The Seattle Seahawks have signed third-round wide receiver Deon Butler to a four-year contract.
Butler, the 91st overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, was a four-year starter at Penn State. Butler led the Nittany Lions in receiving in three of his four seasons in Happy Valley, finishing his career with a school-record 179 receptions for 2,771 yards and 22 touchdowns.
He was named second-team All-Big Ten following his senior season.
Seattle traded a fifth and seventh-round pick in 2009, and a third-round pick in 2010, to the Philadelphia Eagles to move into the third round to select Butler, whose 4.3 speed and play-making ability are attributes the Seahawks have lacked at the wide receiver position the recent years.
Butler is expected to compete for the team's #4 receiver spot, but he could also see some work returning kicks and punts.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but Butler's deal should be worth $2.43 million dollars, with incentives pushing the maximum value of the deal to just under $3.2 million dollars.
Butler is the fifth of the Seahawks' seven draft choices to sign a contract. The two unsigned picks are first-round linebacker Aaron Curry and second-round center Max Unger.
The Seahawks' 2009 training camp begins on July 30.
In addition to writing for NorthwestFootball.net, Brian McIntyre maintains his own blog, where he’s tracking the signing status of the 2009 NFL Draft Class, and writes for FalconInsider.com. If you’d like to e-mail Brian, you may do so by clicking here.
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