Report: Seahawks give Jermaine Kearse second-round tender
Mar 6, 2015, 10:29 AM | Updated: 10:33 am
(AP)
The Seahawks were going to give wide receiver Jermaine Kearse a restricted-free-agent tender of some sort this offseason. It was just a matter of which level it would be, and that answer came Friday as Field Yates of ESPN.com reported that Kearse has received a second-round tender.
What it means: Kearse stands to make $2.356 million on a one-year deal with Seattle next season provided that another team doesn’t make a higher offer that the Seahawks aren’t willing to match. In that event, Seattle would receive a second-round pick from that team as compensation. In all likelihood, Kearse will stay put, play out 2015 on the one-year deal and then become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
For Kearse, it’s a nice raise after making an average of $480,000 on the three-year deal he signed as an undrafted rookie in 2012. He split time between the practice squad and active roster that season, worked his way into Seattle’s wide-receiver rotation in 2013 then became a full-time starter in 2014, setting career highs in catches (38) and yards (537) while scoring one touchdown. Kearse’s time in Seattle has been less defined by his overall numbers and more so by the big touchdown catches he’s made, four of which have come during the last two postseasons.