Longtime Seahawks DL Brandon Mebane signs with the Chargers

Longtime Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Brandon Mebane signed a three-year, $13.5 million contract with the San Diego Chargers Wednesday. After nine seasons with the Seahawks, Mebane hit the open market at the age of 31 with enough left in the tank to get some interest in free agency.

Mebane has been a reliable defensive tackle for the Seahawks for a long time, only faltering along the way for injuries. He played in just nine games in 2014, missed one game in 2009 and four games in 2010. He has played a full 16 games five times since being made a third-round pick by the Seahawks in 2007.

This past year, Mebane did miss one game due to injury, and had just 24 combined tackles and 1.5 sacks on the season. He was not a full-time starter as he was in previous seasons and he was ineffective at times. Mebane is past his prime, but not so far past it that he doesn't have something to offer his new team.

Mebane was part of one of the league's best defenses when the Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl in both 2013 and 2014. They came up short in one of those games, but Mebane was part of the team that walked away with a victory in Super Bowl XLVIII, so he's already got a ring at this point in his career.