Why Shaheed was worth overpaying for Seahawks

Despite his stated want to remain in the Pacific Northwest, Rashid Shaheed re-signing with the Seattle Seahawks didn’t seem all that likely.

Brock Huard: The best signing for Seattle Seahawks was by another team

It was expected that the speedy wide receiver/return man would end up being outside of the Seahawks’ price range. However, the team and Shaheed came to agreement on a three-year, $51 million deal that includes $34.7 million in guaranteed money, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday.

Did the Seahawks pay the right price for Shaheed? Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard believes they may have overpaid a bit, but he thinks it’s worth it.

“I think it was a little bit more, on paper, than they ideally would have wanted to spend,” Huard said during his Blue 88 segment Tuesday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “I don’t think it’s $5 million more. I think it’s a couple million bucks maybe more than (what is) comfortably in (the Seahawks’) budget. Now we gotta maybe be creative with somebody down the line, or it keeps maybe one guy down. Who knows? I think it’s a little bit more, but I think it’s worth every bang for the buck.”

After arriving in a midseason trade for the New Orleans Saints, Shaheed had 266 yards and no touchdowns on 18 receptions in 12 games including the playoffs, which includes three games where he had no receptions. His biggest performance as a pass catcher came in Week 14 when he had 74 yards on five receptions against Indianapolis.

While the receiving numbers weren’t prolific, Shaheed made a major impact in the return game with three touchdowns. He opened the second half in Week 15 against Atlanta with a 100-yard kickoff return TD that broke a tie and sparked a 37-9 win, ignited a wild fourth-quarter comeback with a 58-yard punt return TD in Week 16 against the Rams, and opened the NFC Divisional Round with a 95 kickoff return TD en route to Seattle’s 41-6 drubbing of San Francisco.

Wyman and Bob react to Seattle Seahawks bringing Shaheed back

Rule changes have added an emphasis to the return game. Huard noted that the NFL saw its highest return rate in recent memory this past season at 77%. That makes Shaheed’s role a valuable one, he said.

“There’s a feeling that that’s going to go up even next season with some of the scheme allowances and things that they’re going to try to do, little tweaks to even the kickoff rules,” Huard said. “When you talk about just the value, and Mike (Macdonald) would say this, of starting your drive at the 30-yard line, which is the NFL average, versus starting your drive at the 32, the 33, the 34 – what are those points expected? What does that over the course of a season on all of those returns look like? What is the value of that? It’s big money, man. It’s big money. So you throw in that phase of the game on top of all the other stuff in boxes he checked earlier.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• Report: Seahawks CB Riq Woolen signing with Eagles in free agency
• Seattle Seahawks officially announce re-signing of CB Josh Jobe
• Brock Huard: The best signing for Seahawks was by another team
• Bump: Who Seahawks could draft at RB to address losing Walker
• Seahawks Offseason Tracker: Free agents, draft picks and more

Related

Seahawks CB Jobe in new territory heading into 2026‘The ninja’: Seahawks players, coaches rave about Byron Murphy IISalk: Could benches-clearing scuffle wake up the Mariners?‘Hard Knocks’ highlights Kupp’s behind-the-scenes value to SeahawksWhat Brock noticed schematically from Seahawks’ offense at campExclusive: ARod says he will be at Mariners’ 50 Seasons Celebration