With all the drama surrounding Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, you’d think we were discussing one of the NFL’s elite wideouts. The fact of the matter stands that Kearse is replaceable.
At 26-years-old, Kearse still has time to shed the WR3 image he’s developed with me. Perhaps leaving the Seahawks and heading to a pass-heavy team such as the Colts or Saints would do for him what it did for Golden Tate and the Detroit Lions. For now, a receiver that has never reached 50 receptions or 700 receiving yards in a season is not someone Hawks fans should be too upset about losing.
While at Washington, Kearse developed a reputation as someone who too often drops easy passes. While in the NFL, Kearse has had moments where his hands have been pretty unreliable. Most notably the 2014 NFC championship against Green Bay. As we all remember, the game was decided on an overtime touchdown to non other than Jermaine Kearse. So although his drops have been a slight issue, Kearse has also been known to deliver in the clutch. His wild bobble catch in the Super Bowl versus the New England Patriots is one such play.
With ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting earlier today that Kearse was as good as gone in free agency…
Seahawks WR Jermaine Kearse reiterated Thursday that he does not plan to return to Seattle and is looking forward to finding a new home.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 3, 2016
The tweet got the 12th Man all riled up. Some became angry at Kearse, some questioned the legitimacy of the report. Aside from Kearse saying that he would not offer the Seahawks a “hometown discount,” he’s never publicly stated that he wouldn’t be staying in Seattle. Danny Kelly of Field Gulls even posed the question to Schefter:
when did he iterate this the first time https://t.co/rRiivmA1Lp
— Danny Kelly (@FieldGulls) March 3, 2016
If Kearse does chase the money, as many athletes do, then such is life. The Seahawks still have Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett and Paul Richardson under contract. Richardson had missed essentially all of the 2015 season, but is expected to return 100%. After missing time because of an ACL injury suffered in the 2014 playoffs, he returned for one game in which he caught a pass for 40-yards. He then sat out the rest of the season because of a hamstring injury that didn’t heal as quickly as expected.
That leaves Baldwin and Lockett as the only reliable options heading into free agency. It’s likely the Seahawks look to bring in either a free agent, or target another receiver in the 2016 NFL draft. Maybe both.
Luckily, replacing Kearse’s production won’t be too difficult. If the front office is willing to spend roughly $5 million on filling the void, guys like Anquan Boldin, Marques Colston, Roddy White and Malcolm Floyd are available. Each of whom earned between $4.7-$6.9 million in 2015 according to spotrac.com.
Kevin Smith and Kasen Williams are also practice squad players that have been developing nicely and could be asked to step in if general manager John Schneider chooses to invest the salary cap elsewhere.
The bottom line is that losing Jermaine Kearse would be an inconvenience, or might even feel like a bit of a betrayal since the Seahawks gave him an opportunity and turned him from an undrafted free agent into a legitimate third receiver on a Super Bowl winning team. But if Adam Schefter’s reports are accurate, and Kearse already has one foot out the door – then goodbye and good luck. The Seahawks will be just fine without him.
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