Seattle Seahawks defensive end Chris Clemons (91) celebrates after a defensive stop in the 2nd half against the St. Louis Rams at CenturyLink Field. Seattle defeated St. Louis 30-13. Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

By Travis Duncan
Seahawks Huddle Writer

"Pete and I are excited to lock up a young core leader on our offense," Seahawks general manager John Schneider said in a release shortly after center Max Unger signed a multi-year extension.

"Max's consistent and professional approach to his job transcends the locker room and the huddle," Schneider added.

The 6-foot-5 305 lb'er Unger was a second-round draft pick by the Jim Mora Jr. era in 2009 out of Oregon.

In 2011 Unger started and played in 15 games for the 'Hawks.

The Seahawks have also signed defensive end Chris Clemons to a multi-year contract extension. Clemons has been the most consistent pass-rusher on the Seahawks defense, totally 22 sacks in the last two seasons, 11 in each.

It's hard to complain about the Clemons' re-signing and given the state of flux on the offensive line Unger's consistency should be valued as well, and thus he is now one of the highest paid centers in the National Football League.

In each of Schneider's remarks about the extensions he cited the consistency of each player since they have been in a Seahawks uniform.

Regarding Clemons, Schneider said, "Pete, myself, and the entire Seahawks family are very pleased to reward a player that has been a consistent difference maker since we acquired him."

As others have noted, such as the Seattle Times, it marks the first time that any player has signed an extension before the expiration of their contracts during the Pete Carroll era.

Do the extensions represent a changing philosophy or simply the most logical solutions devised by Carroll & Co.?

EARLY NFL PREDICTIONS

As has occurred every summer for nearly a century, the projections as to who's who for the NFL season are coming out.

And just as predictably as there are predictions about who's who, it is predicted that the Seahawks will be right in the middle of the pack.

The USA TODAY ranks the Seahawks as the 17th best NFL team going in the 2012 season.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/power-rankings

Pat Kirwan, writing for CBS SPORTS, projects the Seahawks to finish second in the division and with an 8-8 regular season record.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/19640313/nfl-season-projections-who-rises-and-who-falls-in-2012

With the mediocrity attached to the Seahawks already, why not take an optimistic, just the way Pro Bowl center Ryan Kilil has predicted his Carolina Panthers will not only appear in the Super Bowl but win the darn thing.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...l.s.super.ad.1st.ld.writethru.0762/index.html

Truthfully there is at least one NFL.com writer who believes in the Seahawks. That is Greg Rosenthal, formerly of Pro Football Talk, who recently moved to NFL.com. He predicts the Seahawks will win the NFC West.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...hawks-philadelphia-eagles-flying-high-in-2012