Seahawks | Tapp prepared by Fisher

KIRKLAND — The video screen betrayed Darryl Tapp.

Exposed him. Showed that the Chargers tight end cut Tapp off during Seattle's exhibition game at San Diego last year, making him late for the tackle. Teammate Bryce Fisher watched the replay on the video screen at the stadium and Fisher got hot, his words grew spicy.

"Explicit," Tapp said.

The criticism wasn't necessarily courteous, but it was constructive and the first of many lessons passed on last season. Fisher the veteran, the voice of experience, providing guidance to the rookie.

"He was definitely a big brother more so than just a teammate," Tapp said. "He's a big part of the reason I'm in the position I am now."

And that is a big part of why Fisher is no longer here after being traded to Tennessee on Tuesday for a draft pick. He helped prepare his successor, something veterans are not always willing to do in a league where the fresh legs and low salaries of younger players can be a direct threat to job security.

Fisher lost his spot at left end when the Seahawks signed Patrick Kerney as a free agent, he lost his spot in the starting lineup after Tapp's play during the exhibition season, and his coach worried he'd lost just a little bit of the zest usually peppered into Fisher's play.

"I don't want to say effort, but his heart, it was in a different place," coach Mike Holmgren said.

Holmgren called that understandable. A veteran with pride in his profession never likes to drop a rung on the career ladder. Holmgren even asked Fisher about it.

"He would say, 'No,' " Holmgren said. "But having been around him and watching him play I thought it changed just a little bit."

Fisher's effort and his elbow grease fueled an NFL career now in its seventh season. He played special teams in St. Louis, served as a backup and became a starter. He led Seattle with nine sacks in 2005, his first season with the Seahawks.

And now he's gone.

"It's a sad situation he had to go," linebacker Julian Peterson said. "But it's the nature of the business."

Yes. A business. Whenever players or coaches start talking like that it usually means that something a little bit ruthless just occurred. The reality is that the Seahawks decided the development of younger players like Tapp and rookie end Baraka Atkins would only further reduce Fisher's role as the season progressed.

Tapp now has the longest tenure of the four defensive ends on the roster. He has played all of 17 games for the Seahawks.

"It speaks to the fact that our young guys who haven't played yet, we like them," Holmgren said.

Seattle traded for defensive end Jason Babin from Houston a week before the season started and signed Ellis Wyms a few days later. Neither was active for the season opener against Tampa Bay.

Fisher had one sack over his last dozen games, and Seattle's sacks declined by more than 50 percent over the second half of last season. Some of that was due to a depleted secondary that kept the Seahawks from blitzing very often. Some came because Seattle's defense wore down over the course of last season.

The Seahawks released defensive end Grant Wistrom during the offseason. With Fisher traded, the two bookends from the defensive line the past two seasons are gone.

Tapp was at the team's headquarters Tuesday, lifting weights, when he heard about the trade. Fisher came in to clean out his locker, and the two spoke. This time it was the young player Fisher spent so much time tutoring who had something to say.

"I expressed words to him a little bit," Tapp said. "He just said, 'Keep on progressing.' "

A voice of encouragement for the Seahawks right until the very end.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com