Hill Gets Tagged by Hawks

The Seahawks have announced the franchise tagging of their free agent LB Leroy Hill, in what is said to be essenially an extention to sign the linebacker to a long term deal.



Even if the 26-year-old doesn't get a multiyear contract, the franchise-player designation guarantees a raise from his $927,000 base salary in 2008 to $8.3 million this year - the average salary of the top five linebackers in the NFL.



Hill has started 50 of 56 career games. He finished third on the team in 2008 with 81 tackles, and was leading the team in stops through 12 games until a neck strain sidelined him for the final four games. The former Clemson star set a Seattle record for sacks by a rookie linebacker with 7½ in 2005.