The Seattle Seahawks are finally showing their appreciation for Doug Baldwin by making him the seventh highest paid wide receiver in the NFL. Early this week, the team gave Baldwin a four-year contract extension worth $46 million.
Before getting the new contract, Baldwin has been regarded as an undervalued player in the NFL. However, this never stopped him from performing his best and improving his stats each season. Just last year, he was able to set career highs by collecting 14 touchdowns, 78 catches and 1,069 yards. Of course, his achievement last season and his overall performance played huge roles in his contract extension with the Seattle franchise.
According to the Seattle Times, negotiations for Baldwin's contract extension have been going on since early June. Back then, head coach Pete Carroll revealed that the Seahawks were very focused on retaining Baldwin and they were well aware of that he's done for the team and what he can do in the future.
"It's a big deal, and it's a very serious negotiation as they all are," Carroll told the news site. "But he's done an incredible job for us and been a great teammate."
"Hopefully, eventually, we'll get something worked out," the coach added. "I hope it happens. The intent is to get him signed and secured for a good while. So we'll see if we can get that done."
Thankfully, it seems the Seahawks have reached an agreement of how much they will pay Baldwin and how long he will stay with the team. As part of the deal, Baldwin will receive a guaranteed figure of $24.5 million and $11.5 million in each year with the team. This is significantly a huge leap from his three-year contract in 2014 that was worth $13 million, Yahoo! Sports reported.
With his new salary, Baldwin has become one of the most expensive wide receivers in the NFL and has joined the ranks of Jeremy Maclin, Allen Hurns and Keenan Allen. In addition, through his four-year contract, Baldwin joins other Seahawks players who have signed long-term deals with the team. These include Jermaine Kearse, Bobby Wagner, Cliff Avril, K.J. Wright, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson.
