The Seattle Seahawks made plenty of great moves en route to their Super Bowl victory, and one of those moves was trading for Rasheed Shaheed ahead of the trade deadline. The Pro Bowl returner added a big-play ability to Seattle’s special teams and offense that helped the team reach and win the Super Bowl, and he did that while in a contract year.
Now, with Shaheed set to enter free agency, there are surely several teams that would love to have his services. The Seahawks will try to keep him around, and NFL reporter Greg Auman believes they will be able to do just that. In a recent FOX Sports piece, ranking the top 100 free agents and naming potential fits for them, Auman ranked Shaheed No. 16 and predicted he remains with Seattle.
Rashid Shaheed expected to re-sign with Seattle Seahawks
Auman explained that Seattle could have a hard time deciding which free agents it wants to re-sign, but noted that Shaheed will likely draw a contract that pays around $15 million a year. The Seahawks, who are projected to have a little over $73 million in cap space this offseason (fifth most), should be able to find that money to keep the explosive playmaker.
Rashid Shaheed expected to re-sign with Seattle Seahawks
"Seattle will have tough decisions on which impending free agents it can afford to keep. He's likely to draw $15 million a year from a team that values a return threat and can use him creatively on offense as well."Greg Auman (FOX Sports)
Shaheed, in nine regular-season games with Seattle, caught 15 passes for 188 yards and added 64 rushing yards on seven attempts. Most notably, he returned 13 punts for 210 yards and a touchdown, and 14 kicks for 418 yards and another touchdown. In the postseason, he only caught three passes for 78 yards, but returned four kicks for 167 yards and one touchdown.
There is certainly a place for him with the Seahawks moving forward, and when he was first traded to Seattle, he made it clear he had no intentions on leaving.
With Klint Kubiak, Shaheed’s offensive coordinator with the Seahawks and New Orleans Saints, now the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders, it’ll be interesting to see if he, or any team, can change the veteran returner’s mind about Seattle being home.