Seahawks pick up Rice, Gallery

The Seattle Seahawks have spent more than a year looking for a top-shelf receiving threat. They’ve been searching even longer for a left guard. It took one day – and millions of dollars – for Seattle to try and answer both questions long-term concerns, agreeing to sign wide receiver Sidney Rice of Minnesota and offensive lineman Robert Gallery from Oakland. The Seahawks were headliners on the second day teams could negotiate with free agents. They lost key special-team contributors like kicker Olindo Mare and linebacker Will Herring to a pair of NFC South teams, and learned former quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was headed to Tennessee. Those departures were nowhere near as significant as the additions, though, as Seattle will get a young hot rod of a wide receiver from Minnesota and a road-grader of an offensive lineman in Gallery. Seattle began looking at big-name receivers as soon as coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider began reshaping the roster. The Seahawks courted Brandon Marshall of Denver, bringing him to Seattle for a visit, before the Broncos traded him to Miami. Seattle was also interested in Vincent Jackson of San Diego though the Chargers didn’t end up trading him. Rice was an unrestricted free agent, which meant Seattle didn’t have to offer compensation to sign him. The Seahawks just had to pony up the loot, which they apparently did, offering Rice a five-year contract totaling $41 million, according to the NFL Network. Rice is assured of receiving $18.5 million, according to the report. It’s a big-budget deal, but not all that much bigger than the $40 million deal Seattle gave T.J. Houshmandzadeh in 2009. Houshmandzadeh was 31 then, Rice is 24. Houshmandzadeh’s yards per reception declined in three successive seasons before coming to Seattle while Rice is just two years removed from a Pro Bowl season with more than 1,300 yards receiving. Rice has a familiarity with Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who coached Rice in Minnesota, and at 6-foot04, Rice could become a bona fide No. 1 wideout in the league. Gallery is Seattle’s latest attempt to plug the position that has been a black hole since Steve Hutchinson abandoned Seattle for Minnesota as a free agent in 2006. Ten players have started at left guard for Seattle over the previous five seasons, including four last year alone. Seattle tried a young lineman like Rob Sims and they signed veterans like Mike Wahle and Ben Hamilton. Gallery comes with the best pedigree. He will sign a three-year contract on Friday once teams can formally file transactions. Financial terms were not known. Gallery, 31, was drafted No. 2 overall to play left tackle. He moved to left guard four years ago and became known for his power as a run blocker. Tom Cable, Seattle’s new offensive line coach, worked with Gallery in Oakland. In Seattle, Gallery will be the one veteran in an offensive line that has been almost entirely rebuilt since Carroll and Schneider took over. The Seahawks drafted Russell Okung to play left tackle last year. They used their first two picks in this year’s draft to choose James Carpenter to play right tackle and John Moffitt at right guard. Max Unger will be the center, but that quartet of projected starters has limited experience with 27 regular-season starts between them. That will change with Gallery’s addition, Seattle’s first move in what turned out to be a most significant day.