The Seattle Seahawks did not necessarily anticipate Cliff Avril becoming available to them at a discount price.

A soft market for defensive ends delivered Avril to Seattle on a two-year deal.

Contract details provide additional perspective.

Avril will receive a $4.5 million signing bonus and $1.5 million base salary this season. He's scheduled to receive a $7 million salary in 2014, bringing the two-year total to $13 million.

The structure provides Seattle with flexibility after one season. The first-year charge against the salary cap is a modest $3.75 million. That figure includes half of the $4.5 million signing bonus plus the full 2013 base salary. That 2013 cap charge is low enough for Seattle to comfortably carry Avril and injured incumbent starter Chris Clemons ($8.2 million cap hit in 2013) on the roster this year while figuring out where both players stand in 2014.

Avril's contract carries a $9.25 million salary-cap charge in 2014. Clemons' deal is scheduled to count nearly $9.7 million against the cap that year. Carrying both those charges would not be impossible, but neither would it necessarily be ideal.