Seattle Seahawks tender wide receiver Doug Baldwin
The Seattle Seahawks continued to address their in-house free agents on Friday, making a qualifying offer to wide receiver Doug Baldwin. The Hawks offered Baldwin, a restricted free agent, a one-year deal worth $2.187 million with a second-round tender, meaning the Seahawks would receive a second-round pick as compensation if another team signed him to a contract and Seattle chose not to match.
NFL reporter Brian McIntyre was the first to report the news on Twitter.
Baldwin has been a major contributor to the Seahawks passing game since his arrival as an undrafted free agent out of Stanford in 2011. He led the team with 51 catches for 788 yards as a rookie, but struggled through an injury-plagued 2012 season before bouncing back in 2013. His 50 catches for 778 yards were good for second on the team, trailing only Golden Tate, an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Baldwin made headlines after the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XLVIII, calling out ESPN analyst — and Hall-of-Fame receiver — Chris Carter, who had labeled the Seahawks receivers “pedestrian” and “average” throughout the team’s Super Bowl run.
Baldwin’s offer make it more likely that he stays with the team through 2014, if not longer. The Seahawks tendered safety Jeron Johnson at a second-round level on Wednesday before signing he and offensive lineman Lemuel Jeanpierre to one-year extensions on Friday.
Teams can’t officially announce free-agent deals until Tuesday, but representatives can start negotiating contracts as soon as Saturday. Confused about all the player movement? Check out our handy free-agent primer so you can follow all of next week’s action:
Seattle Seahawks tender wide receiver Doug Baldwin - Seattle Seahawks & NFL News
