Per Twitter Seahawks are waiving WR Chris Mathews

[rideaducati]

He went unclaimed on waivers.

This is very telling of his skill set and perhaps his mentality/work ethic as well.

The guy balled out in the SB because he was a complete unknown. Now that there's some film on him, he was rendered essentially useless to this team.

I think the over six feet tall DBs gave him trouble in practice because taller receivers are what those DBs defend best and if the Seahawks players don't look good in practice, they don't play in the games. The Seahawks then go into games with the receivers that look good in practice, but are easier for opponent defenses to shut down because opponent DBs are built to stop the type of receivers the Seahawks roll into games with. I think that is why the Seahawks have six receivers that are all basically the same.

 

[Jville]

I think that is why the Seahawks have six receivers that are all basically the same.

I do not know what to make of this repeated assertion that all Seahawk receivers are basically the same.

I see the differences. I also recall a couple of those receivers commenting on their differences.

 

[Rob12]

He went unclaimed on waivers.

This is very telling of his skill set and perhaps his mentality/work ethic as well.

The guy balled out in the SB because he was a complete unknown. Now that there's some film on him, he was rendered essentially useless to this team.

I think the over six feet tall DBs gave him trouble in practice because taller receivers are what those DBs defend best and if the Seahawks players don't look good in practice, they don't play in the games. The Seahawks then go into games with the receivers that look good in practice, but are easier for opponent defenses to shut down because opponent DBs are built to stop the type of receivers the Seahawks roll into games with. I think that is why the Seahawks have six receivers that are all basically the same.

Meh... No. Pete is too smart to think that just because he's shut down in practice, he couldn't ball out in games.

He's not an NFL caliber receiver. He had one hell of a SB performance. But week in and week out, he wasn't good enough to break through and make a difference. He didn't get the most opportunities, sure. But when he did, he was underwhelming. I think if he was some kind of star in the making, he would flashed here or there, and he sure in the hell wouldn't have went unclaimed on waivers.

 

[cesame]

David Tyree had 43 yards receiving, 1 TD and one unbelievable one hand helmet catch thing in the SB against the Patriots. Absolute star moment.

It was the last catch of his professional career. He didn't play in the NFL in 2008 and didn't have one single target for Baltimore in 2009. He was out of the league after that.

Chris Matthews will be the same thing.

 

[rideaducati]

He went unclaimed on waivers.

This is very telling of his skill set and perhaps his mentality/work ethic as well.

The guy balled out in the SB because he was a complete unknown. Now that there's some film on him, he was rendered essentially useless to this team.

I think the over six feet tall DBs gave him trouble in practice because taller receivers are what those DBs defend best and if the Seahawks players don't look good in practice, they don't play in the games. The Seahawks then go into games with the receivers that look good in practice, but are easier for opponent defenses to shut down because opponent DBs are built to stop the type of receivers the Seahawks roll into games with. I think that is why the Seahawks have six receivers that are all basically the same.

Meh... No. Pete is too smart to think that just because he's shut down in practice, he couldn't ball out in games.

He's not an NFL caliber receiver. He had one hell of a SB performance. But week in and week out, he wasn't good enough to break through and make a difference. He didn't get the most opportunities, sure. But when he did, he was underwhelming. I think if he was some kind of star in the making, he would flashed here or there, and he sure in the hell wouldn't have went unclaimed on waivers.

Wide receivers usually take a while to acclimate to a new team, so Matthews not getting picked up midseason isn't that surprising. He wouldn't be ready til the end of the season for any team.

Pete is the one that made the call for Matthews to be put in for the Super Bowl and he did it in the middle of the game. He then came out later and stated that he needed to see more from Matthews in practice, so MAYBE Matthews could have been good in games and not very good in practice. When given chances in games, he looked pretty good to me. He isn't the fastest guy, but he caught contested balls well. I think Russell could have done better at giving him opportunities, but Russell doesn't throw to receivers that have defenders near them. I believe Matthews could have been really good if given real game opportunities, not the 3 or 4 plays per game where he was the second or third option. We'll never know.

 

[Overseasfan]

Matthews could have either been our number 1 receiver or just another SB hero like Malcolm Smith. Guess it turned out to be the latter. I do hope Kevin will gets a real shot at succeeding though, he did look capable enough in pre-season.

 

[peppersjap]

It's Incredible how many people are convinced that Mathews would be the savior if he was used properly, solely based off a solid performance in 1 game. 1 game.

But I think the frustration stems from the fact that he was only given consistent targets in one game too - and was successful. If he'd been targeted more and we saw some failure with our own eyes, then there would be less negative response.

I watch the games pretty closely (at least twice) and he gets zero separation! People act like he was some kind of rising superstar. He was a guy who finally made it in the CFL which is not saying much. He is 26 years old so not a kid. He was on our team all year last year and most fans had no idea who he was when he was fortunate enough to recover an onside kick vs GB. That recovery was not because of talent it was because a GB player was an idiot and he was in the right place at the right time. I think it is pretty telling that this player that most Seahawk fans think was our next budding superstar passed through waivers without anyone picking him up. When he was cut someone said the Patriots will jump at him but know way he makes it to them, well he made it to them and now he is unemployed. He had 1 great game because of a huge mismatch. The fact that he couldn't take Jerome Kearse's job should tell everyone everything they need to know.

Some good points here. However, I do believe that there were other opportunities to re-create the huge mismatch we exploited in the Super Bowl. At 6'5" with good hands - and assuming Baldwin or Lockett or Graham would be drawing #1 protection attention from the other team - I would just have liked to have seen a few high-point 1-on-1 attempts go his way and see what would happen. The separation Matthews creates is with his catch radius, not distance between defender. To me, he didn't seem like a guy with star power. But he did seem like a legit option to beat pressure based on the physical mismatch and potential 1-on-1 coverage if split wide.

As for beating out Kearse, Jermaine has made some huge plays for this team over the past three years, and combined with Wilson's trust of him, Kearse gets a pretty big pass from this staff IMO. I'm not sure Matthews was ever in line to beat him out.

Matthews is gone, and was not going to be a difference maker in this season's woes. And maybe his lack of success was fully on display to the coaches during practice. I just think lots of fans expected the Hawks to at least TRY to get him some more opportunities this season.

I have been a very big backer of Kearse and he has made some amazing plays but he really seems to be out of it this year. Even earlier in the season when he caught some big passes he seemed to lack speed with the ball. I thought he started out strong this year but now is hard to even realize he is on the team. He just seems to have taken a step back this year.

 

[peppersjap]

David Tyree had 43 yards receiving, 1 TD and one unbelievable one hand helmet catch thing in the SB against the Patriots. Absolute star moment.

It was the last catch of his professional career. He didn't play in the NFL in 2008 and didn't have one single target for Baltimore in 2009. He was out of the league after that.

Chris Matthews will be the same thing.

This was the exact comparison I was using when talking to people. I don't think the average Seahawk fan (not talking about the ones of us who really follow) even knew who Chris Mathews was until he recovered the onside kick vs GB which had way more to do with being in the right place at the right time than real talent. He was with us all year and could not crack the roster. There is a reason very few CFL WR's make the transition. I seem to remember a ton of excitement over Duron Carter this year but I have heard very little about him since. Then we had the Rugby guy who flashed for the 49ers but was recently cut and not sure if anyone has taken a flyer on him yet. There is a reason they play where they play and succeed where they succeed. There are definitely the occasional ones that had been overlooked like Warren Moon and Kurt Warner but it is definitely not the norm for someone in the other leagues to make it big in the NFL.

 

[peppersjap]

Mathews as a #1 WR is one of the funniest things I could ever hear. And Malcolm Smith was a SB MVP and he went and got his money, I don't think I heard his name mentioned once so far this season.

 

[hawknation2015]

Mathews as a #1 WR is one of the funniest things I could ever hear. And Malcolm Smith was a SB MVP and he went and got his money, I don't think I heard his name mentioned once so far this season.

Malcolm Smith has played well for the Raiders. He makes the defensive calls for them and leads the team in tackles. It's been nice to see him return to his 2013 form. He has certainly earned his relatively modest $3.5 million APY salary over two years. That doesn't mean the Seahawks should have matched his offer, as they already had three starting LBs returning in addition to KPL waiting in the wings.

 

[marko358]

Ravens signed Matthews to their practice squad.

 

[Trenchbroom]

Ravens signed Matthews to their practice squad.

Makes sense. They are desperate at WR.

 

[Basis4day]

Ravens signed Matthews to their practice squad.

Makes sense. They are desperate at WR.

Not desperate enough for the active roster it seems.