Five free agent wide receivers that would look great for the Seahawks
The Seahawks need to upgrade their wide receiver corps, and these five free agents would look great in navy or action green.
The Seahawks haven’t really had a consistent number two wide receiver for years now. There’s no doubt Angry Doug Baldwin is one of the league’s best. Pro Football Focus concurs, rating him the sixth best wideout last year. Opposite him, the Seahawks have featured Paul Richardson, who had a breakout season last year.
The problem is Richardson was inconsistent even then. He was targeted 80 times and made 44 receptions. According to playerprofiler.com, 61 of those targets were catchable. That’s 17 dropped passes. The 16.0 yard per catch average is great, but 17 momentum killers really hurts. It doesn’t help that as a free agent he’s likely looking for a $6 million plus paycheck. The Seahawks aren’t interested in that figure.
More from 12th Man Rising
- 4 prospects Seahawks could reach for at No. 20 in 2023 NFL Draft
- Seattle Seahawks Mock Draft: Post-first wave of free agency
- Seahawks podcast: A review of the first week of free agency
- 4 experiments the Seattle Seahawks could cut short in 2023
- 3 pros and cons of Seattle Seahawks drafting Anthony Richardson
Tyler Lockett is option 2, or perhaps 2A for the Seahawks. Lockett had far fewer drops, as he made 45 receptions on 53 catchable balls. Lockett is also far more versatile as he returns punts and kickoffs for the Seahawks. He could easily have a better season this year than Richardson did in 2016. Thankfully, Lockett doesn’t hit the free agent market until after 2018. We’ll worry about what to do with his contract then. For now, the Seahawks could use a change, as they’re very likely to let Richardson walk. There aren’t a ton of options on the free agent market, but I think I found a few that could work for Seattle.
Five best options at wide receiver for the Seahawks
Deonte Thompson. At 6’0″ and 208, he’s closer to the size the Seahawks crave at wide receiver. He’s split time between the Bears and the Bills over the past four seasons, so I expect his stats would see a nice bump playing with an actual quarterback. LIke everyone in this group, he’ll be much cheaper than Richardson.
Terrelle Pryor. Did I mention the Seahawks like size? He’s at least 6’4″ (6’6″ according to some sources) and weighs in around 235. He had a great year with the Browns in 2016 when he first switched to wide receiver. Last year with Washington was clearly terrible. That’s alright, it just makes him an affordable risk.
Ryan Grant. He had a breakout season with Washington last year in his fourth season. He caught 45 of 51 catchable balls, four for touchdowns. Pro Football Focus graded him slightly higher than Richardson. His previous inconsistency should keep his price within reach.
John Brown. The speed merchant’s production has dropped along with Carson Palmer’s. He’s just a year removed from a 77.6 rating by Pro Football Focus. It’s reasonable to expect a return to solid production if he’s on the other end of Russell Wilson’s passes.
Jordan Matthews. As with almost all of the others, he suffered from being stuck in a questionable offense. He averaged just under 900 yards receiving for Philadelphia from 2014 – 2016 until he fell into the black hole of the Buffalo Bills 31st ranked passing game. Like Brown, he’s likely to have a higher price tag than the first three candidates, but should still come in comfortably under Richardson’s price.
Related Story: John Schneider will need his magic touch for this draft
None of these players are likely to challenge Doug Baldwin for the number one role. Some are risks to even push past Tyler Lockett. With both draft picks and cap space at a premium, the Seahawks have to take some low cost, high potential risks.