Seahawks sign former Patriots WR Phillip Dorsett

There’s a new wide receiver in town.

The Seattle Seahawks have added former New England Patriots wide receiver Phillip Dorsett on a one-year deal, per his text message to ESPN’s Josina Anderson.

A 2015 first-round pick, Dorsett didn’t live up to expectations while with the Indianapolis Colts. After amassing just 51 catches for 753 yards and three touchdowns in two seasons, Dorsett was traded to the Patriots for Jacoby Brissett. He carved out a role as a WR3 or WR4 option in this three seasons in New England, and he notably had the only touchdown receptions for the Patriots in their 2018 postseason.

The 2019 year saw Dorsett haul in a career-high five touchdowns on 29 catches for 397 yards, although that was on 54 targets for the worst catch rate of his career. In fairness, 2019 was also one of the roughest looking years for the Patriots passing offense that we’ve seen in a long time.

While Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf have very secure spots on the roster as the 1-2 combo, it’s very much up in the air for the rest of the depth chart. David Moore is a restricted free agent, Malik Turner fared well as a WR4, while John Ursua made his Hall of Fame case with one catch for 11 yards and a near-touchdown in the team’s final regular season game. Jaron Brown and Josh Gordon are both unrestricted free agents and I don’t expect either one of them back.

One of Dorsett’s best assets is his speed, and that’s a major plus if Seattle uses him as a deep threat.

I’ve been beating the drum that the Seahawks need more receiving depth, so this is a positive start, and perhaps we’ll see more in the NFL Draft.