The Seattle Seahawks re-signed Brandon Mebane to a 5-year, $25 million contract on Friday. The number figures were first reported by ESPN's John Clayton (via Tony Softli), and Clayton later stipulated that it includes $5 million in guarantees.
The signing was a big priority for the Seahawks and it looks like they got their starting 3-tech defensive lineman for a relatively good price. We've talked about Mebane a lot over at FieldGulls, and there's been a great deal of speculation on how much he would fetch.
I admit that I thought he'd demand up to $10 million a year on the liberal side, and at worst about $4 million per on the conservative side. It looks like the Hawks will retain Mebane's services for around $5 million a year, which gives them some options in free agency moving forward and the contract isn't completely paralyzing for a front office that is still trying to build this team.
All in all, Friday was a good day for the Seahawks as they locked-up Mebane, a top-priority of the team in free agency. Seattle also added another capable body along the defensive line in Branch, and brought back Junior Siavii. Add it all up, and the Seahawks plugged holes and took care of a big position of need, at least for the time being.
For more on the Seahawks and Mebane, head over to Field Gulls.