Seattle Seahawks Place Second Round Tender On Jermaine Kearse
Jermaine Kearse has never played football for a team outside of the Seattle-Tacoma area, and it will stay that way according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
2 additional RFA's that received the 2nd round tender worth $2.356M: Seahawks WR Jermaine Kearse and Bengals LB Emmanuel Lamur.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 6, 2015
Because Kearse is a restricted free agent, the Seattle Seahawks are now able to collect a second round pick if another team chooses to sign him. With Brandon Marshall being worth no more than a fifth round pick, I’d say Kearse is pretty much a lock to stay in Seattle.
With the lack of depth and experience at the wide receiver position, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The Seattle Seahawks don’t create many big plays in the passing game, and Kearse accounts for a large portion of them.
Kearse established himself as a big play target for Russell Wilson with the game-winning 35-yard touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers in the 2014 NFC Championship. He followed that up with four catches for 65 yards and a Beastmode-like touchdown in Super Bowl XLVIII.
This past season, Kearse totaled 746 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came in the playoffs, one of which again sent Seattle to the Super Bowl.
Ah, the memories.
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With rookie Paul Richardson out for at least the beginning of 2015, and no other established receivers on the roster after Baldwin, bringing Kearse back was a near-necessity for the Seahawks.
In fact, don’t be surprised if they try to add another receiver in free agency. They are likely to draft a receiver as well, but a free agent signing is something I believe the Seahawks need to do.
The Seattle Seahawks currently have $24 million in cap space. However, a large chunk of that will need to be held aside for Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner‘s soon-to-expire rookie contracts. Seattle probably won’t have enough left over for Demaryius Thomas, Randall Cobb, or even Jeremy Maclin, as all three of those player will be looking for $10-12 million per year.
Some other options that won’t cost the ‘Hawks as much are ex-Oakland Raiders Andre Holmes and Denarius Moore, ex-Atlanta Falcon Harry Douglas and ex-Miami Dolphin Brian Hartline.
For now, this offer serves to keep Jermaine Kearse in Seattle through the 2015-16 season. However, it is likely that the Seahawks would try to bring Kearse back on a deal to keep him a little longer. Possibly on a contract similar to the three-year, $13 million contract that Doug Baldwin signed last offseason.