The Seahawks will sign veteran wide receiver Braylon Edwards later today, Dave "Softy" Mahler of SportsRadioKJR reports. Kicker Carson Wiggs was released to clear room on the roster. Edwards, 6'3, 215, was the third overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Browns after an absurdly successful college campaign at Michigan in which he had three straight 1000+ yard seasons. Edwards started strong in his career in Cleveland, and by his third season, 2007, he caught 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns, second only in the NFL to Randy Moss' 23. His next season was not so great, as he regressed to 55 catches for 873 yards and only three touchdowns, and he dropped a league-worst 23 passes. He fell out of favor in Cleveland after an injury-shortened 2009 season and was traded to the Jetsin 2008.
Over two seasons in New York, Edwards caught 88 passes for 1,445 yards and 11 touchdowns and seemed to get things a little bit more on track with his career. Expectations were high for some as he signed in San Francisco last season as a potential deep threat for them, but he caught only 15 passes in nine games and was released mid-season. He had a free-agent tryout last week with the Seahawks and apparently impressed enough for a further look.
For what it's worth, Edwards has improved after developing a reputation for drops, and has more or less reined in that issue since that disastrous 2008 season, reportedly tweaking technique in New York that largely helped him correct the issue to an acceptable level. Despite his reputation, according to ProFootballFocus' tracking, he's not even in the top-15 (bottom-15, I guess) in the NFL for drop rate over the past three season.
Also worth noting in regards to the former blue-chip prospect, the quarterbacks that have thrown to Braylon Edwards in his career are Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Mark Sanchez, Kellen Clemons and Alex Smith. Not exactly an overwhelming list. He comes to a Seahawks team with a three-headed quarterback competition and should compete either at the up-for-grabs X receiver position or as a possible depth guy behind injury prone Sidney Rice. Of course, he'll have to make the roster first. It should be interesting to see what he's got left in the tank, and we won't have to wait long to find out as the Seahawks continue training camp this week.
For more on the Seahawks, make sure you head to Field Gulls and join in on the discussion.
