How worried should the Seahawks be about Doug Baldwin
By Lee Vowell
Doug Baldwin appears to have had multiple surgeries this offseason. How worried should the Seahawks be about their receiver?
The Seahawks have two good receivers, Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett. Lockett had an incredible year in 2018 for the number of targets he had. Baldwin began the year injured and played through various injuries as the season went on. Now it seems that Baldwin has had multiple surgeries this offseason.
Seattle cannot afford to be without Baldwin or Lockett for long stretches in 2019. The Seahawks do not have another consistently productive performer on their current roster. Seattle is unlikely to sign a proven veteran free agent receiver either. Likely, Seattle will draft a receiver at some point but it won’t be high in the draft.
Seattle has to be concerned about Baldwin’s injuries. Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News-Tribune asked Seattle general manager John Schneider what kind of surgeries Baldwin may have had and Schneider said, “Yeah, he had surgery. He had a bunch of different stuff. I’m not going to tell exactly what. But he had surgeries.”
That is surgeries, to be clear. And the concern is because of the plurality. Baldwin had a knee issue in training camp last season and was limited early in the season. A different times throughout the season he was dealing with problems with both knees, one of his shoulders and groin pulls. For the first time since the earth cooled, Baldwin missed games.
Baldwin is quick and intelligent but he isn’t a big guy. This is the issue. Baldwin needs his body to be at peak performance to play at his highest level. Any problems that cause him to slow down means he has less capability of getting open. He will, of course, catch any ball thrown his way. But if he is constantly in tight coverage, Russell Wilson will probably not throw Baldwin’s way as often. This is bad because Baldwin makes Wilson a better quarterback.
Financially, an injured or less productive Baldwin is a burden for the Seahawks. His cap hit in both 2019 and 2020, the final year of his contract, is over $13 million. Seattle would save millions by releasing Baldwin.
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Baldwin, however, has proven to be a very good receiver during his career in Seattle. Releasing him too early would be bad as Baldwin can be very productive. He is also a good person to have in the locker room and is good in the community. Let’s hope all these surgeries help Baldwin be healthier in 2019 because the Seahawks need him to be.