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Danny O'Neil covers the Seahawks for The Seattle Times.

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March 14, 2009 11:15 AM

Dissecting the Julian Peterson trade

Putting together the simple news story of Julian Peterson's trade presents several difficult choices in terms of nomenclature.

It's factually correct to say that Seattle traded its only Pro Bowl player from 2008, but is it accurate? The Pro Bowl isn't the ultimate measure of a player's ability as it depends upon voting. Name recognition goes a long.

Peterson's pass-rush production declined by a about 50 percent last season when he finished with 5 sacks, but the whole team's sack production declined -- not just Peterson.

The Seahawks had committed more than $20 million of salary-cap space to their trio of starting linebackers after designating Leroy Hill their franchise player. But don't make too much of that. The resources allocated to linebackers had not kept Seattle from making free-agent acquisitions like T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Colin Cole. In effect, the money Seattle dedicated to the linebackers did not pushed the Seahawks so hard against the salary-cap that it prevented acquisitions.

Peterson turns 31 in July, but before anyone goes and talks about him getting too old, it's worth looking at the ages of the two free agents Seattle just signed in free agency: Houshmandzadeh is 30 and Cole is turning 29.

The trade reflects a value assessment by Seattle and it amounts to a vote of confidence in Hill, who showed potential as a pass rusher as a rookie and saw that role decline after Peterson's acquisition in 2006. Hill had 7.5 sacks as a rookie. He has six sacks in the three seasons combined since then.

Seattle also added depth to the defensive line. Redding played defensive end in 2006 when he had eight sacks and showed sufficient promise to be named the Lions' franchise player. He played tackle the past two seasons.

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