Seahawks managed to re-sign DE Red Bryant just hours into free agency.
photo by Rod Mar / Seattle Seahawks

by Curtis Crabtree
KJR reporter
Twitter: @Curtis_Crabtree

Free agency in the National Football League officially began at 1 p.m. Tuesday and the flood gates opened.

Players started taking visits and signing with teams across the lead at a rapid pace. Seattle took care of business by keeping a couple of their own.

The Seahawks have agreed to contracts with DE Red Bryant and LB Heath Farwell.

Bryant was the biggest name to hit the free agent market for Seattle. He was an unrestricted free agent for all of about two hours before agreeing to a new contract with Seattle. The deal was first reported by Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network. ESPN is reporting the deal is worth $35 million over five years with $14.5 million guaranteed.

Farwell was the first to re-sign as his agency confirmed via their twitter account that he had agreed to terms with the Seahawks.

Bryant has been the key cog to Seattle's much-improved run defense over the last two seasons. Pete Carroll decided to move him from defensive tackle to defensive end before the 2010 season and helped turn the defense around.

Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald had reported that the New England Patriots were expected to make a run at Bryant, but ultimately never got the chance.

Seattle decided not to tender restricted free agents CB Roy Lewis or OL Mike Gibson and they are not free to sign elsewhere.

Lewis and Gibson join a list of 13 other players who are now free agents.

S Atari Bigby
DE Raheem Brock
TE John Carlson
RB Justin Forsett
OL Mike Gibson
DT Anthony Hargrove
LB David Hawthorne
LB Leroy Hill
LB Matt McCoy
OL Paul McQuistan
FB Michael Robinson
LB David Vobora
QB Charlie Whitehurst
DE Jimmy Wilkerson

Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network is reporting that TE John Carlson is going to take a visit to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com is reporting that former Tennessee Titans DE Jason Jones will visit Seattle in addition to the St. Louis Rams. The 6-foot-5, 276 pound end has recorded 6.5 sacks in 28 starts over the last two seasons for the Titans.

Jeff Darlington of the NFL Network is reporting that former Miami Dolphins QB Chad Henne is scheduled to visit the Seahawks as well as the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Don Banks of Sports Illustrated is reporting that the Seahawks and Miami Dolphins will be the primary market for fomer Green Bay Packers QB Matt Flynn. Banks speculates that the team that doesn't get Flynn will likely become the front-runners for Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill in the NFL Draft.

Seattle is still expressing interest in former Chicago Bears OL Frank Omiyale as well as a handful of other teams. Omiyale could be a fallback option if the team cannot re-sign McQuistan.