Trying to curry favor

RENTON, Wash. – No Julian Peterson. No Leroy Hill.

No wonder the Seahawks know all about Aaron Curry. The talented outside linebacker from Wake Forest is expected to be among the first players taken in this month’s NFL draft.

Linebacker-thin Seattle owns the fourth overall pick.

“You know, I’ve heard some good things about him,” current de facto starting linebacker Will Herring said of Curry after minicamp practice Wednesday. “A guy like him maybe could help the defense out.”

The 6-foot-2, 254-pound Curry made offensive linemen look like turnstiles on his way to poor college quarterbacks. At the league’s scouting combine in February, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds. That was tied for the second-fastest time among 130 outside linebackers tested, .02 seconds behind Wisconsin’s Jonathan Casillas. Curry’s 37-inch vertical leap was second highest among the top linebackers. He is regarded as easily the best at his position in this draft, which has no consensus top picks.

Perhaps no rookie could affect the Seahawks as immediately as a dynamic pass rusher and playmaker. Seattle finished last in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game and 30th in total defense while sinking to 4-12 in 2008.

Curry’s reputed to be so good, he may be gone before Seattle picks.

A month ago, the Seahawks had one of the best – and richest – linebacking corps in the league. Then they traded Peterson, their three-time Pro Bowler, to Detroit.

Herring was stunned.

“It caught me off guard,” he said on the eve of his third season out of Auburn. “I will say, Julian has been a great leader not just for me, but the entire linebacking corps. The experience I had with him was invaluable.”

The Seahawks are also stalled in negotiations on a long-term contract with Hill. Their designated franchise player is choosing to stay away from this minicamp that ends today, and indefinitely after that, rather than sign Seattle’s tender offer of $8.3 million guaranteed.

Veteran reserve D.D. Lewis is also out, rehabilitating from injury.

Star middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu is still the defense’s top gun, but suddenly he has the most anonymous wing men in the league.

Herring is a special-teams regular who has made one NFL start. Lance Laury, another special teamer, is currently the other first-team outside linebacker. He has not started a game in his three pro seasons.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they drafted a linebacker,” Herring said.

So what? He has been through far more trying times than this.

Last summer, his knees and ankles were so swollen they made his legs inflexible, useless stilts. The Seahawks sent him to specialists all over Seattle while he missed training camp and the first six weeks of the regular season. Some told him he might have chronic, debilitating arthritis for the rest of his life, scary stuff for a 25-year-old who relies on being able to run to make a living.

Doctors finally determined Herring’s autoimmune system was malfunctioning and causing the joint inflammation. They prescribed twice-per-month shots of autoimmune inhibitors.

He hasn’t taken the shots since late December. He said the condition has vanished, as mysteriously as it appeared.

“It was scary. It definitely made me realize how blessed I am to be here and have my health,” he said, looking around the Seahawks’ fancy locker room.

So no, his team possibly adding Curry doesn’t faze Herring.

“If they bring in somebody, he will be one of the LBs,” he said flatly. “Bring him in.”