It seems as though Doug Baldwin will be staying with the Seattle Seahawks for the long haul.

The wide receiver, who has spent his entire NFL career in the Pacific Northwest, has signed a four-year contract extension with Pete Carroll’s team. Seattle’s official website announced the move on Tuesday night.

Additionally, ESPN’s Ed Werder reported the details of the wideout’s contract, tweeting that “Source says @DougBaldwinJr signed 4-year extension worth $46 million and including approx $24.25 million guaranteed. Sixth-highest pd in NFL.”

While the contract isn’t exactly cheap, it locks in one of Seattle’s core players long term. Baldwin entered the league as an undrafted free agent and caught on with Seattle, where he made his debut in 2011. Ever since, the Stanford product has been an integral part of the Seahawks’ success. In his five years in the league, the receiver has helped lead the Hawks to a pair of Super Bowls and four playoff appearances.

From 2011 to 2014, Baldwin averaged 49 catches per season for 689 yards and four touchdowns. He clearly had the talent to post gaudier numbers given the opportunity, but because the Seahawks spread the ball around so much—not to mention the presence of Marshawn Lynch—the receiver never topped 1,000 yards in a season.

Things changed last season for Baldwin. With Jimmy Graham, Paul Richardson and Lynch injured at times, the wide out had a career year.

Baldwin caught 78 passes on 103 targets for 1,069 yards and a league-leading 14 touchdowns.

Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin celebrates after making a catch in an NFL game against the Baltimore Ravens. Image via Patrick Semansky/AP
Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin celebrates after making a catch in an NFL game against the Baltimore Ravens. Image via Patrick Semansky/AP

The scary thing, at least for opposing defenses, is that Baldwin could have another big season next year. Seattle will be without the recently-retired Lynch, so the team may end up throwing the ball more.

After seeing what Russell Wilson—and Baldwin—did last season, no one would with the decision to air it out. Wilson threw for 1,906 yards, 24 touchdowns and just one interception over the team’s final seven regular season games. As outstanding as those numbers were, Baldwin’s over the same stretch may have been better.

The longtime Seahawk was targeted 53 times over the last seven games of the regular season and caught 40 passes for 590 yards and a staggering 11 touchdowns.

That was all mostly without Graham, who will return after having his 2015 season cut short due to injury. With opposing defenses having to pay attention to Graham and deep threat Tyler Lockett, Baldwin could be in line for similar production next seasons and in future seasons.

Player-development success

Baldwin is one of many Seahawks who were either drafted in a lower round, or simply undrafted, who has gone on to thrive for Carroll and company.

Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Thomas Rawls, Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, Jeremy Lane, K.J. Wright, and Garry Gilliam were all either undrafted, or taken in the fourth round or later. All will likely start or heavily contribute to a team that has the chance to reach a third Super Bowl in four seasons.

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About the author
Ben Rosener
Ben Rosener is a sports writer born and raised in the greater Seattle area. He is a college who is the editor and founder of two sports websites, Kingdome of Seattle Sports and Know Hitter, the latter of which is a member of the BBA. Ben’s work can also be found on the digital pages of Bleacher Report, USA Today, World Soccer Talk and FanSided among others. He only refers to himself in the third person for bios.