RENTON — After taking some time to reflect on his future, Marshawn Lynch decided he had at least one more season left in him.
And no, the money probably didn’t hurt.
Lynch, the heart and soul of the Seattle Seahawks’ offense for most of the Pete Carroll-John Schneider era in Seattle, signed a contract extension that will give him a substantial raise in 2015, and that keeps him under contract through 2017 should he actually play that long.
Following Seattle’s Super Bowl XLIX loss, both head coach Carroll and general manager Schneider made it clear that the Seahawks were willing to give Lynch a raise in 2015 — he was due $7 million in what was to be the final year of a four-year deal he signed after the 2011 season — but Lynch first had to make sure he even wanted to continue his career.
According to several reports, including one from close friend and former teammate Michael Robinson, Lynch was considering retirement, the result of the toll his career has taken on his body.
But on Friday, Lynch and his agent, Doug Hendrickson of Relativity Sports, flew to Seattle to meet with Schneider, Carroll and Seahawks owner Paul Allen at the team’s Renton headquarters. By the end of that meeting, Lynch signed a deal that will pay him $12 million in 2015, all of it guaranteed. Lynch’s base salary this season actually goes down slightly to $4.5 million, but the new deal included a $7.5 million signing bonus.
Should Lynch, who turns 29 next month, decide to play beyond this season, and should the Seahawks decide they want to pay top dollar to a running back on the wrong side of 30, Lynch would make $9 million in 2016 and $10 million in 2017. Only the first year is guaranteed, however.
“He took a lot of time to reflect after the Super Bowl to figure out what he wanted to do, to do some soul searching,” Hendrickson said in a phone interview. “He realized he had a lot left in him and that he wanted to help the team win another championship.
“He’s excited to be back, and we’re excited the team stepped up and gave him this deal.”
Finalizing Lynch’s deal now was important for Seattle because free agency begins next week, then the draft is at the end of April. Had Lynch decided he wanted to retire or demanded such a big raise that the Seahawks decided to cut ties, running back suddenly would have been a big offseason priority. Now the Seahawks can draft for the future if the right fit is available, but they don’t have to force anything knowing they have Lynch, Robert Turbin and Christine Michael all under contract for at least one more season.
Lynch, who came to Seattle in 2010 in what will go down as one of the great trades in Seattle sports history — the Seahawks gave up a fourth- and fifth-round pick in acquiring Lynch from Buffalo — has rushed for 5,930 yards and 54 touchdowns in four-plus seasons with the Seahawks, and perhaps more significantly, he has 917 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in 10 postseason games.
He has earned Pro Bowl honors four times with Seattle, and twice been an All-Pro (first team in 2012, second team in 2014). And ever since Seattle committed to its running game midway through the 2011 season, Lynch has become the driving force of the Seahawks’ offense.
Prior to the 2014 season, there was a thought that the Seahawks might balk at paying a 29-year-old back $7 million in 2015, but Lynch played arguably as well as he ever has in his career, earning not just the right to play out his contract, but to sign a lucrative extension at an age most high-priced running backs are more likely to become a salary-cap casualty.
“He means everything to this offense,” receiver Doug Baldwin said prior to the Super Bowl. “I don’t know where we would be without Marshawn Lynch. He is the engine. He is the heart and soul of this offense. Everything runs through him. Despite what everyone wants to think, Marshawn Lynch is this offense. I don’t know what else to say about that.”
Of course in the Super Bowl, the Seahawks didn’t give the ball to their “heart and soul” when they were 1-yard away from victory, which only added to the rumblings that there might be issues between Lynch and the Seahawks going forward. But according to Lynch’s agent, there was no fence-mending to be done in Friday’s meeting.
“There were no issue he had,” Hendrickson said. “Everyone had their own thoughts, but as he said after the game, it’s a team sport. There was nothing that needed to be fixed, he just needed to reflect and figure out what he wanted to do.”
TE Miller released, two others waived
Not long after news broke of Lynch’s new deal, veteran tight end Zach Miller was released, perhaps freeing up some of the extra money given to the running back.
Miller, who had one year left on his contract, took a pay cut last offseason to avoid becoming a cap casualty. He would have counted $3.39 million towards the 2015 salary cap had the Seahawks kept him around.
Because $1 million of that is “dead money” the Seahawks cap savings will be $2.39 million. Miller was released with a “failed physical” designation, indicating he is not yet fully recovered from the ankle surgery that ended his 2014 season prematurely.
Miller, who along with receiver Sidney Rice was one of Seattle’s first big free-agent acquisitions under Carroll and Schneider, has been the team’s starting tight end since 2011, but appeared in just three games last year before undergoing ankle surgery that ended his season.
Depending on Miller’s market and on what the Seahawks do in free agency — reportedly they’re interested in Denver’s Julius Thomas, among others — it’s always possible that Miller could return to Seattle for less money if he gets health.
But for now, at least, his tenure in Seattle is over.
The Seahawks also waived tackle Garrett Scott with a non-football illness designation, and waived defensive tackle Jesse Williams. Scott was drafted by Seattle in the sixth-round last year, but the team discovered a heart condition that kept him from playing. Williams, a fifth-round pick in 2013, missed all of his first two seasons with knee injuries.
The team also confirmed the signing of defensive end Greg Scruggs to a one-year deal, which keeps him from becoming a free agent. Scruggs announced the signing on Twitter Thursday.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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