Report: Doug Baldwin’s career in jeopardy due to multiple injuries

The Seattle Seahawks traded back into the second-round to draft Ole Miss wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, providing much-needed depth to the wide receiver position.

It made sense for the Seahawks to go for a wide receiver given the injuries (and subsequent surgeries) Doug Baldwin endured in 2018. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, these injuries may be enough to end his career.

From his ESPN article:

This off-season alone, the Pro-Bowl wide receiver has undergone surgery on his groin and shoulder. It is believed that Baldwin would like to continue playing, but he simply may not be able to, per sources. The Seahawks know he could be facing the end of his career.

Baldwin has been one of Seattle’s greatest wide receivers in franchise history. Last season saw him miss three games, but if he wasn’t Doug Baldwin, he’d have probably missed a few more. He’s racked up nearly 500 regular season catches for 6,563 yards and 49 touchdowns, including terrific seasons in 2015 and 2016. Baldwin has been Russell Wilson’s most dependable target over the past several years, and in 2018 he was limited to just 50 catches for 618 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Seattle has already lost Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor to career-ending neck injuries. Richard Sherman’s Seahawks career ended with a ruptured Achilles. Earl Thomas’ final game as a Seahawk saw him break his leg for the second time in three seasons. Even though he wasn’t as integral to the team, Ricardo Lockette’s career ended with a neck injury in 2015.

It is heartbreaking to see the foundation of the greatest era of Seahawks football steadily chipped away due to an accumulation of serious injuries that render them unable to leave the game on their own terms. Now it looks like Doug could be the latest Seahawk on that list.