After 10 seasons with the Seahawks, Matt Hasselbeck seems poised to leave whenever the lockout ends. But he would prefer to stay.
Hasselbeck said today that he’s hoping for the best but preparing for the worst regarding whether the Seahawks brass is going to send him packing and make Charlie Whitehurst the starter for 2011.
“I definitely am hopeful to be back here, but at the same time, I understand that with a new GM, with a new regime, they sometimes want to go in a different direction,” Hasselbeck said, via Mike Sando of ESPN.com. “That could happen, too. I am prepared for whatever. Right now, I am just trying to get strong, really improve in some areas on the field and make a big leap this year physically and be ready to play at a high level -- play hopefully the best football of my career.”
Hasselbeck noted that he and new Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell worked together in Green Bay in 2000 and said he’d like to work with him again.
“I have been with Darrell in Green Bay,” Hasselbeck said. “I really like him as a coach. I love the offense he is installing here. If I was in charge of the offense, it is the offense that I would install. That learning curve would be good.”
Ultimately, Hasselbeck seems to know that with a team that wants to get younger, a guy who’s turning 36 in September has tough odds to stick around.
“Either way, it’s going to be a pretty new coaching staff,” Hasselbeck said. “There is a lot of change here in Seattle in terms of the roster. They like to change the roster as much as they can, probably in an effort to get younger.”
The Cardinals, Titans, Dolphins and Vikings are among the teams that have been named as potential landing spots if the Seahawks decide to dump Hasselbeck.