Dave Mahler of 950 KJR in Seattle tweets that he the Seahawks have offered the Eagles a first and a third round pick for quarterback Kevin Kolb. Mahler says that he hears this “from a source.”

But following his tweet, Mahler did qualify his statements via his Facebook page:

“Deal I reported yesterday was made sometime in the last 4 months..I think it says more about where Hasselbeck is on the priority list in Seattle than it does about the chances of Kolb coming. Eagles since offer have also reportedly expresssed desire to trade for players instead of picks.”

Speaking of Hasselbeck, the Nashville Tennessean’s Jim Wyatt writes that Hasselbeck could still be on the Titans’ radar.

“I’m talking about three members of the front office, all have ties to Seattle,” Wyatt said. “They know Matt Hasselbeck. Likely Jake Locker knows Matt Hasselbeck because he’s worked with him.”

Re-signing Kerry Collins would make a lot of sense for the Titans, although it’s not like the new coaching staff has an allegiance to Collins so maybe Hasselbeck would be a fit there. Either way, the Titans need to bring in a veteran quarterback to help take some of the pressure off Locker’s shoulders. Even if it’s a forgone conclusion that a rookie will start, no head coach wants to just hand a young player a job without making him earn it first. (Especially a young quarterback as raw as Locker.)

Getting back to Seattle, I wonder if the Hawks will eventually decide to bypass trading for Kolb and give Charlie Whitehurst a chance to succeed as the full-time starter. Outside of his solid play against the Rams in Week 17 last year (a game that won the NFC West and lifted Seattle into the playoffs), it’s not like Whitehurst has shown that he deserves a full-time opportunity. But the Seahawks did trade a third-round pick and swapped second rounders with San Diego to acquire him from the Chargers in 2010, so they may decide to give him a shot.

We’ll see. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Kolb when the lockout finally lifts.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is not expected to return to the Seahawks in 2011.

From Rotoworld.com:

Schefter made this statement on NFL Live, and ESPN’s John Clayton — a former Seahawks beat writer — has been saying the same. Charlie Whitehurst is the only Seattle quarterback under contract, and OC Darrell Bevell’s ties to free agent Tarvaris Jackson could lead to another offseason addition. Neither Whitehurst nor Jackson is a starting-caliber quarterback, however.

Interesting that a report like this would come out two weeks after the Seahawks failed to address their need at quarterback via the draft. As Rotoworld points out, Whitehurst will have the opportunity to earn the starting job but one has to believe that Pete Carroll will make a run at Carson Palmer, Kevin Kolb, Kyle Orton or Vince Young when/if they become available when/if the lockout is lifted. (Palmer would make the most sense because of his ties to Carroll at USC, but he’s not the long-term fix the Seahawks need so Seattle may take a pass if Cincinnati makes him available.)

If Hasselbeck is indeed done in Seattle, the Dolphins may be a fit. The Redskins could also be interested too, as Hasselbeck is familiar with Mike Shanahan’s system having played 13 years in the West Coast Offense.

Ah, Twitter. Where athletes without internal filters can get into trouble using 140 words or less.

Earlier this week, Jets’ cornerback Antonio Cromartie bashed the NFL and player’s union for the lack of progress in the CBA negotiations. Several players, including Ray Lewis and Darnell Dockett, took issue with what Cromartie had to say and publicly supported the union.

Seahawks’ quarterback Matt Hasselbeck took things a step further by taking a cheap shot at Cromartie’s intelligence by tweeting: “Somebody ask Cromartie if he knows what CBA stands for.”

According to ESPN, the tweet was later removed but not before Cromartie found out about it. The cornerback’s response was nothing short of, well, something Antonio Cromartie would say.

“hey Matt if u have something to then say it be a man about it. Don’t erase it. I will smash ur face in.”

Realizing he said something stupid and knowing full well that the corner would in fact smash his face in, Hasselbeck quickly issued an apology to Cromartie on Twitter using the standard, “Hey man, I was just kidding about what I said earlier!” excuse.

“Sorry for the joke man. No hard feelings,” a tweet from his account said. “DB’s & QB’s have a hard time getting along I guess sometimes. lol.”

Not phased by what any of his NFL mates had to say about his comments earlier this week, Cromartie also defended himself against Lewis and Dockett.

“I don’t give a who about Ray Lewis or [Darnell Dockett] talking about what I said,” Cromartie said in a message posted on his Twitter account, according to the New York Daily News.

“There’s 10’s of thousand ppl who will lose jobs. They taking our healthcare away and for players that have surgery can’t even get rehab once March 3rd gets here.”

What’s interesting is that most fans would agree with Cromartie’s take on the situation. There needs to be less banter and more progress so that we have football next season. But the players don’t need one of their own bashing their union when they’re trying to show a united front. It definitely doesn’t help their cause when one player is telling another that he would smash his face in.

What a mess.

Here are five thoughts on the Bears’ impressive 35-24 victory over the Seahawks in the Divisional Round on Sunday.

1. What inexperience?
Jay Cutler did Sunday what Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan couldn’t this weekend: Elevate his game when it mattered most. For all the talk about his lack of postseason experience, Cutler played like a 10-year playoff veteran on Sunday. He set the tone early with a picture-perfect 58-yard touchdown pass to Greg Olsen on the Bears’ third offensive play from scrimmage and then showed pure grit and determination on his 6-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. On the day, he was 15-of-28 passing for 274 yards with four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) and zero interceptions (although he came close to throwing a couple of picks, including one at the goal line). Cutler has really put a lot of his past troubles behind him and deserves praise for his unflappable play on Sunday. He was highly impressive.

2. Cutler also got a lot of help from his offensive line.
The Bears’ O-line has taken a lot of heat for its play over the last couple of years, and deservedly so. But they’ve been a transformed unit since midway through the season and a lot of credit goes to Mike Tice and Lovie Smith for moving guys around to better match their strengths (and quite frankly, hide their weaknesses, too). Cutler was excellent but he also had plenty of time to survey the field and pick apart Seattle’s overmatched secondary. His front five did an outstanding job swallowing the Seahawks’ pass-rushers and keeping them out of the backfield.

3. That’s Bear defense right there.
The final score doesn’t do the Bears justice. Their defense played out of its mind for three quarters and that’s about as aggressive as I’ve seen Chicago’s secondary play all season. Unlike other teams who like to play their corners 10 yards off the ball and give opponents easy yards via slants and screens, the Bears’ DBs suffocated Seattle’s wideouts all afternoon. Granted, nobody outside of Brandon Stokley fought back, but credit still goes to the Bears’ corners for bringing the fight to them right from the start. Once again, Julius Peppers failed to record a sack but he got pressure on Hasselbeck all day. You have to focus on him to really appreciate what he does for that defense. He helped paved the way for fellow linemen like Tommie Harris, who did rack up two sacks. Without a doubt, J-Pepp was worth the money the Bears spent this offseason.

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Matchup: Seahawks (8-9) @ Bears (11-5)
Kickoff: 1:00PM ET, Sunday

1. Will inconsistency doom the Seahawks again?
There have been seven separate occasions this year when the Seahawks have played at home and then gone on the road the following week. In those seven games, they went 0-7 and lost by an average margin of 23.6 points. Last week the Hawks played at home and pulled off the upset of the year by knocking off the defending champs. But they won’t have home field advantage or the element of surprise this week when they travel to Solider Field. Can Seattle finally put together back-to-back solid performances and pull off another upset? Or will their issues with consistency burn them again?

2. How will Cutler play in his first-ever postseason game?
The Seahawks do have one distinct advantage over the Bears this weekend, which is that their quarterback has postseason experience and Chicago’s doesn’t. Matt Hasselbeck has played in a Super Bowl. Before this season, Jay Cutler never had a winning seasons at either the college or pro level. Will his lack of inexperience cost the Bears this Sunday or will he rise to the challenge like he did against the Eagles and Jets earlier this year? Seattle ranks 29th in total defense and 30th against the pass. This is a unit that Cutler has to torch. He can’t throw three interceptions and have Devin Hester and his defense bail him out. He’s had a great season but now is the time to elevate his game.

3. Will the Seahawks kick to Hester?
The answer to this question should be no, but sometimes special teams coaches and punters think that they’re smarter than everyone and kick to him anyway. If he gets an opportunity to return a punt, it’s not a question of “if” he’ll put the Bears in good field position but, “at what yard line are the Bears going to start in their opponent’s territory?” Brian Schneider has a tough job this week in trying to figure out a way to neutralize Hester the best he can. If it were me, I’d be telling punter Jon Ryan to get as much distance on the kick as possible but to make sure the ball eventually lands out of bounds. There’s no reason to give Hester a chance to return the ball, even for a team like Seattle, which has had good special teams play this season.

4. Will Martz stay balanced?
This is right around the time of year when Mike Martz wants to go back to proving to people how smart he is. But he must keep his offense balanced. Following back-to-back losses to the Seahawks and Redskins in Weeks 6-7, Lovie Smith tightened the reins on Martz during the Bears’ Week 8 bye. The team also shuffled its offensive line around to take advantage of his personnel’s strengths and hide their weaknesses. The result was a six-game winning streak for Chicago, which only ended when the Bears ran into the buzz saw that is the New England Patriots. Martz is a better playcaller when his offense remains balanced. Cutler is a better quarterback when Matt Forte runs the ball more than six times a game. Now isn’t the time for Martz to go off script: he needs to stick to the game plan and to continue feeding Forte in order to keep defense’s on their heels. There’s also no need to try to throw vertical every down when Cutler is more efficient throwing short-to-intermediate passes. Even though they’re playing a Seattle team that only won seven games this season, the Bears still need to be at their best, and that includes Martz.

5. Can Seattle attack Chicago’s weakness?
The Bears rank 10th in total defense, second in rushing defense and fourth in scoring. But if there’s one area where they can be attacked it’s in the secondary. The Bears have given up an average of 224.2 yards per game through the air this season, which ranks them 21st in the league in that category. That said, they’re actually pretty good defending the deep pass. They’ve only allowed nine pass plays of 30-plus yards this season, which leads the NFC. But Hasselbeck actually fared well against Chicago earlier this season while completing 4 of 7 passes for 85 yards with one touchdown and a 139.9 rating on throws traveling at least 15 yards. Hasselbeck understands the Tampa 2 defense that Chicago runs better than any quarterback in the league because he has loads of experience and has played against that scheme many times before. The Bears may humiliate inexperienced quarterbacks, but chances are Hasselbeck will hold his own this Sunday. But can his offensive line protect him from Chicago’s nasty front seven? And can he beat the Bears without the threat of a running game?