Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Phillips Headed to Seattle

By Chris Sullivan

Jermaine Phillips is considered one of the best "in-the-box" safeties in the league right now and it is being reported that he has made it out of San Diego without a contract and is flying to Seattle this morning. Phillips would likely take Deon Grant's position at strong safety, allowing Grant to slide over to free safety where his speed and smarts should be an upgrade over the often overmatched Brian "Big Tackle or Missed Tackle, Baby!" Russell. Phillips is big, strong and fairly fast, and it won't hurt things that he was drafted seven years ago by Ruskell.

He did have a two major injuries last year, but I don't see that being a trend. Phillips broke his left arm early in the season, missed some games, then came back and broke his right arm. I've never heard of broken arms being a recurring injury in football. More importantly, adding Phillips to the mix would give us leverage to draft a young safety in the second or third round and let him develop over a year or two; it also buys us time with Jamar Adams, a fan favorite around these parts. Thanks to CTS in the comments for the link.