Seahawks need another WR, but they should avoid this free agent like the plague

The worst thing any NFL team can do is overreact when they miss out on a specific target. Perhaps the best example this offseason was what happened to the New England Patriots, who have had a bad wide receiver room pretty much every season this century except the one fever-dream year when they had Randy Moss. Apparently the Patriots wanted to trade for Seattle Seahawks star receiver DK Metcalf, but he shot them down before eventually getting sent to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

From there it would have made sense for the Patriots to reset and turn their attention to the 2025 NFL draft class at wide receiver. Instead, they made a panic move and wound up signing Stefon Diggs to an outlandish three-year deal worth up to $69 million.

It would be one thing to sign Diggs to that kind of deal when he was still peaking back in 2020, but Diggs is now 31 years old and coming off a torn ACL - which means his days of highly-productive ball are likely behind him. In other words, the Patriots will be paying an at-best WR2 serious WR1 money.

While the Seahawks still have a need at wide receiver even after adding Cooper Kupp, Marquez Valdez-Scantling and a handful of depth additions, they have to be careful to avoid a similar overpay at this spot. For example, according to Bleacher Report, signing Amari Cooper is Seattle's best-possible move in free agency right now.

Much like Diggs, Cooper was a superstar at one point, but he's on the wrong side of 30 and also coming off of an injury. Cooper's decline is even more pronounced than Diggs' and he hasn't totaled more than five touchdowns since 2022.

If it was purely a football decision, Cooper could be a quality third option behind JSN and Kupp, but Cooper has his name-power and status as a former first-round draft pick working for him. That means he could get a similar payday to Diggs from a team that's desperate enough. In any case, it won't be worth giving him the kind of money it will cost the Seahawks to sign him when he would only have a minor role.

What the Seahawks should be doing instead is extensive homework on the high-end options from the 2025 draft class of wide receivers. The Metcalf and Geno Smith trades gave them extra second and third-round draft picks - and they should either be used to fill this need or address the interior offensive line.