Could Aaron Curry be splitting from Seahawks?

Published on September 28, 2011 by     

On Monday, coach Pete Carroll left linebacker Aaron Curry’s role with the team open-ended.

“It’s how he responds and fights back and competes that will be important,” Carroll said after Curry’s demotion from the first-unit defense.

Curry made several responses on Twitter this week that probably weren’t what the coach had in mind.

Curry, the No. 4 overall selection in the 2009 draft, used his Twitter account to indicate that a trade from Seattle may be possible, he expressed enthusiasm about the possibility of playing for the NFL team in his home state of North Carolina and at one point appeared to refer to the Seahawks as “they.”

Perhaps, there was no significance to Curry’s words beyond cyberspace, but it was puzzling and can’t help what is an increasingly strained situation for the former first-round pick.

Before the regular season began, Curry’s six-year contract was renegotiated, eliminating the final two years of a deal that was scheduled to run through 2014. It also eliminated the financial guarantees Seattle had to him past this season.

The new contract did not change his status for this season, Carroll said. Curry remained the starting strongside linebacker when the season began. He played well in the opener, but in Week 2 — by his own admission — he made two mistakes that turned out to be costly.

Last week, he was replaced by rookie K.J. Wright with the first-unit defense. Curry was the first player out of the tunnel as the Seahawks ran onto the field. He played one series in Wright’s place in the first half, but most of Curry’s playing time occurred on special teams.

On Monday, Carroll left open the possibility Curry could play his way back into the first-unit defense.

“Competition is a motivator, and hopefully it motivates all our guys,” Carroll said. “In this case for Aaron, I think he’s highly motivated to get back in there.”

This is where the situation gets complicated, because Curry remained upbeat on his Twitter account and he never directly indicated unhappiness with Seattle.

But on Sunday evening, someone addressed Curry, congratulating him on the victory. Curry responded to that user Monday morning: “yea, they won.”

Monday afternoon, someone asked if it was true that Seattle was shopping Curry, and expressed hope that wasn’t the case. “It’s possible,” Curry responded.

via Seahawks | Could Aaron Curry be splitting from Seahawks? | Seattle Times Newspaper.

Tags: Admission, coach pete carroll, curry, Cyberspace, Demotion, Financial Guarantees, J Wright, Motivator, New Contract, nfl team, Playing Time, Seahawks, Seattle, State Of North Carolina, Strongside Linebacker