INDIANAPOLIS -- Seahawks president Tim Ruskell isn't just hoping that placing the franchise tag on Josh Brown is a needed step in signing the kicker to a long-term contract, He is counting on it.

The reason for Ruskell's optimism?

A been-there, done-that history between the two men negotiating the deal: John Idzik, the Seahawks' just-signed vice president of football administration, and Richard Roche, Brown's agent.

Those two worked out a four-year, $6.5 million extension for Arizona kicker Neil Rackers last year, when Idzik for working for the Cardinals.

"Well, one of the unique or ironic things about this is he just did Rackers' deal with the same agent," Ruskell said during a break at the NFL scouting combine Thursday, the deadline for clubs to name franchise players.

"That's got everybody dancing. In the end, it will be good. They worked that deal out, and I believe we'll work this deal out."

Idzik was hired last week to replace Mike Reinfeldt, who left the club to become general manager of the Tennessee Titans. Reinfeldt's departure and Idzik's newcomer status played a small role in the Seahawks using the franchise tag on Brown, who was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent March 2.

"We were getting up against the edge," Ruskell said. "We didn't want to lose him. We'll continue to talk, and I feel very confident we'll get a deal done."

Along with the tag comes a tender of $2.078 million, which is the average of the top five kickers and punters in the league. The move allows the Seahawks to match any offer sheet Brown might sign with another team, or receive two first-round draft choices as compensation for losing him.

The amount of the tender also is in line with the club's parameters of a long-term deal for Brown.

"Obviously, everything had to work in terms of what that number was and the numbers we were talking about, and in that way it did," Ruskell said. "It allows us to keep talking, and it allows us not to lose him."

The Seahawks would have been lost without Brown last season, when he kicked four game-winning field goals to tie the NFL season record. With those kicks, the Seahawks were 9-7, won the NFC West for the third consecutive season and advanced to the postseason for the fourth time in as many seasons.

Brown, a seventh-round draft choice in 2003, was the first alternate to the Pro Bowl for the NFC.

Brown was tendered a $721,600 offer last season, when he was a restricted free agent.

Unlike some players and agents, who view the franchise tag as a negative, Roche viewed the move in the light the club intended.

"By designating Josh as their franchise player, the Seahawks confirm his importance to their team," Roche said in a statement. "Josh is one of the few elite players that have been designated as a franchise player at their position. Josh appreciated the support that the fans of Seattle have demonstrated to him during his career in Seattle."

MORA UNPLUGGED: Despite reports to the contrary out of San Diego, the Chargers never asked the Seahawks for permission to speak to assistant coach Jim Mora during their recent search for a head coach that ended Monday when Norv Turner was hired to replace the fired Marty Schottenheimer.

"I don't know where that came from," Ruskell said.

Mora was hired last month to be the Seahawks' assistant head coach and defensive backs coach.