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Pro Bowl CB Trufant to stay a Seahawk
01:37 PM PDT on Wednesday, March 26, 2008
AP
Seattle Seahawks' Marcus Trufant smiles on the sidelines after making an interception against the Arizona Cardinals, Dec. 9, 2007, in Seattle.
KIRKLAND, Wash. - This is a very good week to be Marcus Trufant.
The Pro Bowl cornerback and the Seahawks have agreed to a $50.2 million, six-year deal that will keep Trufant under contract with Seattle beyond 2008. Then Saturday, Trufant is getting married.
Agent Doug Hendrickson said the deal for the Tacoma native and 11th overall draft choice out of Washington State in 2003 includes $20 million in guarantees. A $3 million roster bonus due in 2010 effectively means Trufant is due $28 million over the first three years of the contract, making him one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the league.
Last year, Nate Clements signed an $80 million, eight-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers. Last week, the Oakland Raiders traded with Atlanta for DeAngelo Hall and then gave Hall a $70 million, seven-year deal.
"Yeah, it's a good week for Marcus," Hendrickson said in telephone interview Wednesday morning.
A team spokesman confirmed that a press conference scheduled for Wednesday afternoon is to announce Trufant's new deal.
The Seahawks had designated Trufant as their franchise player for this year and were mandated to offer him a one-year tender worth a guaranteed $9,465,000, the average of the top five salaries for cornerbacks in the league.
Trufant had been free to negotiate with other teams in free agency that began March 1. But Hendrickson said that never happened, because teams did not want to have to give Seattle two first-round draft choices should the Seahawks decline to match other offers for Trufant, per the league's franchise-tag rules.
"All along, he never wanted to leave Seattle," Hendrickson said.
Now, Seattle gets a lower salary cap number for Trufant in 2008, lessening the fiscal pressure the team had been feeling after signing free-agent running backs Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett, plus former Pro Bowl guard Mike Wahle. The Seahawks also gave Pro Bowl linebacker Lofa Tatupu a new contract last week worth a potential $42 million through 2015.
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