After missing out on their big offensive-line target, the Seattle Seahawks have added a large — sometimes in Green Bay, too large — running back, instead.
Free-agent rusher Eddie Lacy agreed on Tuesday with Seattle to a one-year, prove-it contract for $3 million guaranteed.
It’s a low-risk, short-term investment with a potentially handsome payoff. That is, if Lacy even comes close to approaching his productivity and short-yardage effectiveness of 2013 and ‘14.
Giving the 2013 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year only one year creates a motivating chip onto Lacy’s formidable shoulders, a fuel to earn a richer, longer-term deal this time next year.
“Blessed for another opportunity to play the game that I love. Thank you @Seahawks #GodIsGood #GoHawks,” Lacy posted Tuesday on his Twitter account.
“Thank you to the @packers organization for taking a chance on a kid from Gretna, LA. Life changing opportunity &am forever grateful,” Lacy also tweeted.
That was about his team for the first four years of his NFL career. The Packers gave up on him largely because he got too large: 30-some pounds above his listed playing weight of 234 pounds, at times.
Lacy’s representatives, Sports Trust Advisors, confirmed through Twitter retweets that the deal could be worth up to $5.5 million, with the $3 million guaranteed.
“I like that we’re bringing in a big, tough guy that’s gonna send a message the way he plays,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said on Seattle’s 710-AM radio.
Lacy has been reported to be above 260 in the last year and 267 pounds just last week. Carroll was asked if the Seahawks could expect Lacy to weigh 235 pounds next season.
The coach said somewhere in the 240-pound range would be more realistic for the Seahawks to expect. Carroll added Lacy continues to rehabilitate from ankle surgery in October, inferring that has kept him above his playing weight and from conditioning. Lacy was in a walking boot using a scooter to get around into mid-December.
It was the second signing for Seattle in the league free-agency period that began on Thursday. Both are one-year deals. They minimize the team’s risk and commitment to players who are both coming off injuries and doubt — but maximize those veterans’ motivation to earn richer deals.
Left tackle Luke Joeckel from Jacksonville signed with the Seahawks for one year and $7 million guaranteed on Saturday. Carroll told 710-AM Joeckel could play left tackle or left guard for Seattle. That’s par for Carroll’s course; competition will sort that out this preseason.
Lacy, 26, played out his four-year, $3.3 million rookie contract with Green Bay last season.
Well, he sort of played it out.
He was a Pro Bowl back with 1,178 yards and 11 touchdowns as a rookie in 2013. He followed that with 1,139 yards rushing, nine scores and another Pro Bowl selection in ’14. After Lacy dipped to 758 yards and three TDs on the ground in 2015, Packers coach Mike McCarthy told Lacy he needed to lose weight. He had missed just two games in the first three years of his career at that point.
But in 2016 the Packers put him on injured reserve with an ankle injury after five games.
Veteran Packers writer Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday that Lacy weighed 267 pounds last week at one of his three free-agent visits. He was known to have visited with Seattle, Minnesota and Green Bay.
He visited the Seahawks last weekend, before former All-Pro back and NFL most valuable player Adrian Peterson came to Seattle as another free-agent possibility. Lacy is five years younger than Peterson. He likely came more cheaply than the more-accomplished, though banged-up, Peterson would have.
Seattle spent years among the top four rushing teams in the NFL. Then Marshawn Lynch had his first injury filled season of his career in 2015 and retired. Last season the Seahawks dropped to 25th in rushing, averaging 99.4 yards per game.
In 2016 they had a backfield that couldn’t stay healthy. They had 18 different players carry the ball in a game. And they had the league’s lowest-paid offensive line, inexperienced and unable to consistently clear lanes for whoever ran the ball.
Here’s what the Seahawks like with Lacy, who turns 27 in June: Even in his abbreviated 2016, he led the league in yards gained after contact (2.8).
Does that sound like any pounding, dominant running back that used to scarf down Skittles on Seattle’s sidelines during games?
Lacy’s 5.1 yards per carry last season was his career high, albeit in only five games with 71 rushes, before his ankle injury and disappearance from Green Bay’s plans. That average was eighth-best in the NFL among runners with at least 70 carries.
The Packers obviously thought he was done. Heck, they had wide receiver Ty Montgomery, wearing No. 88, as their primary running back late last season into the NFC title game at Atlanta.
The Seahawks are waiting for C.J. Prosise, their tantalizing rookie from 2016, and Thomas Rawls to stay healthy long enough to have a full season as their young (combined NFL experience: three seasons) and inexpensive rushers. Prosise had four injuries last year, beginning in spring minicamps.
“I can’t tell you I’m not concerned about C.J.,” Carroll said, two days after the Seahawks lost in the divisional round of the playoffs at Atlanta Jan. 14. “He was unavailable to us throughout…”
At a minimum the signing of Lacy is the Seahawks’ insurance for 2017 against more injuries from Prosise and Rawls. Rawls has yet to finish a full season as a starting back since high school in Flint, Michigan.
That insurance won’t break Seattle’s bank, either. The Seahawks had $18.65 million in salary-cap space before their deal for Lacy, according to overthecap.com.
There is a possibility the Seahawks have included in the $2.5 million that isn’t guaranteed for Lacy the possibility to earn bonus money for him making certain weight benchmarks before and during the 2017 season. Carroll implied to 710-AM the team will be closely monitoring him.
“There will be a real concerted effort,” Carroll said, “to make sure he’s at his best.”
Thomas’ progress from broken leg
For the second time in a week, three-time All-Pro safety Earl Thomas posted a video on social media of him running on a treadmill. Unlike last week’s, Tuesday’s clip didn’t appear to be on an anti-gravity treadmill to reduce load on his legs.
The more recent post came three months and 10 days after Thomas broke his tibia against Carolina. Carroll said this month the team believes Thomas will be back in time to start the 2017 opener in September.
Thorpe re-signed
The Seahawks re-signed special-teams ace and reserve cornerback Neiko Thorpe, the team and his agents announced.
Thorpe signed in mid-September after Seattle released cornerback Tharold Simon, then earned Carroll’s praise over the next 17 games, in particular for his work as a gunner covering punts.
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