If Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed becomes available in NFL free agency, the Carolina Panthers should heavily target him.
*Prediction*
Right now is the time to get Bryce Young some more weapons. Outside of Tetairoa McMillan, this wide receiver room really struggled in 2025.
McMillan had just over 1,000 receiving yards, but the second leading receiver on this team was Jalen Coker (11 games) with 394. That needs to change in 2026.
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Rashid Shaheed Contract
After being traded to the Seahawks from the New Orleans Saints, there’s a chance that Shaheed will stick around, especially after winning the Super Bowl.
At the same time, it’s far from a guarantee, which is why it makes sense to discuss other teams as a possibility as well.
At 27 years old, Spotrac gives Shaheed an average annual market value projection of $14,126,864. That mark is the 6th highest in this 2026 free agency wide receiver class.
For some context, Shaheed has a projected AAV just above Mike Evans and right below Deebo Samuel.
Why the Carolina Panthers Should Sign Rashid Shaheed
One way that the Panthers could address this problem is in the 2026 NFL Draft. In a past article, based on a mock draft from Daniel Jeremiah, we broke down the reasoning for why that could make sense.
Regardless, the point about why Carolina needs some help at wide receiver still applies to NFL free agency.
That Panthers article goes on to explain that, “Xavier Legette was the 32nd overall pick in 2024, but he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations…Young is set to become a free agent in two years, and it’s still not a guarantee that he’s going to be the Panthers’ franchise quarterback. In order to fully evaluate Young, the Panthers need to give him more than just McMillan.”
This argument is why the Panthers shouldn’t feel guilty even if they overspend at wide receiver.
Another thing that needs to be mentioned is the age of Shaheed. He’s not extremely young at 27 years old. At the same time, it’s not as if Carolina would only get a year or so of production out of him as Evans (32 years old) might offer.
Following a strong 8-9 season, now is the time for Carolina to start pushing some of their chips in. That doesn’t mean they’re ready to go all-in just yet, but they also can’t afford to stay stagnant. Shaheed would be a great balance.
Rashid Shaheed Stats
This past year, Shaheed had a fine but not elite year with the Seahawks and Saints. Shaheed played in 18 games and caught 59 passes for 687 yards and two touchdowns. That comes out to just 38.2 YPG.
However, if you go back just one year to 2024, Shaheed was fantastic through six games before suffering a knee injury. During that span, he had 20 catches for 349 yards (58.2 YPG) and three touchdowns.
The hope is that with another year to recover, Shaheed will be closer to what he showed in 2024 instead of 2025.
Even though Shaheed wasn’t elite as a receiver, he made the Pro Bowl this past year based on special teams. Shaheed took 15 kick returns for 447 yards and a touchdown.
Not only that, but he had 23 punt returns for 339 yards and a touchdown.
If the Carolina Panthers are able to sign Rashid Shaheed for close to his projected AAV on Spotrac, that’s a move worth making.
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