Barron gets another shot to play in the NFL, this time with the Seahawks. (US PRESSWIRE)

The possible bad news arrived over the weekend when Dan Pompei of the National Football Post wrote that "A decent chance exists that Seahawks’ 2011 first-round pick James Carpenter will not play in 2012 because his knee was torn up so severely last season. The Seahawks have protected themselves at the right tackle position by re-signing Breno Giacomini and Paul McQuistan and adding free agent Frank Omiyale. Carpenter has had a hard time mentally with the recovery process but had a recent spurt in which he made some good progress."

On Tuesday, the Seahawks added another name to the depth chart: tackle Alex Barron, also a former first-rounder (by the Rams in '05). The difference: Barron was known as a penalty machine during his six-year career, and he missed the 2011 season while rehabbing a knee injury.

Our lasting memory of Barron is from Week 1 of the 2010 season, Cowboys vs. Redskins:



Ah, yes, those halcyon days back when Donovan McNabb still seemed like a good fit in Washington and the inflated hopes and dreams of Redskins' fans had yet to be crushed by the McNabb-Grossman-Shanahan(s) train wreck. While McNabb's waiting for another chance in the NFL, Barron took advantage of his opportunity last weekend, performing well enough in Seattle's rookie minicamp to earn a contract.

Seahawks fan and Shutdown Corner editor Doug Farrar wasn't ready to call the move an indication that the Seahawks were moving on without Carpenter in 2012, but he did acknowledge "a lot of contingency plans" until Carpenter's situation becomes clearer.

For, Barron, he's just happy to be back in the league. “I just wanted to get somewhere,” he told Seahawks.com. “I’m pretty confident in my play. I’ve made some mistakes in the past, also. But I’ve gotten to the point where after last season, and coming into the offseason as a free agent, all I want to do is come in and just show that I can play. Because it can’t be talked about, it always has to be shown.”

Coach Pete Carroll sounded impressed, too. “He did a nice job,” he said Sunday. “He’s been around the block, and you could tell that. He did enough good things that we could see that he could have a chance, so we’ll see where that fits. But he did a good job in this camp.”

That's the good. The bad, however, is probably what gave other tackle-needy teams pause. In five seasons with the Rams, Barron started 76 games, was called for 63 penalties (including 43 false starts) and 33 sacks.

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