Paul Richardson expected to practice this week

The Seattle Seahawks are one-step closer to closer to getting another weapon back on offense. Wide receiver Paul Richardson will begin practicing this week. The Seahawks have two weeks before the have to activate him to the active roster.

Richardson tore his ACL against the Carolina Panthers in the playoff last season. He’s been on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list all year, which required that he missed the first six weeks of the season.

The Seahawks chose not to move Richardson off of the PUP list last week because they played on Thursday. There was no reason to burn one of his practice weeks so he could participate in a walkthrough.

That isn’t the case now. Seattle will move Richardson off the PUP list and onto the exempt list in time for Richardson to suit up and practice this week. Richardson can remain on the exempt list for up to 2 weeks.

Placing Richardson on the exempt list means that the Seahawks do not have to make a roster move at this time. That will come at some point after the Seahawks play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

Seattle has their bye week in Week 9. They then host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10, and Richardson will have to be on the active roster by that game. That will mean making a roster move to make room for Richardson.

The obvious move there will be to drop wide receiver BJ Daniels. Daniels was already cut once this season. He was brought back when fullback Derrick Coleman was suspended.

Richardson brings a speed element to Seattle’s offense that ca help open things up for everyone else. Currently, Tyler Lockett is the team’s only deep threat. Running Lockett deep doesn’t allow him to use his elite athleticism to the team’s full advantage.

By using Richardson as the deep threat instead, the Seahawks will be able to get Lockett the ball in space underneath and let him use those skills that make him so good on punt and kick returns.

The obvious loser here is Jermaine Kearse. Richardson slowly took snaps away from Kearse all that season. By the end of the year, Richardson had replaced Kearse as the primary split end. That transition will almost certainly happen again as Richardson gets up to speed.

Next: Seahawks should run all over Dallas

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