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NFC West teams have acquired 10 veteran players by trade this offseason. Which one will have the greatest impact in 2010?

Let's define impact first.

Cardinals safety Kerry Rhodes, acquired from the Jets, has the best chance to finish the 2010 season with the most snaps played among players acquired by NFC West teams. He'll start and presumably be an every-down player on defense.

Seahawks running back Leon Washington and 49ers receiver Ted Ginn Jr. have the best chance to make an electrifying play or two, perhaps swinging a game in their team's favor. Washington first must overcome a broken leg. Ginn scored two touchdowns on kickoff returns for the Dolphins last season. He had a 53-yard TD reception last season and a 40-yard scoring run in 2008.

Charlie Whitehurst, the quarterback Seattle acquired from San Diego, could make the greatest impact -- positive or negative -- based on the nature of his position. Early returns suggest Matt Hasselbeck will hold off Whitehurst for the starting job, but injuries have slowed Hasselbeck over the past two seasons. If Hasselbeck is banged up again, the Seahawks will presumably turn to Whitehurst.

A quick look at the veteran players NFC West teams have added and subtracted this offseason:

Arizona: added Rhodes; subtracted receiver Anquan Boldin.

St. Louis: added linebacker Bobby Carpenter and safety Kevin Payne; subtracted tackle Alex Barron and defensive lineman Adam Carriker.

49ers: added Ginn; subtracted quarterback Shaun Hill.

Seahawks: added Whitehurst, Washington, running back LenDale White, defensive end Chris Clemons, defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson and defensive end Robert Henderson; subtracted guard Rob Sims, defensive end Darryl Tapp and quarterback Seneca Wallace.

Seattle has been the busiest NFC West team in the trade market this offseason. I think that is because the Seahawks are the only team in the division with a new coaching staff and new general manager. They wanted to shake up the roster.

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Is Phillip Dillard a viable candidate to start at middle linebacker?

Something strange has taken place since the New York Giants' first rookie minicamp a couple weeks ago. It's almost like we're assuming that Phillip Dillard, a fourth-round pick out of Nebraska, should be the starter at middle linebacker. So does that say more about the team's shaky status at that position or Dillard's upside?

Antonio Pierce is gone because of injuries and declining play. But the Giants certainly will miss his leadership at middle linebacker. It's the job of new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell to identify someone who's not afraid to be vocal while getting the front seven in the right spots. The good news for Fewell is that rookie linebackers have flourished as starters over the last few years in the league. I think of the impact DeMeco Ryans had as a rookie with the Texans. And you immediately knew that Patrick Willis would be Pro Bowler when he stepped on the field for the 49ers.

Dillard has a long way to go, but there are signs that he has the type of ability to take over the position. And honestly, I don't think Jonathan Goff, Bryan Kehl and Gerris Wilkinson are viable alternatives. I'm not sure there's a fourth-round pick in the league who faces more pressure than Dillard. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com caught up with Redskins middle linebacker London Fletcher to ask him about rookies in the starting lineup. Fletcher played for Fewell with the Bills, so he knows what the defensive coordinator's trying to accomplish.

"If the rookie comes in and is a great talent and they can live with the growing pains that come with the rookie, and that rookie learns from his mistakes and doesn’t repeat the same mistakes, he can excel in that defense,” said Fletcher.

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Who will be Drew Brees' backup in New Orleans this year?

My guess is that quarterback isn’t even on the roster yet. Yes, the Saints took a long look at several quarterbacks in their recent rookie camp. They brought in Syracuse’s Greg Paulus and seventh-round pick Sean Canfield also took part. Paulus is a former Duke basketball player who played only one year of college football. At best, he’s a developmental prospect. Maybe he spends some time on the practice squad.

Canfield also is a prospect. He was a seventh-round pick and it’s unrealistic to expect him to start off as anything more than a No. 3 quarterback. But that role was held by Chase Daniel last season and it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Daniel and Canfield competing for the No. 3 job this year.

Yes, the Saints like Daniel, but he’s got no real experience. It’s kind of a stretch to imagine the Saints just handing the No. 2 job to Daniel at this point.

They’ve got a Super Bowl championship team. Let’s get hypothetical for a second and say Brees twists an ankle and has to miss a couple of games. Are the Saints ready to turn it over to Daniel? Or Canfield?

I seriously doubt it. This is a veteran team and just about anything less than another Super Bowl will be a disappointment. The Saints need an insurance policy behind Brees. They need someone with experience who could come in and lead them for a couple games.

You’ve got to believe something will happen on this front, especially when you look at how the Saints have collected depth just about everywhere else. Mark Brunell, last year’s backup, is still available as a free agent and I still think he’s the leading option. Yes, Brunell is old, but he already knows the system.

Even if the Saints think Brunell is too old, they’ve got to look at other guys with experience. The list of available free agents isn’t all that impressive right now. But someone like Marc Bulger could make the Saints feel a lot more comfortable with their backup situation.

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Should an NFC North rookie replace the suspended Brian Cushing to win the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year award?

Cushing, the Houston linebacker who violated the league's steroid policy last fall, remains on the ballot for an unprecedented re-vote set to be completed Wednesday. As we noted Monday, Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews finished third in the original balloting and could benefit from those who withdraw their support from Cushing. After all, only 10 players finished the 2009 season with more than Matthews' 10 sacks, which was also a Packers rookie record.

But there is another Black and Blue player who deserves to be in the discussion, and I wonder if at least a few voters will take this opportunity to re-focus their views on Detroit safety Louis Delmas.

Delmas didn't receive a vote in the original balloting, and it's difficult for anyone to get national recognition while playing for a defense that performed as poorly as the Lions' last season. But don't forget that Delmas became the first rookie in NFL history to record a safety as well as fumble and interception returns for touchdowns. His 101-yard return of an interception against Arizona, moreover, was the longest by an NFL rookie since 1926. That's the definition of a playmaking safety.

We're really in uncharted territory here. This vote isn't as simple as re-shuffling the original deck. The balloting usually happens in the final days of the regular season. Delmas' reputation has grown since then, and whether they admit or not, voters now have an entire offseason's worth of analysis to work from. They also have the comments of people like Lions coach Jim Schwartz, who in February called Delmas the Lions' best defensive player.

I don't think Delmas will win the award, and he might not get a vote. But if nothing else, this instance provides an opportunity to remind everyone of his historic rookie season.