Home: Lakewood’s Jermaine Kearse remaining with Seahawks on 3-year deal

Jermaine Kearse is staying where he truly wanted to be all along.

Home.

The native of Lakewood and former standout at Lakes High School and the University of Washington is staying with the Seahawks. The wide receiver’s deal is for three years, according to the league-owned NFL Network and ESPN.

Kearse did not immediately return messages left for him by The News Tribune on Thursday. But he didn’t have to say where he really wanted to play next season and beyond.

“We’re on pins and needles,” Lakes High football coach Dave Miller said last month about the city’s hope his former player would stay with the Seahawks.

Seattle’s clutch receiver the last three postseasons played his first three years in the NFL at the league’s minimum salary and stated repeatedly in the last couple months he wanted to find out what his value was in the open market.

But all the while, he kept saying he hoped he could remain a Seahawk, with the team that gave him his chance as an undrafted free agent in 2012.

“I hope so... God willing. We’ll see,” Kearse said last month at an event for his 15 to 1 Jermaine Kearse Foundation at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood.

We are apparently seeing home remains his strongest pull.

“I would love to be here,” Kearse said Jan. 17, in a losing locker room minutes after he had a career game in the Seahawks’ season-ending playoff loss at Carolina.

“I mean, I grew up in the state of Washington.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Home: Lakewood’s Jermaine Kearse remaining with Seahawks on 3-year deal."