Baldwin's value

After a breakout season Doug Baldwin has out played his current contract. With Kam, Bennett, and Baldwin all likely to have beef with their contracts this season would anyone be surprised to see some trade action?

I think Bennett is the most valuable to the team and deserving of more money. I dint want to see our defense without him.

The drop off from Kam is going to get smaller every game, his skills are diminishing faster than I expected.

Baldwin had been reliable as anyone could have asked. How could he not want more money. Is his value high enough we could parlay him into a starting OT or a 2nd Rd pick and save money by not having to extend him.

I think it would shock people but seems each of the last 2 off seasons we have made a shocking trade.

Wenhawk":1038vjr8 said:

After a breakout season Doug Baldwin has out played his current contract. With Kam, Bennett, and Baldwin all likely to have beef with their contracts this season would anyone be surprised to see some trade action?

I think Bennett is the most valuable to the team and deserving of more money. I dint want to see our defense without him.

The drop off from Kam is going to get smaller every game, his skills are diminishing faster than I expected.

Baldwin had been reliable as anyone could have asked. How could he not want more money. Is his value high enough we could parlay him into a starting OT or a 2nd Rd pick and save money by not having to extend him.

I think it would shock people but seems each of the last 2 off seasons we have made a shocking trade.

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IMO Baldwin is more important than any of the others named and it's not even close. Our defense could afford a hit or two but our offense is already void of talent. How many probowlers on offense last year? Why would you trade away to only other person beside Wilson that is worthy of the pro bowl?

Losing Baldwin would hurt Tyler Lockett also by allowing defenses to focus solely on him.

Baldwin is already making a decent amount of money. His cap number this year is $5.6M. That's certainly not near the top of the league, but it's not chump change either. If he were to get a raise, it would probably be around $2-3M more than what he's getting now, which wouldn't hurt the team much. Players outperforming contracts is generally a good thing. We shouldn't reward that kind of performance by trading them.

I'd extend Bennett and Baldwin 2 additional years. If they were FA, we would be trying to get them new 4yr contracts anyway. Some dollars upfront, new guarantees (2 yrs?), and a total of four years under contract going forward.

Kam - maybe a few extra dollars this year in bonus, but convert him to a one year deal. Most of the "new" money in performance guarantees. Maybe 2nd year as team option. Let him go in FA or resign next year if he recovers form. Otherwise tell him to report on time and play out this year, and renegotiate after next season.

I could see a trade out for Kam, maybe Mebane (is he a FA?).

crosfam":3d9tz549 said:

I could see a trade out for Kam, maybe Mebane (is he a FA?).

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Yes, Mebane is a FA.

In Baldwin's case it's also the last year of his contract, so it's not unreasonable to believe he'd get an extension/restructure - and why wouldn't you try to lock him down now on a 4/5y deal - at the moment you're looking at having to pay him between 6-8m a year. If he plays a full season at the level he did the last 8 games last year, he's hitting free agency and he's getting 8-10.

Baldwin and Bennett aren't getting new deals....the smart money is to play out your deal and wait for the new cap figure in 2017....so much more money comes off the books after this season (Lynch, Jimmy Graham specifically)....There will be more than enough money to go around.

How about the team in place makes another run and wins another Championship, then we have bigger problems on who to pay what.

Kam isn't getting another deal after holding out last year.....It would not surprise me to see him play out his contract as it stands....he holds the identity of the defensive secondary and needs to rebound to earn any more money after 2016.

I personally think the most important signing of this off season is securing Jeremy Lane....If you reward a player like Lane, who fought back after injuries like he suffered and reward another draft pick that comes through the system, it sends the right signal and he's a position of strength 9need quality corners that understand the Hawk culture) based on what the teams identity is all about.

As valuable as Baldwin became, 5.6M is a pretty decent number for a #2 type receiver. The key is whether Graham can resurface and get healthy enough to have a larger impact on freeing up Baldwin. That's 9M that I would consider freeing up before I even consider moving money around.

NFL.com

"Per NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, Bennett's team and the Seahawks came together this week at the scouting combine to talk about a new deal."

it would be cheaper now than in the years to come...

crosfam":14elp28b said:

I'd extend Bennett and Baldwin 2 additional years. If they were FA, we would be trying to get them new 4yr contracts anyway. Some dollars upfront, new guarantees (2 yrs?), and a total of four years under contract going forward.

Kam - maybe a few extra dollars this year in bonus, but convert him to a one year deal. Most of the "new" money in performance guarantees. Maybe 2nd year as team option. Let him go in FA or resign next year if he recovers form. Otherwise tell him to report on time and play out this year, and renegotiate after next season.

I could see a trade out for Kam, maybe Mebane (is he a FA?).

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Bennett and Baldwin should be extended. I also don't believe KC should be traded. My guess Kam will get the most money by not holding out and he keeps his same contract (best case scenario for him).

If Kam holds out, Seattle does nothing with him for a season and he gets another year older. He will shoot himself in the foot again. IMO

Baldwin's definitely worth more money. He's been doing this consistently for 2 years. Look at the tape; he's always gotten good separation, even Whitehurst commented on it: "that's not separation, that's a divorce". We've seen this in the articles out there like about he was open a lot against Revis in the Superbowl. He's also consistently made great sideline catches. He makes the routine catches and the elite catches.

The other value Baldwin has to the team is attitude and leadership. This is a guy who is a WR in a run heavy offense, getting limited targets, and is consistently open. He'll get salty about comments on the offense as a whole and the WR corps in general. You never hear him mention Wilson in anything but positive terms, and when he talks about the offense, he'll say it needs improvment or throws positive criticism but it never comes across as whining. We've never heard him complain about needing more targets.

He's also a competitor. He's fierce to the point of being abrasive, but is still a good team mate. He embodies the Seahawks culture that Carroll is cultivating here.

How much is he worth ? I'd theorize 8 mil/year. Why ? Baldwin isn't going to drop off soon. He's been consistent for the last 2 or 3 years. His improvement came more from Wilson improving his game, the OL giving Wilson time, and Baldwin's own chemistry with Wilson. Of these, only the OL pass protection is something that could change. We're not going to see Wilson get worse, he's a guy that's proven once he masters something that he keeps it consistent and moves forward.

With a solid OL giving average pass protection and a top 10 run game, we can keep this offense scary with just Wilson and Baldwin. and either a TE or WR2 that can take advantage of single coverage.

Baldwin's production tells you he deserves to make a lot more than he does.