RENTON — Tuesday marked the sixth day since the Seattle Seahawks reported to camp last week, which means Marshawn Lynch’s holdout potentially became a lot more expensive, but the running back continued to stay away from camp.
Per the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the Seahawks can go after 15 percent of the prorated amount of Lynch’s signing bonus after six days, which in this case would be $225,000 on top of the $30,000 per day he can be fined. Seattle can go after an additional one percent of the prorated bonus ($1.5 million) each day Lynch holds until the total amount reaches 25 percent of the prorated bonus. The team is under no obligation, however, to collect on those fines if they decide to work something out with Lynch, assuming he eventually returns.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll didn’t have much to say on Lynch’s continued holdout, but did say, “We’re not commenting about it. He’s not here, so we can’t comment about a guy who’s not here right now. I love this kid, I hope he’ll figure it out and it’ll all make sense and come to a resolution somewhere, but nothing more than that.”
Earlier in the day, general manager John Schneider also addressed Lynch’s situation during an appearance on ESPN, and said he wasn’t getting concerned with the holdout: “You know, no. Everybody loves Beast Mode. We love him and respect the guy. I think what he’s done in this community, for this franchise, is outstanding. It’s one of those deals where you can never get inside somebody’s head. We’re just going with our plan, and I know it’s cliche-ish, but next man up. We’ve had a plan in place here for a number of years, and we can’t veer from that plan for one person, because it’s the ultimate team sport.”
Seahawks sign Winston
Looking to add to the competition for the open right tackle job, the Seahawks signed veteran Eric Winston Tuesday.
Winston, who is also currently the president of the NFL Players Association, spent the first six years of his career in Houston before spending a year each in Kansas City and Arizona. Winston has started every game since the 2007 season. His background in zone blocking systems, especially in Houston, should help ease his transition.
“I think some of my best years have been in that zone scheme, obviously with Alex Gibbs, way back in Houston and that whole scheme after that and so I’ve had some of my best years and some of the best teams I’ve played on have used it,” Winston said. “I think it’s a perfect fit for me and it definitely helps me with the learning process.”
Winston worked primarily with the second-string offense on his first day, but should get a chance to compete with rookie Justin Britt for the starting job. Michael Bowie was getting most of the first-team reps before being sidelined by a shoulder injury, so he’ll factor into the mix as well when he returns, which should happen soon, Carroll said.
While Winston has enjoyed a very distinguished career, he might be best known to Seahawks fans for the play against Seattle last year when he was flattened by safety Kam Chancellor. Perhaps that is part of the reason that Winston said of the Seahawks, “It will be a lot more fun playing with them than playing against them.
In addition to Winston the Seahawks signed receiver Randall Carroll. To make room on the roster for Winston, Randall Carroll and cornerback Terrell Thomas, who signed Monday, the Seahawks released guard Bronson Irwin and cornerback Chandler Fenner, and placed receiver Taylor Price on injured reserve.
Seahawks on ESPN
Seattle’s practice was aired live on ESPN. A helicopter flew over the practice facility throughout the TV event and cameras were stationed around the practice fields. “They were very open to how we would allow it to happen and we worked together to figure out a way. I don’t know how it came off. … It didn’t bother us at all,” Carroll said.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
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