National Football League

Jets trade RB Washington to Seahawks

Published Apr. 24, 2010 7:05 p.m. ET

foxsports

New Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is rebuilding a broken stable of running backs through trades for veterans - ones with issues.

Seattle acquired recuperating running back Leon Washington and a seventh-round draft choice from the New York Jets for a fifth-round pick in Saturday's draft.

Earlier Saturday, Carroll traded with Tennessee to get his former Southern California running back, LenDale White, a burly, fading star who lost his Titans job last season to record-setting runner Chris Johnson. That deal also included draft picks.

``Can we get something done in here?'' Carroll joked inside team headquarters Saturday during a rare, 15-minute lull in an otherwise frenzied morning for him and his Seahawks.

``Just a great one-two punch to add to our team,'' Carroll said of his new runners. ``We're real excited about Leon Washington. Our guys loved him.''

Carroll has said his primary mission to resurrect the fallen Seahawks was through increasing competition at every position.

Running back is a great place to start.

Veteran Julius Jones led the Seahawks last season with just 663 yards rushing. By the end of the year, 2008 seventh-round pick Justin Forsett had supplanted Jones as Seattle's preferred runner and pass receiver out of the backfield.

One of both of them may be out with the additions of White and the versatile Washington.

Washington, who has a rod in his right leg that was broken in a grotesque injury six months ago, came into the league with White in 2006.

``Honestly, I was stoked,'' Washington said by telephone from New York when asked for his reaction of the trade.

He heard the news while running errands for his wife before an afternoon fishing outing off the coast of Long Island with former Jets tight end Chris Baker - who is now suddenly Washington's teammate again with the Seahawks.

Washington was popular in New York but is still recovering from the broken right leg. The former Pro Bowl kick returner became expendable after the Jets signed LaDainian Tomlinson, and even more so when New York traded up in the fourth round earlier Saturday and drafted USC running back Joe McKnight.

Washington suffered a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula at Oakland on Oct. 25 and missed the rest of the season. The injury required a metal rod to be inserted into the tibia.

``That's going to be in there forever. At least I know I can't break that leg again,'' he said.

Many speculated about whether he'd be able to fully recover or even play again. Yet after training at the Athletes' Performance Institute in Pensacola, Fla., he said he's been running for three weeks and ``it's going great. I'm right on track.''

He thinks he'll be ready for training camp in late July.

When healthy, Washington has been one of the league's more dynamic players, as a kick returner and running back.

The fourth-round pick in 2006 received a second-round tender last month from the Jets worth $1.759 million. That has him in line for a subsequent multiyear contract, perhaps from the Seahawks if he recovers and returns to his former All-Pro form this season.

Washington has run for 1,782 career yards and 13 touchdowns and caught 123 passes for 969 yards and two scores since coming out of Florida State in 2006. He has also returned four kickoffs for touchdowns, including three in 2007.

The All-Pro as a kick returner for the 2008 season made $535,000 in the final year of his rookie deal, and was believed to have been looking for something in the range of $5 million to $6 million a year in a long-term deal from the Jets.

Then came the injury. That put his future in jeopardy, and now he has a chance in Seattle.

``It's a great opportunity,'' he said. ``I'm just excited.''

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AP Sports Writer Dennis Waszak Jr. in Florham Park, N.J., contributed to this report.