Alexander says Seahawks have contacted his agent

[GrizzledHogFan]

HONOLULU (AP) -- Shaun Alexander said Thursday that the Seahawks contacted his agent earlier this week to discuss the league MVP's future with the team.

Alexander, who skipped light drills Thursday while resting his sprained right foot for the Pro Bowl, will become one of the league's most coveted free agents if he doesn't re-sign with the Seahawks before March 3.

He said the Seahawks contacted his agent Tuesday, just as the three-time Pro Bowl running back boarded a plane for Honolulu.

"I just stayed out of all that. When I get back from Hawaii then I'll sit down with my agent and we'll all have a good conversation," Alexander said. "There's really no need to have conversations until we're ready to talk serious.

"To me, I'm not one of those guys that do things just for the fun of it. If we're going to date -- there's a potential for marriage. And that's how I am."

Alexander led the league with a team-record 1,880 yards rushing and a league-record 28 touchdowns before Pittsburgh held him to 95 yards in a Super Bowl loss.

Among the other unrestricted free agents on Seattle's roster are Pro Bowl full back Mack Strong, Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson, wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, defensive tackle Rocky Bernard and safety Marquand Manuel.

"I think Seattle has a good thing going on and I think that it's a good thing to try to get all of us to come back. Not only me, but Hutch, Mack and Rocky," he said. "There's a good handful of all of us that needs to be back to Seattle so we can finish what we started."

Alexander said his foot was feeling "a lot better" and hopes to play in Sunday's game.

"It's one of those things that if you just took two weeks off and sat around, it would be 100 percent," he said. "But when you bang around and you're checking it, poking at it and then you're running a little bit, it always seems like it doesn't get to where you can move around on it well.

"So we're trying to take a couple days so I can heal up enough to go out there and rip it up with the guys."

Despite sitting out practice, Alexander was busy joking around with NFC teammates, posing for pictures and signing dozens of autographs.

He even signed a football for 5-year-old Peyton Yanagi, who told Alexander that he saw him play in the Super Bowl.

"Who were you cheering for?" Alexander asked.

"Pittsburgh," replied Peyton, named after Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning.

"You're a smart man because they won," Alexander said with a laugh.



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/02/09/bc.fbn.probowl.alexande.ap/index.html