When you're an undrafted player who split time between the practice squad and active roster as a rookie, and when you're stuck behind other players on the depth chart, showing up on the transaction report usually equates to bad news.

But when Mohammed Seisay was awoken from a nap by a text message from his agent on the day the Detroit Lions reported to training camp, it wasn't to find out he had been cut, but rather that he had been traded. Not only that, Seisay was surprised to learn he was heading to the Seahawks to compete for a job with a defense that has been the best in the NFL over the past three seasons.

Seisay's initial reaction to the trade? "What? Me? Traded?"

Then Seisay processed the news and realized he was not only going to one of the best teams in the league, but to a defense for which he is ideally built.

"It's the perfect situation," the 6-foot-2, 202-pound Seisay said. "… It's ridiculous. I didn't think I had any (trade) value, but I'm happy that I'm here. I'm just ready to work and get a ring.

"The scheme is meant for tall, long, rangy DBs, so I feel like this is going to be a fit for me."

From Richard Sherman to Brandon Browner to Byron Maxwell to Jeremy Lane, the Seahawks have shown a knack for developing lesser-known corners into high-caliber NFL corners, so just because Seisay went undrafted out of Nebraska, or was buried on the depth chart in Detroit, that doesn't mean he can't blossom in Seattle.

He is a player the Seahawks had an eye on for a while, so with their cornerback depth in question thanks to injuries to Lane and Tharold Simon, the Seahawks called Detroit, a team with which they have been frequent trade partners in recent years, and sent an undisclosed draft pick to the Lions for Seisay.

"We're always pushing, we're always looking to keep the competition going," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "We're light at numbers in the DB area, and we have some young guys that are doing some cool things at the safety spots that we want to see, and we don't want to have to mix those guys at corner, so there's some reasons that it makes sense. This is a guy that we see something special in. John (Schneider) found him, and he's long, he's fast, and he's very athletic. He's young at the spot, so he'll be a guy that we'll try to build and we'll see where he fits in.

"We saw the makeup, he's got size and speed and all that kind of stuff that looks right. We've got to transform him a little bit into our style of guy, but the length that he has, the long arms and extension is obvious and that's what we're always excited about. You know he's a 4.4 guy too so he's in the realm of having a chance."

Seisay knows a new team means grasping new technique, but he's eager to learn. And not only will he learn from Carroll, defensive coordinator Kris Richard and other coaches, he's also getting in-person tutorials from a player he used to study on video. In what has become the routine every time the Seahawks bring in a new corner, Sherman could frequently be seen between plays giving one-on-one coaching to Seisay during the week.

"It's awesome," Seisay said. "I used to watch his Youtube videos, and now I'm here side-by-side, getting taught in person. It's great."

Seisay spent time playing as an outside corner and a nickel corner in Detroit, and while he so far has been working exclusively outside for the Seahawks, he's willing to play anywhere he is asked. For now, Seisay is just trying to get acclimated to a new team while also appreciating that a former undrafted rookie was in demand.

"I'm just blessed that I'm still playing football, and I didn't get released, I got traded, so I was wanted," Seisay said. "That's a good sign right there."