Seahawks should not entertain receiver Paul Richardson returning

The Seahawks need a third option at receiver in 2020. But bringing back Paul Richardson should not be an option they think about.

The Seahawks might be a little desperate to find some help for receivers Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf. Sure, Seattle has two really good wideouts, but they need a good third one (and fourth and fifth one, for that matter). The Redskins released former Seahawks receiver Paul Richardson on Friday. But Seattle should not bring him back.

The problem with Richardson probably won’t be contract demands. Though Richardson left Seattle after 2017 and signed with Washington for five years and $40 million, $20 million of which was guaranteed, Richardson did not do much with the Redskins. I doubt that many teams will take a chance on signing him to a rich contract this offseason.

Richardson spent two years in Washington and played in 17 games. He caught 48 passes. This was 10 fewer than Metcalf did in 2019 in his rookie year with Seattle. Richardson averaged just 10.6 yards per catch with the Redskins which is atrocious for a receiver who relies mostly on speed. And he caught 2 touchdown passes each in 2018 and 2019.

The key part of Richardson’s stay in Washington is that he missed 15 games in two years. When he was with the Seahawks between 2014 and 2017, Richardson missed 17 games. He was mostly healthy for three of those years, though, as he played just one game in 2015. But it felt like Richardson was always at risk for being hurt and Seattle limited a lot of his potential routes trying to fit him in and keep him healthy.

Through six seasons in the NFL, Richardson has just 1,809 yards receiving and caught 60.1 percent of his targets. Lockett is a decent comparison to Richardson because of the same kind of skill set and size, but over the last two years alone Lockett has 2,022 yards receiving, 18 touchdowns and has caught 77.2 percent of his targets.

Richardson is a familiar face to Seahawks coaches and fans and players. But he simply gets hurt too much to be reliable. He is more like C.J. Prosise than Tyler Lockett. The 2020 NFL draft is loaded with potentially good receivers. Richardson was expendable to the Redskins and he shouldn’t be picked up by Seattle.