The Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings have traded before and reports say they may trade again, as the team is looking to acquire defensive end Jared Allen, who has been mentioned in trade rumors all week leading up to the Tuesday deadline.
Many speculated that the Seahawks could make a push for Allen, as they need some more depth on the defensive line and now, according to ESPN.com insider Adam Schefter, the team is making a play for him. The Vikings reportedly want a second round pick for Allen, but would take a conditional third pick and that could be what gets Allen out the door to Seattle. His big contract is one issue that could be hanging things up, but since he will be a free agent after the season, the Seahawks are trying to figure out a way to get him on the roster as they prepare for a Super Bowl run and at 7-1 they are looking pretty good for that.
The deadline is at 4 pm and the Vikings have another team possibly looking at Allen, which would be the 49ers, Broncos or the Patriots. As ESPN.com notes, the two teams traded last year for Percy Harvin and now they could be snagging more draft picks than the first round, seventh round and 2014 middle pick from the Seahawks. Seattle clearly feels they have a team in place to make a run over the next two years without extensive drafts and this could be another step in that direction.
Allen is one of the most consistent players at his potion in all of football and while he is going to be 32, he still possess some great skills off the line and has had double digit sacks in a number of seasons while rarely getting hurt. The move would be huge for the Seahawks, as their defense is already ranked in the top 10 in a number of categories and he could add another huge playmaker to the front line.
The Vikings have been pretty bad this season and funny enough, the two sides could have a reunion of sorts, as Minnesota visits the Seahawks in two weeks and Allen could be in uniform and so could Percy Harvin, as he is expecting to be back in action over the next few games after sitting out the season so far. Allen originally started his career with the Chiefs and while he has under five sacks this season, he is the active leader in career sacks and the Seahawks would add him to a talented front of Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril as well as Chris Clemons and that could make the defense nearly unstoppable.
Allen had six seasons straight of double digit sacks and that is still continuing and two years ago he had 22 himself and now he could give the Seahawks another boost up front. He came to the Vikings and never had less than 14.5 sacks until 2010 when he had 11.0 and since then he has had 30 over the previous two seasons and now he could be on the move. The Vikings are just 1-6 and looking pretty bad and now it could be time to start selling.