No teams have been identified, but several have apparently told NFL.com's Michael Lombardi that they're hungrily investigating Seattle defensive tackle Brandon Mebane.
Teams have told me that if the Seahawks allow Brandon Mebane to hit the free-agent market, he will be highly sought after. Young defensive linemen with some rush ability are a rare commodity in free agency.Mebane is one of the league's under-the-radar talents. He broke out in 2007 largely because of the injury of someone higher on the depth chart (in this case, DT Chuck Darby), which is commonplace in the NFL. Mebane took only a season to establish himself as an excellent nose tackle, capable of collapsing pockets, stopping the run, and even sacking a few quarterbacks with 7.5 sacks in 26 games up until the end of 2008.
Afterwards, the Seahawks decided to switch Mebane to the under tackle position. He has played capably there but not excellently, as the position doesn't take advantage of his unusual tools. His production, and more importantly the production of the entire defensive line, has not been the same since. It's not Mebane's fault, not in my eyes.
