The price is Rice; Seahawks smart in signing Sidney

Since signing with the Seattle Seahawks three years ago, veteran wide receiver Sidney Rice has had a tumultuous run in the Pacific Northwest. This has not been due to poor performance, off-field distractions, or locker room problems, because by all accounts Rice was an undeniable leader, hard worker, and positive influence for the team on and off the field.

The guy just can’t stay healthy.

During his three years as a Seahawk, Rice missed 15 games due to injuries to his shoulder two years ago, as well as his ACL last season. At just 27 years old Rice’s injury problems make him seem as if he is much older than he really is, yet this can be looked at in one of two ways.

There is the possibility that Rice will never be able to stay consistently healthy and will constantly battle injuries. This is an obvious assumption that many people have made concerning Rice.

But there are other cases in which a player will struggle with injuries early in his career, then as time goes on he learns to play differently and smarter in an effort to stay healthy. An example of this is Adrian Peterson, a player who had large question marks around his ability to stay healthy entering the league, and has since gone on to be one of the most consistent players we have seen on Sunday for seven straight years.

Rice may not be Peterson, but it doesn’t mean that he will never be able to stay healthy again. If he is used conservatively the Seahawks could help to protect the injury-prone wide-out while still reaping great benefit.

Since he does have injury problems, chances are that Rice will never be the type of guy to go out and catch 70 passes in a season. Luckily, he doesn’t need to catch 70 passes in a season to be successful in Seattle’s offense.

Last season Russell Wilson was a master at spreading the ball around. In the Seahawks’ West Coast, run-first style of offense the passing game was based on the short and intermediate passing game, with the occasional deep ball thrown into the mix. And chances were that every game there would be at least seven to eight different players that caught at least one pass in a game.

There was doubt about Seattle’s receiving corps heading into the playoffs last year since they did not have any 1,000 yard receivers during the season, and that doubt played right into Seattle’s hand as Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin, and Percy Harvin all contributed huge plays throughout the playoffs, effectively silencing the critics of the Seahawk receiving corps. Tate was rewarded handsomely for his playoff performance with a big contract from the Detroit Lions to play opposite of Calvin Johnson.

The beauty of Seattle’s offense is that it employs a universal team effort, and opposing defenses have no idea who is getting the ball on a given play. There is no Johnson or A.J. Green type of receiver for the defense to key on. 

With that being said, Seattle is still in need of a big guy in the receiving corps. While it would have been nice to sign a free agent such as Eric Decker, the fact is that Rice is a nice consolation prize considering Rice’s low-risk, one-year contract will only take up about $1.4 million on the payroll, which could prove to be a bargain if Rice stays healthy.

When healthy, Rice has flashed signs of greatness as his hands are as sticky as anyone’s in the league. He has never been the type of guy to burn defenders with his speed, although his 6-foot-4 frame, sky-high vertical, and long, lanky arms pull in the majority of jump balls thrown his way. 

Rice is the type of guy any coach wants on his team. By all accounts he is a stand-up citizen, a positive role model, a hard worker, a natural team leader, and when healthy, a very effective weapon. And considering his contract is very low-risk and high-reward, this was another example of a savvy general manager move from John Schneider.