Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse, a starter in 2014, was set to become a restricted free agent, but as expected, the Seahawks have decided to place the second-round tender on him, per ESPN’s Field Yates. That means if Kearse signs the tender, he’ll make $2.356 million in 2015, though he and the Seahawks could decide to negotiate a different deal after the fact. That’s something the Seahawks have done in the past with restricted free agents, getting a lower per-year number while offering more years on the deal. Though in the case of a starting receiver—and with Paul Richardson likely not ready for the start of the season, the Seahawks very much need Kearse unless they go crazy in free agency and the draft—paying $2.356 million is hardly unreasonable.
And if you’re curious why a second-round tender (the level of the tender determines what a team would have to give up to sign the restricted free agent, and also determines the pay attached to it), the only options are first-round, second-round and original round, and since Kearse was undrafted, the Seahawks can’t use an original-round tender on him. It’s the same thing they did last year with Doug Baldwin before later agreeing to a long-term deal.
In other NFL news, the Bears are trading receiver Brandon Marshall to the New York Jets, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. So what does that have to do with the Seahawks? Well the Jets have been trying to decide Percy Harvin’s future this offseason, debating paying him the more than $10 million he is owed, cutting him, or trying to get the receiver to agree to a new deal. With Marshall heading to the Jets, it would now seem like cutting Harvin is by far the most likely scenario, and if that happens, the Seahawks will get a sixth-round pick as compensation for last year’s trade, not a fourth-rounder.
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