The Seahawks and wide receiver Doug Baldwin have agreed to a contract restructure that will create $5.2MM in 2017 cap space for Seattle, reports Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
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Baldwin had been scheduled to earn a base salary of $7.75MM for the upcoming season. Instead, the Seahawks have whittled that figure all the way down to $775K by converting the difference into a signing bonus. Seattle, which had been a bit tight on cap space, now have in excess of $13MM in reserves. Baldwin, meanwhile, will see his cap charge rise by roughly $1.744MM in each of the next three seasons. He’s signed through the 2020 campaign under the terms of his 2016 extension.
By reworking Baldwin’s contract, the Seahawks have made it more difficult to part ways with the veteran pass-catcher in future years. That shouldn’t be a problem if Baldwin continues his recent levels of production, however, as the 28-year-old has topped 1,000 yards receiving in each of the past two seasons while scoring 21 total touchdowns. He’s also excellent in the run game, as Pro Football Focus ranked Baldwin as the league’s No. 9 run-blocking wideout.