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by Alex Simpson Twitter: @Alex2theSimpsom

As most people in the football world already know, the Seattle Seahawks claimed Josh Gordon off waivers. The Patriots placed Gordon on injured reserve and waived him with an injury settlement after week 8, leaving Gordon, a veteran, susceptible to waivers instead of being free to negotiate a contract with a team of his choosing.

Seattle is a team known for building through the draft. However, in the early Pete Carroll days when they were building their team, Carroll and general manager, John Schneider, made several deals to bring in veteran players. When your best players are still playing on rookie deals, that is the time to capitalize on cheap contracts and use cap space on other positions of need to build a winning team. The Legion of Boom days are over after the entire secondary went in different directions. Russell Wilson’s rookie deal came to an end and Seattle was forced to let him walk or give him record breaking money. They signed him to a massive contract extension and let many others walk in free agency over the last couple years, such as Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas.

Russell Wilson helped the Seahawks pull out a dramatic victory over the Rams on Thursday night. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

The Seahawks are now in a similar position they were in when Carroll and Schneider first got to Seattle. They have a lot of talented veterans and several key players, such as Chris Carson, D.K Metcalf, and L.J. Collier, playing on rookie deals. With the extra cap space and win-now mentality, Seattle brought in Jadeveon Clowney from Houston and safety Quandree Diggs from Detroit. The latest veteran addition to the team is the very skilled, but often troubled, Josh Gordon.

Gordon leaves a New England team with a group of receivers that are talented with a lot more depth than the Seattle Seahawks. He was competing with Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, Phillip Dorsett and rookie Jacobi Meyers for targets out wide and 1st round rookie, N’Keal Harry is set to return from a stint on IR. The Patriots also like to utilize the pass catching abilities of their running backs, James White and Rex Burkhead.

New England Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon (10) plays against the Buffalo Bills in the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (Ron Schwane / AP)

The New England offense, although talented, loves to spread the ball around to all of its players. Gordon is going to a Seattle team with veteran Tyler Lockett and rookie D.K. Metcalf as the only established pass catchers on the roster. With tight end Will Dissly going on IR, many targets had become available in this offense. The Seahawks have arguably the least depth at receiver of any team in the league. With the addition of Josh Gordon, they will get a field-stretching, physically imposing, playmaker who should have more opportunities with the ball in his hand.

In 2019, Tyler Lockett has 54 targets through 8 games (nearly 7 per game) which would put him on pace for 108 targets, 37 more than his career high of 71 in both 2017 and 2018. D.K. Metcalf has 45 targets, which would put him on pace for 90, which would also be more than Lockett had in each of his two years as the number 2 option behind Doug Baldwin. More importantly, Metcalf is leading the NFL in end zone targets with 12. Both receivers have scored 4 touchdowns a piece.

From weeks 9-16, the Patriots face the 19th easiest schedule for fantasy wide receivers. Additionally, through weeks 9-16, the Seahawks face the 5th easiest schedule for fantasy wide receivers. Gordon is not only going to an offense that can give him the ball more, he will face a much easier schedule.

Tyler Lockett should be fine as he plays in the slot role and is Wilson’s favorite target. This may hurt Metcalf in terms of targets and touchdowns. Gordon and Metcalf have similar styles in the offense but Seattle was in need of a 3rd target player with dissly on IR.

Wilson should receive a slight bump up as he is dominating the passing this year. Just imagine them in the red zone, Wilson will be able to just toss it up to either side. The run game gets a slightly bump with defenses as they will have to be more focused on the receivers. This gives Carson less stacked boxes every play.

I’m very excited to see what this does to Seattle’s passing game. Seattle will love having Josh Gordon and he will enjoy being a member of another great organization.