NFL notebook: Seahawks sign Carroll through 2021 season

Seattle coach Pete Carroll signed a multi-year extension with the club through the 2021 season, the Seahawks announced Monday. The deal reportedly is worth more than $11 million per season, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Carroll's current contract was set to expire after the 2019 campaign. The Seahawks are headed to the postseason for the seventh time during Carroll's nine seasons with the team. Seattle was the Super Bowl champion following the 2013 season and lost in the Super Bowl the following season. He has posted an 88-54-1 record during his tenure and won four NFC West crowns. --Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster took to Twitter to apologize to fans for his pivotal fumble in the closing seconds of his team's 31-28 loss to New Orleans Sunday night. With 41 seconds left and Pittsburgh driving, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit Smith-Schuster for an 8-yard completion at the Saints' 34-yard-line. He coughed up the ball, and New Orleans recovered the fumble. One Drew Brees' kneel-down ended the game. "When I'm at my lowest, I'm not going to hide," Smith-Schuster, 22, wrote. "I'm sorry. That loss was on me. I let everyone down, it won't happen again." --Washington Redskins safety D.J. Swearinger said on 106.7 The Fan that head coach Jay Gruden called him into his office and informed him of his release. The news comes two days after Swearinger -- a Pro Bowl alternate who has had a career season -- ripped defensive coordinator Greg Manusky following the team's loss to the Tennessee Titans, which officially eliminated Washington from postseason contention. A few hours after Swearinger's radio appearance, the team officially announced his release, which allows other teams to claim the safety off waivers. Swearinger told the radio station he wasn't given a reason for being let go, but it appears to be a direct result of his comments on Manusky. "I'm peaceful about it," Swearinger said. "I don't regret nothing, because I know I gave 100 percent from my heart." --Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said his team is playing "all-out" to win in Week 17 against the New York Giants, despite the game having zero postseason implications. "Absolutely," Jones said. "We're all-out. We've got work to do. We've got some work to do out here, I think we'll all agree. We don't want to, if we can, go into the playoff with dangling participles -- loose ends." The Cowboys are locked into the No. 4 seed in the NFC and will host either the Seattle Seahawks or Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round of the playoffs regardless of who wins Sunday's game at the Meadowlands. --New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady declined to address the possibility that he is dealing with a sprained left knee. Speculation about an MCL sprain dates back to a Nov. 11 loss to the Tennessee Titans, when Brady's left knee bent awkwardly when he was tackled after catching a pass on a trick play. "I am not getting into specifics with injuries. It just doesn't make any sense," Brady said during his weekly appearance on WEEI Radio. "It is football. There are a lot of guys dealing with a lot of things." Brady, 41, completed 13 of 24 passes for 126 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in Sunday's 24-12 victory against the Buffalo Bills. He left the game with 6:39 remaining and the Patriots leading 24-6. For the season, Brady has completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 4,105 yards, 25 TDs and 11 picks. --A pair of AFC East teams denied they plan to target Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh to replace their head coaches after their seasons end. Pro Football Talk reported Sunday that the New York Jets planned to make Harbaugh a "financial offer he can't refuse, well in excess of the $7 million he earns at Ann Arbor." Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson denied the report, and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said that even if his team moves on from coach Adam Gase, he will not pursue Harbaugh. --Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll made it clear that the team won't let contract-year defensive end Frank Clark get away in free agency. "He is a Seahawk," Carroll said on ESPN 710 Seattle. "He ain't going anywhere. We aren't losing him." Meeting with reporters later in the day, Carroll added: "We've got to figure [Clark's contract situation] out somehow. It's a big issue." Clark, a 2015 second-round pick, is having a career season in the final year of his rookie deal. He has career highs of 12 sacks and 24 QB hits through 15 games, bringing his career totals to 34 and 69, respectively, in 61 games. The 25-year-old told reporters in October there's no place he'd rather be than Seattle. -- The Tennessee Titans placed Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jurrell Casey on injured reserve with a knee injury ending his season. Coach Mike Vrabel also announced at his press conference that quarterback Marcus Mariota is dealing with a stinger and will be monitored throughout the week as the Titans prepare for a must-win meeting with the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night. "We'll see kinda where he's at today," Vrabel said of Mariota, adding that this injury is not related to the arm issues he dealt with earlier this season. "We are going to do a little bit of individual work on the field and see if he can do any of that stuff, and then we'll kind of keep moving on toward the end of the week and make sure he can do everything that we ask our quarterbacks to do." Mariota left Saturday's 25-16 victory against the Washington Redskins late in the first half, and backup Blaine Gabbert finished the game. --Field Level Media