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We talked to Seattle Seahawks general manager Tim Ruskell for about a half hour this morning on several topics with training camp only a day away.

First, on the Aaron Curry front, Ruskell said the two sides are continuing to negotiate and he’d like to have Curry in camp on Friday, particularly because of the important role Curry is expected to play on Seattle’s defense this year.

However, there is no deal in place as of today. Only seven of the 32, first-round picks have agreed to terms with teams at this time.

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BY ERIC D. WILLIAMS
The News Tribune

The Seahawks Seahawks reached an agreement with second round draft pick Max Unger on Wednesday, and the rookie offensive lineman is expected to be signed and ready to participate in the team’s first day of camp on Friday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is believed that Unger’s deal is a four-year contract valued at just under $4 million, $1.95 million of which is guaranteed.

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They are numbers not mentioned often, but when looked at make for an interesting conversation.

Of the past 10 Super Bowl champions, only half of the team’s offenses ranked in the Top 10 in rushing during the regular season. The 2007 New York Giants had the highest ranking at 4th overall, followed by the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers (5th), the 2000 Baltimore Ravens (5th), the 1999 St. Louis Rams (5th) and the 2004 New England Patriots (7th).

Three teams, the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers (23rd overall), the 2003 New England Patriots (27th) and the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (27th), ranked in the bottom third in rushing during the regular season, but still managed to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season.

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The Brett Favre watch appears to be over.

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports is reporting that Favre called Minnesota head coach Brad Childress to let him know that he would not be joining the team and will remain retired.

According to sources, Favre came to the conclusion in the last couple days that he did not have enough left in the tank to grind through a 19th season in the NFL. Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson will now compete for the starting quarterback job for the Vikings.

Minnesota is considered a Super Bowl contender this season, and the addition of Favre was considered by some NFL observers the final piece that would put them over the top.

The Seahawks will travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings on Nov. 22.

Here’s the schedule for the first two weeks of training camp leading up to the first preseason game on Aug. 15 at San Diego. For open practices you must register at Seahawks.com to attend. I’m not sure if there’s any spots available at this point. However, if you can’t get into one of the open practices at the VMAC, you can attend one of the open practices being held at the University of Washington on Friday, Aug. 7 and Tuesday, Aug. 18. Both practices begin at 6:45 p.m.

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The Sporting News puts the Seattle Seahawks in its cross hairs in this team report heading into this week’s camp. Here’s what an anonymous source had to say about this year’s team.

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At 372 receptions, T.J. Houshmandzadeh has the most catches by any receiver in the NFL in the last four seasons.

And at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, he’s the big receiver the Seahawks have been looking for. Former NFL quarterback Hugh Millen compares his skill set to Chris Carter – not a bad person to be compared to, as the sure-handed receiver is likely headed to the Hall of Fame.

Houshmandzadeh’s presence should open up things for the rest of Seattle’s receivers, as I discussed in an earlier post. He’ll make things easier for tight end John Carlson, as defenses will have to pay attention to Houshmandzadeh inside the seams of the defense, leaving Carlson with the possibility of one-on-one coverage on the other side.

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Greetings from Safeco Field, I just got a call from rather upset Eric Williams, who hasn't been able to post the Deon Butler signing.

We got the email from the Hawks earlier in the day, but Eric, who's timing rivals that of Wally Pipp, is in eastern Washington on a little vacation with the family before training camp begins and his family life is over. He happened to be away from his computer. So he kindly asked me to post it.

Here's the press release:

The Seattle Seahawks have signed wide receiver Deon Butler to a multi-year deal, the team announced this morning.

Butler was Seattle’s third round selection (91st overall) in this past April’s NFL Draft out of Penn State. Butler closed out his college career as the school’s all-time leader with 179 receptions, finished second with 2,771 receiving yards and third with 22 touchdowns.

Butler is the fifth Seahawks draft pick to sign with the club.

That leaves first-round Aaron Curry and second-rounder Max Unger unsigned.

The Seattle Seahawks apparently are not totally sold on long snapper Bryan Pittman.

Team sources confirmed the Seattle Seahawks have signed veteran long snapper Kevin Houser.

Mike Triplett of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Houser traveled to Seattle for a visit.

Houser, who turns 32 next month, spent nine seasons playing for the Saints.

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Seattle Seahawks head coach Jim Mora and legendary mountain climber Ed Viesturs, who recently climbed Mount Rainier together, have a conversation about the similarities between mountain climbing and football, along with other topics in this video, provided courtesy of Plum TV.

He finished 24-of-27 on field goal attempts with a long of 51 yards. He made every extra point attempt. And he finished tied for second in the league in touchbacks, kicking the ball in the end zone 31 percent of the time.

Teams only averaged 25.6 yards a return on kicks against Seattle, good enough for second in the league.

Pretty good stats, huh? And particularly not the numbers you would expect from a kicker competing for his job heading into training camp. But that’s the position Olindo Mare finds himself in heading into Seattle’s 2009 training camp.

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