He wasn’t supposed to be there.

But there newly signed Seattle Seahawk John Carlson sat in his Renton apartment on Friday when Seattle opened training camp with his wife of two weeks Danielle and his mother-in-law, Denise Herndon, who had flown in to help the couple get set up in their new digs.

“She wasn’t real happy to see me,” Carlson said about mother-in-law finding him at the apartment. “She wanted me working. But I spent most of the day with my wife and my mother-in-law.”

So how much input did Carlson have with the interior design with his new place? Not much.

“I let them do that,” he said. “I just handed over the credit card and hoped that this was getting done so I could pay the bill.”

Carlson’s wife, formerly Danielle Herndon, was the captain of the volleyball team at Nortre Dame, where the two met, and graduated in 2007, the same year Carlson graduated from Nortre Dame.

The two got married in Danielle’s hometown of Tampa, Fla.

Carlson said terms of the deal came together late Friday evening. The deal is reportedly a four-year deal with $4.52 million, with a $2.5 million signing bonus.

In his first practice Carlson jumped right in and looked comfortable. Carlson made a nice catch on seam route down the middle of the field during team drills toward the end of practice. He also showed a quick burst running routes during one-on-one drills against linebackers, although at one point Carlson dropped an easy pass right in his hands.

Fellow Notre Dame product Julius Jones offered some advice on route running during practice, telling Carlson not to use a head fake and to just beat the defense to the spot.

Carlson is a cerebral player and benefits from playing in a program in Notre Dame that ran a pro-style offense. He seems like a nice fit in a Seattle offense looking for more production from the tight end position with his ability to run block, catch the ball down field and read defenses.

Carlson is expected to compete for a starting job along with fellow tight ends Will Heller and Jeb Putzier, but he said right now he’s not concerned with where he falls on the depth chart.

“I’m not even thinking about what I need to do to start right now,” Carlson said. “My mindset is to do whatever I need to do to help this team, do whatever I have to do to become a better football player.

“What my role will be, I don’t know that. But at this point in time I’m going to do whatever I can to improve. To learn the offense more thoroughly and to be the best player I can be.”

The Seahawks need to release a player to make room for Carlson, but have not announced who that player is, although tight end Zac Alcorn was not in attendance at Saturday morning's practice.

Seattle's second round draft pick John Carlson is out on the field practicing this morning, so I'm assuming a deal has been struck between Carlson and the team.

But no official word has been handed down yet. I'll have more details later.

No confirmation yet, but with the two sides reportedly close to a deal late Friday night it appears likely second-round draft choice John Carlson will be signed and in camp for this morning’s practice.

Having Carlson in camp would be a big deal for the Seahawks, as he is supposed to compete for the starting tight end spot.

When the signing becomes official I’ll update the blog, including details of the accord.

Here are some links to chew on this morning to get things started.

Here’s my main story from Friday,
TNT columnist Dave Boling weighs in on the beginning of Holmgren’s final season as head coach of the Seahawks.

And those looking for photos from the first day of practice can find them here.

ESPN’s Mike Sando takes a tour around the NFC West this morning.

The question concerned the rookie long snapper Tyler Schmitt. He should put aside most of the worries you developed last season as the team dealt with a string of substandard snappers before resurrecting Jeff Robinson. Notice the word "most." Through minicamps and the little bit of training camp, Schmitt looks to have very good velocity and nice placement (most of the time). Every once in a while he tosses in a stinker. Not a bouncer or a deep fly ball, but one below the knees. If the other team is bringing 10 guys, those will get blocked.

What he has to learn about the NFL, is that there's zero tolerance. Going eight for 10 or nine for 10 is failing in his job. This is a matter of concentration and learning the game. He's just getting his feet under him, so he's actually off to a good start. I haven't seen much of him as a short-snapper yet, but those should be almost automatic. He's a little undersized and may create a blocking liability, and we have no evidence of his coverage skills. Those factors are entirely secondary, though. If he can get it back quickly and on target, the staff will be delighted and not overly concerned about other issues.