Aside from its outstanding regular season and Super Bowl run nearly three seasons ago, the Seattle Seahawks have suffered from receivers on the roster that cannot make timely catches, but through all the drops, Bobby Engram's been the most sure-handed and reliable target for quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
In seven season with the Seahawks, the 35-year-old Engram has done everything on the field for the team and been a standout receiver, grabbing a franchise-record 94 receptions during the 2007 season.
Despite these numbers, the organization is unwilling to extend his contract past this season. Engram wants a two-year deal that would keep him in Seattle through the 2010 season, but President Tim Ruskell is only willing to negotiate a one-year extension.
You can understand the Seahawks' position. Engram will be 36 years old after the 2008 season and the team might feel he won't have much left in the tank to warrant a two-year contract after next season.
But Seattle doesn't really have much of a choice when it comes to dealing with Engram's contract demands. Besides Engram, the Seahawks will only field Nate Burleson, who is mainly a punt and kick-off returner on special teams and occasionally used as a receiver, and unproven sophomore Ben Obomanu. Deion Branch, of course, tore his ACL in a playoff loss to Green Bay last year and might not be ready for the start of the upcoming season.
Besides last year's performance by Engram, he has been an overall solid players for the Seahawks over his seven years with the team. In only his third 16-game season, Engram tallied 1,000 yards for the first time in his career (1,147) and made a major impact on the field as Hasselbeck's main target. With Branch in and out of the lineup, Engram had a breakout season as the No. 1 guy with 369 more yards than his previous career high in 2005 (778).
In contrary to Engram's consistent play, other receivers in the organization have done nothing but drop the football. Since the hiring of head coach Mike Holmgren in 1999, it has been an akiles heel for the Seattle offense.
Troubled receiver Koren Robinson was cut after the 2004 season, as the combination of his off-field antics and lack of on-field production pushed the Seahawks over the edge.
The same season, the team signed an aging Jerry Rice and brought him into the locker room for leadership and professionalism on and off the field, but Rice's presence didn't cure the team's case of the dropsy's.
In 2005, the lack of dropped balls was the difference in the team's Super Bowl run. Hasselbeck had one of the best seasons of his career, passing for 3,459 yards and 24 TDs, and Shaun Alexander rushed for 1,880 yards and 28 touchdowns in an MVP season, but the receiving core made the catches needed for the team to finish first in the NFC and advance to its first Super Bowl in franchise history before losing 21-10 to Pittsburgh.
But the 2006 season, amidst the lost of Hasselbeck for four games, spelled the return of dropped passes that resulted in ups and downs throughout the 9-7 season. The Seahawks were let down for the last time by tight end Jerramy Stevens after only 22 receptions for 230 yards and plenty more drops, releasing the former Washington Husky. The previous year, in Seattle's Super Bowl XL defeat, Steven's had four dropped passes and hurt the team's chances.
Stevens' replacement, Marcus Pollard, didn't fair much better last season. Although he was a solid pass blocker, Pollard made some uncharacteristic drops throughout the season, including two against Green Bay in the playoffs that resulted in a fumble and missed TD opportunity. As a result of injuries and the aforementioned dropped passes, Pollard was not re-signed by the Seahawks, adding to their struggles to find a reliable tight end - a position that is an important component of the West Coast offense.
Last off-season, long-time Seahawk Darrell Jackson was dealt to San Francisco during the 2007 NFL Draft. Jackson was one of the franchise's most productive receivers, accumulating three 1,000-yard seasons during his seven-year stint in Seattle, but it was his inability to stay healthy and make consistent catches that resulted in the trade.
Needing an impact receiver to play a key role in Holmgren's West Coast offense, the organization came across a fortunate situation at the start of the 2006 season, making a trade for Branch in week two following contract negotiations that went sour between Branch and the New England Patriots.
In his short tenure in Seattle, Branch has been plagued with some injury problems, missing a handful of games. But the Super Bowl XXXIX MVP has made clutch catches when he's been in the lineup, averaging close to 14 yards per catch to equal his offensive numbers in New England.
But after an suffering an ACL injury in the Seahawks' divisional playoff loss at Lambeau Field, Branch will be needing off-season surgery and could miss the first part of the 2008 season, leaving Engram as the only formidable target for Hasselbeck.
It also makes Seahawks fans wonder why the organization didn't make more of an effort to re-sign D.J. Hackett, who had slowly developed into another offensive weapon for Hasselbeck along with Engram. Hackett earned a two-year, $3.5-million contract with the Carolina Panthers. While he had an injury-plagued season last year, only playing in six games, the deal offered to Hackett by Carolina was not unreasonable for Seattle financially. This is a guy who racked up decent numbers: 384 yards on 32 receptions in only the six games in 2007, including a huge TD reception in the wild-card win over Washington.
So having lost Hackett and knowing Branch - one of the team's top receivers - will possibly be missing significant time, it makes the Engram contract fiasco that much more important to resolve so that he returns to mini-camp and is content with his situation entering the upcoming season in September.
