Seahawks’ Sidney Rice done for season with torn ACL, probably done with organization

Oct 17, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice (18) during the game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Seattle fans are lamenting St. Louis right now. Something always goes wrong in St. Louis! Sidney Rice is the latest Rams’ city casualty, tearing an ACL on a routine pass catch attempt in the corner of the endzone Monday night. Nothing looked unordinary, aside from Rice landing awkwardly on his left shoulder and for a split second having the corner, Janoris Jenkins pin his arm beneath body and turf. But Rice got up… and then slowly walked off without a noticeable limp. The original prognosis was “concussion-like symptoms”, no biggy. Maybe out this upcoming weekend but it didn’t sound serious. Then, the hammer. Torn ACL. First of all, WOW. I am a Sidney Rice fan, more than most probably. I love the guy and have always seen him as No. 1 receiver material. He’s not a great separator (after his early career injuries) and he dropped some passes but he does great work late in the route, works back to the ball nicely in the air and somehow finds himself open a lot. Also, he was fantastic when it came to bailing out Russell Wilson. But all that is in jeopardy now… well, actually it’s over. Our old buddy Keith Myers tweeted a very telling comment just a few moments ago:

Unless Rice takes a significant (incredibly significant?) pay cut, his days in Seattle are over. On the other hand, a pay cut is what he’s going to be receiving anyway after the injury. He might be a great 4th or 5th receiver for this roster next season. Most likely though, Sidney will want an opportunity to start somewhere after rehab and it’s not going to be here. Also, he’s probably good enough to start somewhere, as some teams are in really bad shape in the WR depth chart dept. My thoughts are that Seattle has probably just received a wake-up call into how much they really need a young, healthy, big No. 1 receiver… and probably another one if Kearse doesn’t step up right now and claim his spot (apparently not a whole lot of support for Kearse at the moment). I wouldn’t be all too surprised to see them go after a couple of guys in the 1st round of the draft (not multiple 1st round picks at WR just looking into multiple WR’s for 1 spot, then in the 4th or 5th picking up another). We’ll see how it shakes out but Rice’s days in Seattle are probably over.