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Danny O'Neil covers the Seahawks for The Seattle Times.

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August 20, 2008 9:44 AM

Catching the clues on the receiver debate

When Seattle traded a first-round pick for the privilege of signing Deion Branch to a six-year, $39 million contract, the Seahawks had Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram from Seattle's Super Bowl season and had signed Nate Burleson as a free agent over the offseason.

Two years later, the Seahawks needs at wide receiver appear more drastic, Joe Horn is a free agent after being released from Atlanta and Anquan Boldin has requested a trade from the Cardinals.

Don't expect the Seahawks to make a move to bring in a veteran, though. For one, the Seahawks have invested a great deal of money in the position with the contracts Branch and Burleson were signed to. Then there's the reality that even if Arizona considers trading Boldin -- something the Cardinals have said they won't -- the team that would acquire him presumably must be willing to rework his contract otherwise the main problem causing Boldin's unhappiness would remain.

Finally, the Seahawks have a group of young wide receivers that they felt so strongly about that they didn't choose a receiver in the draft or sign one in free agency. To think they're now going to press the panic button because Engram's out is a little silly.

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Posted by Max Spector

1:00 PM, Aug 20, 2008

With all props to Bobby, he's a little long in the tooth and now injured. Recovery comes slow as your age rises..don't I know. AZ would be fools to trade AB to us since we own them already w/o him. Horn might be an easier pick unless he's got some guaranteed cash like the $4mil we gave to Duckett - which sadly will probably kill dumping his lameness and we'll end up losing Forsett to someone who will overlook the excuse not to use a short back. Don't they realize that it's easy to lose site of the short guys when they're hitting the wholes or moving laterally behind the line?

You have to ask yourself, is Mike trying to convice the media he's too short, or potential teams that might want to grab him off of the PS...

Posted by Keith

1:15 PM, Aug 20, 2008

Seahawks were always a team that couldn't catch passes since 2000. ESPN constantly reported that dropped balls were killing us. They really did kill us. Our new guys don't drop the ball. I am not worried. The young talent really is talent. Just look at Hackett, he proved himself. One of the guys is going to prove that they can start on this team. I have faith in Obomanu and Burleson. Engram does seem to always be out with something after not even looking like he got hurt on the field. But he is so valuable in the postseason and clutch in the regular season. If our TEs step up, they can pick up the slack that they haven't in the past. Branch hasn't been healthy yet. I almost have no faith in him as a Seahawk. I want to root for him, but it has been hard since he is never practicing or playing.

Our running game is going to open up our pass anyway. We have a ton of running options for a reason. Holmgren does not want a repeat of last season, and it is safe to say there will be no repeat. We don't have the receivers to pass like crazy, and we do have the runners to pick up yards.

Posted by Southeast Seahawk

1:46 PM, Aug 20, 2008

I agree Keith, I think we'll be fine at WR with the young ones we have. Horn is trouble and Boldin too pricey. Let's just get healthy on the O-line and at QB in time for Buffalo

Posted by Neufer

3:28 PM, Aug 20, 2008

I agree as well, the options are there Obamanu, Taylor, Kent and so far a great replacement for Bobby is Michael Bumpus. There is almost no way the cardinals are going to trade bolden to us but if they did i'd give them branch in a heartbeat. How many games has he played for us so far?