The Seahawks are interested in Mario Williams, but at what price?

[travisduncan]

—It's no secret the Seahawks are interested in Houston Texans free agent defensive end Mario Williams and we will know more once NFL free agency begins March 13.

ESPN's John Clayton first reported the Seahawks aren't just kicking around the idea of signing one of the NFL's best pass-rushers, but have serious interest in the 27-year old.

Of course every NFL team would want Williams for what he can bring to a defense. However, not every team, including the Texans who failed to reach a contract extension with Williams, are going to be able to or willing to "back up the brinks truck" as it were for Williams.

Age, health and money are key factors in free-agency as in life.

There is no disputing ability, Bill Barnwell of ESPN and Football Outsiders, claims Williams is the most prized defensive free agent in history, he writes that tounge in cheek, but if you look at some of the numbers for Williams one thing is for certain: he records sacks and forces quarterbacks to make bad throws.

In his 5-year career Williams has 53 sacks. From 2006-2010 he recorded 48 sacks, and accounted for over one-third of his teams sacks, second to only Robert Mathis of Indianapolis and DeMarcus Ware of Dallas, according to Barnwell.

The Seahawks may just view Williams' ability to draw a double team and still get to the quarterback as a final piece to a defense which was already dominant last season.

Healthwise Williams missed 11 games because of torn pectotral. Those can heal right? The Seahawks are familiar with the injury as two of their own, Tarvaris Jackson and Russell Okung, have suffered the same last season.

Williams said publicly he is 100-percent recovered from the season-ending injury.

Of course physicals and the like will reveal a lot before the Seahawks or another team signs on the dotted line, but health and how long Williams can hold up is a major concern for any potential buyer who will be locked into a long-term contract.

One of the reasons the Texans may not be able to re-sign Williams is because running back Arian Foster is also set to be a free-agent and will demand a big pay day.

Williams himself says it won't be about the money wherever he ends up.

"I’m not worried about that,” Williams told the Houston Chronicle. "It’s really not that big of a deal to me. I was the first pick, and I’ve already had everything I really wanted, so my biggest thing is to be in a good position, a good scheme, a good system and continuing my career. Hopefully, it works out. It’s always important to be in a position to be successful. That comes with teammates around you, coaching, having that winning attitude. You want to [play] where you can thrive no matter where you are. . . . I love it here."

The Texans aren't likely to use their franchise tag on Williams, according to the Chronicle, because that would come at a price of $22.9 million and they don't have the kind of cash under the salary cap.

It's entirely possible that some team out there will make Williams the highest paid defensive player in NFL history. New England and Jacksonville have also been mentioned as destinations.

The Seahawks are estimated to have $30-$40 million in cap space this offseason, which would be room enough to sign Williams.

Again, the Seahawks generally trend towards younger players with high potential and lower risk. Seahawks General manager John Schneider just recently talked at the NFL scouting combine about how overpaying at one position can have a detrimental effect for years to come.

All signs point towards the Seahawks pursuing a pass rusher with the first-pick in the draft. Williams, I believe, will simply cost too much to lure to Seattle.