Seahawks trade for Kellen Winslow; hope to make 2-TE sets more productive

In 2011, per the game-charting of NFL.com's Brian McIntyre, the Seattle Seahawks put two tight ends on the field 39 percent of the time, one of the highest figures in the NFL. However, they didn't get much production from those tight ends. Former Oakland Raiders tight end Zach Miller, acquired as a free agent before the 2011 season, caught just 25 passes on 44 targets for 233 yards and no touchdowns -- Seattle's injury-weakened offensive line put Miller in a position to block most of the time. Despite that, Miller led the team in all categories at the position.

On Monday evening, the Seahawks endeavored to become more productive with the 2-TE sets they prefer by trading for ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Kellen Winslow. For assuming Winslow's contract, the Seahawks have up just a seventh-round draft pick in 2013 (conditional sixth if Winslow meets certain performance guidelines). Winslow has three years left in a six-year, $36.1 million contract he signed in 2009, but the $3.3 million he's due this season in base salary is not guaranteed.

The eight-year veteran was deemed expendable by new Bucs head coach Greg Schiano after missing a recent round of OTAs, and it was Winslow himself who revealed the news -- last Saturday, Schiano told him that the Bucs were looking to make a deal and get him out of there. In his place, the Bucs signed former Indianapolis Colts TE Dallas Clark to a one-year deal.

[Related: Trading Kellen Winslow could be risky for the Buccaneers]

"It's kind of shocking, but that's what it is," Winslow told Ross Tucker of SIRIUS NFL Radio on Monday morning. " [Schiano] said he was upset that I wasn't working out with the team in the offseason, and then, the first week of OTAs. But, look -- I've been there the last three years, and I've had a successful career so far, and you just don't get rid of one of your best players because of that. That's just what I was told, but I have nothing bad to say about coach Schiano -- it was just a disagreement on why I'm not there yet. I was training in San Diego, and I was going to start [in OTAs with the team] today, but I got the call on Saturday that they're looking for somebody else."

Winslow was especially surprised, given his claim that he has participated in a team event before in this preseason. "There was a previous minicamp -- I went to that. It was a three-day minicamp and then, I came back down to San Diego to train, and I was going to start [back with the team] today."

According to Winslow, he flew cross-country from San Diego to Tampa to hear that he was going to be gone. "They tried to catch me before I left, but that didn't work out."

[Related: Detroit Lions bar own player from practice after fight with teammate]

In Seattle, there is room for a player as productive as Winslow has been in the recent past. Drafted sixth overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2004 NFL draft, Winslow most recently averaged 72.6 catches, 792.3 yards, and four touchdowns in each of the last three seasons for Tampa Bay. In 2011, he was the fourth-most targeted tight end in the NFL -- only Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, and Brandon Pettigrew had more footballs thrown in their general direction by their quarterbacks. He played through pain on a right knee that has seen six different surgeries, and though the sheer physical upside is limited at this point in his career, Winslow seems a good risk for a Seattle team in need of far more consistent production from his position.

More sports news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Bucs trade Kellen Winslow, sign TE

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded tight end Kellen Winslow to the Seattle Seahawks for a draft pick on Monday night and signed former Colts star Dallas Clark to replace him.

Earlier in the day, Winslow told SiriusXM radio that first-year coach Greg Schiano was "kind of upset" that Winslow has not been working out with the team during the offseason.

"That's kind of shocking, but that's what it is," Winslow said, adding that Schiano told him the coach "would help me out with a trade."

Winslow has been one of Tampa Bay's best offensive players since being acquired from Cleveland in a trade three years ago. He had 77 receptions for 884 yards and five touchdowns in 2009, 66 catches for 730 yards and five TDs in 2010 and 75 receptions for 763 yards and two TDs in 2011.

Tampa Bay received a conditional 2013 draft pick in the deal, which a source told ESPN.com's Mike Sando is a seventh-rounder that can elevate to sixth-round choice.

Winslow will join a tight end unit that already includes Zach Miller, who Seattle gave a big contract last offseason, and promising young prospect Cameron Morrah, who has struggled with injuries early in his career. The Seahawks lost tight end John Carlson in the offseason after he signed with Minnesota.

Tampa Bay gets a player who was one of Peyton Manning's favorite targets.

Clark, who turns 33 next month, spent nine seasons with Indianapolis and had 427 career receptions for 4,887 yards and 46 touchdowns. Last season, without Manning and limited by injuries to 11 games, Clark had 34 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns. He worked out for the Bucs last week.

"Dallas Clark is a consummate pro and proven playmaker," Tampa Bay general manager Mark Dominik said. "He will be another asset, on and off the field, for our team. In addition to Luke Stocker's continued improvement in his ability as an every-down tight end, we feel we have both talent and depth at the tight end position."

Winslow, despite a history of injuries and undergoing several knee surgeries during his career, appeared in every game over the past three seasons for Tampa Bay.

The 28-year-old was the sixth overall pick in the 2004 draft by the Browns, who sent him to Tampa Bay in exchange for second- and fifth-round draft choices. Winslow has 437 career receptions for 4,836 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Winslow said he has been working out near his home in San Diego and missed last week's initial set of organized team activities in Tampa. He said he was planning to join the team on Monday, but that he got a call from Schiano on Saturday.

"He was kind of upset that I wasn't there working out with the team in the offseason and for the first week of OTAs," Winslow said during the interview with SiriusXM.

"But I've been there the last three years and I've had a successful career so far," he added. "You don't just get rid of one of your best players because of that. ... I don't have nothing bad to say about coach Schiano. It was just a disagreement on why I'm not there yet."