The Five Worst Seattle Seahawks Contracts in 2016

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(2106 Cap hit = $5,600,000 in final year of current deal)

Sep 20, 2015; Green Bay, WI, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin (89) makes the 13-yard touchdown catch as Green Bay Packers strong safety Micah Hyde (33) defends during the second half at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

This one hurts. Doug is such a stand-up man. He’s socially aware, intelligent as all get out, and genuinely seems to be a classy human being in addition to a really good football player. He’s just on the wrong team when it comes to maximizing his skill set. Baldwin is an elite change-of-direction wide receiver, and his 6.56 3-cone time at his 2011 pre-draft Pro Day bears that out in numerical form. He excels at creating east/west separation from defensive backs in an instant and would be a lethal weapon for someone like – I hate to say it – Tom Brady. Doug could be Julian Edelman plus – a guy that catches a hundred passes for a lot of yards with a modest yards-per-catch average. But he isn’t. Why? Because the offense in which he currently resides does not play to his strengths.

Russell Wilson will never be the three-step-and-fire type of quarterback that Doug requires to get his numbers. That’s when Baldwin is open, though. He’s your typical “quicker than fast” receiver whose quickly-created cushion versus an opposing corner gets eaten up by the DB when both players get to full speed. It’s a small window of opportunity to get him the football, and that just isn’t Russ’s game.

Baldwin will catch around 60 passes for 700-800 yards, just like most other seasons. That’s about 2/3 of what he’s capable of providing. Through no fault of his own, Doug Baldwin is not good value with his current production at a cap hit of $5.6M in 2016.  His is one of the few contracts that could create significant cap space ($4M net savings) if the team is forced to find it next offseason.