Darrell Jackson is available, sources said Sunday at the NFL scouting combine. But club president Tim Ruskell labeled the situation "combine talk" and stressed that nothing is imminent. "We get a lot of interest at the combine, people asking about our players," Ruskell said. "We'll listen to anything, but it doesn't mean we're going to do anything. "In terms of Darrell, he's under contract and we plan on having him back. That's where that stands."

The Seattle Seahawks might have learned from their mistake of a year ago, designating clutch kicker Josh Brown as their franchise player. Unless a long-term contract can be reached, Brown will receive a one-year tender offer for the 2007 season -- the average of the top five paid kickers in the NFL. Last year, the Seahawks chose not to use the franchise tag on Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson. Instead, they used the transition designation on him. That move would have saved about $600,000 -- but backfired when the Minnesota Vikings signed away Hutchinson with unprecedented "poison pill" provisions in his contract that Seattle could not feasibly match.

Matt Hasselbeck's potentially long, dark offseason keeps getting brighter. Seahawks president of football operations Tim Ruskell said the team is pleased with the progress its 2006 Super Bowl and Pro Bowl quarterback is making from shoulder surgery last month. After the Jan. 18 surgery that successfully reattached the torn labrum cartilage in Hasselbeck's left, non-throwing shoulder, Ruskell said he didn't expect Hasselbeck to miss the entire offseason.