Seattle Seahawks Free Agency: Seahawks Leading Candidate to Sign Mario Williams

With the Seattle Seahawks apparently all but out of the Peyton Manning sweepstakes, the team has potentially turned their sights to landing the crown jewel of free agency on the defensive side of the ball.

Reports that the Seattle Seahawks are the clubhouse leader to procure the services of Mario Williams of the Houston Texans are gaining steam.

The 27-year-old, who played in only five games last year before a torn pectoral muscle ended his season, has become one of the top targets of the Seattle Seahawks when free agency opens Tuesday afternoon, according to John Clayton of ESPN.

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If you're going to be going for Mario Williams, the best value is to put him on the line of scrimmage and have him rush as a 4-3 defensive end. That's the way the league goes. You don't see $15 million linebackers. ... I think that when you look at the value, he's going to be more valuable to a 4-3 team, and the two 4-3 teams that appear to have either the most money or the most interest are Atlanta and Seattle.

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Williams had five sacks a season ago playing as an outside linebacker but his spent his first five seasons in Houston with his hand down as a defensive end, but while the Falcons are probably interested in Williams with end John Abraham set to walk in free agency they have a fraction of the salary cap space that the Seahawks do and likely can't afford him.

Clayton isn't the only pundit that has linked Williams to the Seahawks. Danny O' Neill of the Seattle Times reports that when the bell rings at 4 p.m. Eastern and free agency kicks off in earnest, he expects the Seahawks to come out swinging.

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The Seahawks also need someone to chase after the quarterback. They had 33 sacks in 2011, tied for No. 19 in the league.

Williams is the only top-shelf pass-rusher scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent. He's also going to be expensive, with a number of teams expected to be bidding for his services. Maybe the Seahawks will have better luck catching Williams' eye than they did with Manning.

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Mario Williams is in the prime of his career, has already amassed 53 career sacks and two trips to Honolulu and would combine with defensive end Chris Clemons to form an impressive duo of pass-rushers that should improve Seattle's ability to get after the passer by leaps and bounds.

It appears that head coach Pete Carroll and owner Paul Allen are as aware of that as I am. While nothing is certain until the ink is dry, it appears that the Seahawks are prepared to do more this season than chase quarterbacks.

They're going after a player to chase quarterbacks for them.

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