Seahawks bring back LB Mike Morgan, release LB Arthur Brown

RENTON – The Seahawks have re-signed linebacker Mike Morgan, the team announced Monday morning. Seattle released another linebacker, Arthur Brown, to make room on its 90-man offseason roster.

Morgan entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Seattle in 2011 and started nine games last season for the Seahawks at strong-side linebacker. Bringing him back is an unexpected move given how much Seattle has stockpiled at his position since the end of last season. The Seahawks signed three linebackers in free agency, including two in Michael Wilhoite and Terence Garvin who are competing for the starting strong-side job (Brown was the third).

The Seahawks also signed defensive end Marcus Smith over the weekend and believe he can join the mix at that spot. That’s not to mention D.J. Alexander, whom Seattle acquired for Kevin Pierre-Louis in a swap of linebackers with Kansas City. The Seahawks view Alexander as a weak-side player, but even then, all the additions they’ve made at linebacker while Morgan remained unsigned made it seem like they had moved on from him.

But Morgan is back, joining the competition for the starting job he held last season.

“I’m just here to compete,” he said after practice on Monday. “Just like Coach always preaches, it’s competition. It’s definitely a deep room and I’m excited about the opportunity to get out there compete with everybody and see what happens.”