defensive linemen in the first round. He responded by recording 14 sacks in his three years there. The 27th overall pick of the 2004 draft, he ironically went just four spots after the Seahawks drafted defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs.
Babin had worked at outside linebacker as well as defensive end his first two seasons, but fell out of the rotation when Gary Kubiak replaced Dom Capers as coach of the Texans – altering the team from a 3-4 to a 4-3 front. Their preference was tall rangy defensive ends.
"They wanted a taller guy and I'm a smaller speed guy," Babin said. "They knew I didn't fit there. I think I'm a better fit in Seattle because I'm the kind of guy that they want."
As for the addition of Wyms, both president Tim Ruskell and vice president Ruston Webster were very involved in drafting the 6-3, 290-pound Wyms out of Mississippi State when they were in Tampa Bay. In his seventh season, Wyms figured he would be the odd man out with the addition of younger cheaper players on the Bucs.
And he couldn't be happier than to be reunited with his buddy Chuck Darby from Tampa on the defensive line, and former Mississippi State teammate Floyd Womack on the offensive line.
"This is a great move for me," Wyms said. "The same guys who drafted me wanted me back, plus I get to be with a couple of my friends. I can already tell this is a great locker room and I think I can help these guys with a lot of versatility at either inside at tackle or coming off the edge."
Quarterback in waiting?
Holmgren conceded this is the first time in his 16 years as a head coach that he's gone into the season with just two quarterbacks. When Greene and Derek Devine were released on Saturday, that left Matt Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace … period.
But it doesn't mean it will necessarily stay that way. And it fits into what Holmgren told everybody after the roster was announced Saturday. The roster remains fluid.
"This is just the beginning and the roster itself is a flexible thing during the course of the year," Holmgren said. "So you have to always be earning your way, so to speak, and particularly the young guys.
"I think before too long we'll probably have three quarterbacks. I couldn't tell you right now who that's going to be. I have never done this, but we talked about it and for right now it's OK. But I would think were probably going to add one before too long."
Quotable
Matt Hasselbeck on his brother Tim, who was waived by the Giants, becoming the Seahawks third quarterback:
"That would be great. That would be a dream-come-true for me. It's not really my style to lobby the coaching staff or management or anything like that. Hopefully, I think the second week of the season, he'll probably get picked up somewhere and definitely help somebody. That'd be great for me. We'll see. You never know."
This and that
Kelly Jennings (leg) was back practicing Monday and Jordan Babineaux (knee) made his first appearance since the first day of training camp when he hurt his knee, but Walter Jones, Ben Joppru, Ben Obomanu and Josh Wilson did not practice. Holmgren said Jones, Joppru and Wilson will practice, but Obomanu (with a strained hamstring), remains questionable. Floyd Womack filled in for Jones at left tackle and Sean Locklear stayed on the right side – an indication that it was just temporary and that Jones would be back on Wednesday. … The Seahawks are off tomorrow, and then they have full practices on Wednesday and Thursday, with a short practice on Friday and a walk-thru on Saturday in preparation for Sunday's regular season home opener against Tampa Bay.
