Duane Brown is on the move to a team that has needed him for most of the season.
The Houston Texans traded the veteran tackle and a 2018 fifth-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for a second-round pick in 2019 and a third-round pick in 2018, a source informed of the deal told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.
Cornerback Jeremy Lane was included in the original trade but failed his physical.
Seattle was in dire straits at tackle after losing George Fant to a torn ACL in mid-August, and has managed to make it through (without any semblance of a rushing attack) the first half of the season before making a move. After seeing Brown on the Seahawks' own game film from Sunday's contest, Seattle saw all its brass needed to complete the deal. As evidenced by the compensation, Seattle understands its window is now and was willing to sell the assets necessary to capitalize.
Brown returned last week from a prolonged holdout. Now he'll be getting up to speed with his new team -- a rare instance in which a Monday after a loss turns into a Victory Monday.
"He's an alpha male," Seahawks general manager John Schneider told The Seattle Times. "He's a leader. He's been through a lot of NFL battles. A lot of these guys [on the Seahawks] know who he is."
Brown has spent his entire career with Houston, which selected him in the first round of the 2008 draft. He's appeared in 133 games over his 10-year career and is a massive upgrade over Rees Odhiambo.
Lane is listed as Seattle's starting right corner, but with rookie Shaquill Griffin hot on his tail for the job, Lane became expendable. Selected with the 90th pick of the 2017 draft, Griffin has more than doubled Lane's total defensive snaps (369 to 130), per Next Gen Stats, with Griffin playing two more games than Lane this season. Seattle is taking what the organization identified as a strength and pairing it with draft selections to address a massive weakness.
If the Seahawks can rush for even 75 yards as a position group (excluding Wilson) per game, this will have been worthwhile. Seattle running backs combined to rush for three yards on 17 carries in Sunday's win. Russell Wilson rushed for 10 times as many yards on his own, finishing with 30.
Even though they came away with a victory, that's obviously not a sustainable formula. Brown's addition should bode well for that side of the offense, and for the protection of Wilson.
