Changing of guard

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Minnesota focused its off-season spending spree on a free-agent offensive lineman. Steve Hutchinson doesn’t offer any glamour, but to them, the left guard has been worth every penny.

“I would tell you that he probably wishes he had played a little bit better,” said coach Brad Childress, before adding: “He is everything we thought he would be.”

The seven-year, $49 million contract Hutchinson signed in March included $16 million in guaranteed money, the richest deal in NFL history for a guard. It has taken time for Minnesota’s line to mesh, one reason why the offensive production – only four touchdowns in five games – hasn’t been strong.

But the Vikings (3-2) are pleased with the All-Pro nonetheless.

“Probably the thing that you underappreciate is the temperament that he brings to the field, just in terms of the nastiness and the ‘battle you’ and ‘fight you’ every play, and working downfield to pick people off,” Childress said. “He’s a million-mile-an-hour guy. He wants to do it exactly right.”

That includes sidestepping obvious questions about his return to Seattle on Sunday.

“I know those guys and those coaches on that team. I played there for five years,” Hutchinson said curtly. “That’s about the extent of what I’m going to talk about myself.”

Though the Seahawks didn’t want to lose him and he wasn’t looking to leave, Hutchinson’s departure caused bitter feelings. First, he was upset with the Seattle front office for not following through on a contract extension he was expecting.

Then Seattle’s brass fumed at Minnesota for including a clause in his offer sheet – which came to be known as the “poison pill” – that would guarantee Hutchinson the entire $49 million if he was not his team’s highest-paid offensive lineman. Since tackle Walter Jones was already making more, the Seahawks couldn’t afford to match the offer.

They challenged the matter in court but were denied.

He didn’t address it this week, but Hutchinson expressed sadness in the spring about leaving his teammates. The same sentiment was coming from Seattle, too.

“The guy that I would say is the leader on our team is probably our center, Robbie Tobeck,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said on a conference call with reporters covering the Vikings. “Hutch was his best friend. I know what it’s like to lose a best friend on your team. It’s never fun. It’s never easy. It kind of takes the wind out of your sails a little bit. I don’t know. Tobeck wasn’t his usual cheery, happy self there without Hutch, without his roommate, without his buddy.

“I think we’ve come around, but it is tough when you lose friends and they go to other teams.”

Chris Spencer, a first-round draft pick in 2005 whose future is at center, has struggled to replace the 6-foot-5, 300-plus-pound Hutchinson. Coming off a trip to the Super Bowl, the Seahawks are certainly not in a rebuilding stage, so the transition hasn’t been easy.

Coach Mike Holmgren was upset with the “poison-pill” provision the Vikings and Hutchinson’s agent, Tom Condon, used to lure the left guard away that went “against the spirit” of the rules. But he had no personal problems with Hutchinson, at least.

“It’s hard for me to be too mad at him, because he’s one of my favorite guys of all time, but I was surprised and disappointed,” Holmgren said.

The Vikings are plenty happy with Hutchinson’s quiet leadership. He’s been described as the type of player who stops opponents’ trash talking, just by his presence and performance on the line.

“The tempo that he brings to the games, his nastiness, is what we need across the board from all of us, not just the offensive line,” quarterback Brad Johnson said.