Defensive tackle Brandon Mebane has never played for a team other than the Seahawks since entering the league as a third-round pick in 2007 and he’d like things to stay that way as he heads toward free agency.
Mebane said that he’d love to remain with the Seahawks and finish his career in Seattle during an appearance on “Justin and Gee” on 710 ESPN in Seattle, although it doesn’t sound like he expects to reach agreement on a new deal with the team before the start of free agency next week. Mebane said he expects to visit with other teams, although he downplayed how much those visits will mean.
“That’s part of the process of being a free agent, but that don’t really mean a whole lot,” Mebane said. “Taking a visit don’t really mean nothing. It’s just like recruiting all over again, like out of high school going to college. You take five visits when you’re in high school and you go visit places. That’s all part of the process, as far as taking trips here and there, but it’s just a trip, it ain’t really like saying a whole lot.”
Mebane played the third-most snaps of any defensive lineman in Seattle last season and fellow defensive tackle and impending free agent Ahtyba Rubin was fourth on that list, so the Seahawks will have some decisions to make about how to stock the interior of their defensive line. With linebacker Bruce Irvin also set for free agency and defensive end Michael Bennett still in the market for a better deal, those decisions will likely be impacted by what happens elsewhere in the front seven.