Wide receiver Jermaine Kearse caught the pass that put the Seahawks in the Super Bowl and the team will either have him or a second-round pick to help them in an effort to make it back to the big game.
Field Yates of ESPN.com reports that Kearse has received a second-round tender from the Seahawks before becoming a restricted free agent. That sets him up to make $2.356 million next season unless another team makes him an offer that Seattle isn’t willing to match while also sending a second-round pick to the defending NFC champs.
Kearse’s overtime heroics in the NFC Championship game don’t make that a particularly likely development. The draft is thought to be a good one for wide receivers, which makes the draft pick compensation a lot to give up on top of a contract for a player with 63 catches in the last three seasons.
Even if Kearse is back, receiver is expected to be a spot where the Seahawks look to add help this offseason. There were too many moments last season when the team struggled to get receivers open and Paul Richardson is looking at an extended absence after tearing his ACL in January.