Former Steelers and Bears wide receiver Markus Wheaton is visiting the Seahawks, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Seahawks are on the lookout for pass catchers after losing tight end Jimmy Graham and wide receiver Paul Richardson in free agency.
Last March, Wheaton inked a two-year contract with the Bears worth$11MM with $5MM guaranteed. That deal turned out to be a bust and Chicago released him earlier this week along with quarterback Mike Glennon and cornerback Marcus Cooper, two other free agent signings from 2017 that did not pan out.
Wheaton, 27, has registered just 51 receiving yards in each of the last two seasons. However, he had more than 40 receptions for the Steelers in both 2014 and 2015.
Wheaton could be a low-risk, high-reward pickup for Seattle, and that’s exactly the kind of signing they need as they are working with limited cap space. At the moment, the Seahawks have Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, and the newly acquired Marcus Johnson as their top three receivers, as shown on Roster Resource. Seattle has also shown interest in Cardinals free agent receiver Jaron Brown.
Can we stop with this limited cap space garbage yet? The Hawks have $20M+ in cap space after the signings and tenders already made…this accounts for the draft pool too.
Additionally they’d free up $7M by releasing Avril and $10M if they end up trading Thomas.
They are looking for values so they don’t lock themselves in long term while they restructure the roster