Lynch holding out of training camp

[dude82]

I'm not really worried about it. Lynch is already going to be the 6th highest paid RB in the league this year and if they managed to work something out like paying him the money they were going to pay Rice, he'd move up to 4th. Listening to 710 ESPN this afternoon, I think I heard Clayton say that the Hawks are somewhere around $7 million under the cap (I don't know if the money saved with Rice's retirement was included in that amount). We'll see how much of that goes to Lynch this year in a restructured deal or whether the Hawks decide to move their post-Lynch plans up a bit and trade him before the season starts (they don't want to cause a distraction to the team by doing it too late if they're gonna do it).

 

[seattlefan75]

I think this may be lynchs final season in the NFL unless he comes back the following year I dont see him leaving the seahawks to play somehwere else unless the contract offered was something he cant refuse but as a 30 year old RB I doubt that will happen. He is just trying to get what he can these final 2 years of his contract but at the same time I dont see him turning away around 12 million dollars over 2 seasons.

All this started when the chiefs gave Jamal Charles his money

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Good points guy's .... I hope it's not a big distraction and works itself out pretty soon... Cool to see training camp start today... Go Seahawks!!!!

 

[SeattleCoug]

I don't think this is anything to worry about yet. When he has been in training camp he never practiced or played in the preseason much anyway. If this was the week before the Green Bay game I would be worried but not on July 25. I completely understand why hes doing it but I just don't see what leverage he has.

 

[cdumler7]

We fans look at NFL contracts in an odd way. They should be considered 'contracts' only through the guaranteed portion of it. Neither side can really get out, or at least the team can't get off the hook anyway for the money.

Once the guaranteed part is done the team can simply ignore it and dump you at any time. That's no longer a contract. Or at least not a binding one. This means to me players setting aside the contract after that same mark is fair game.

Even guaranteed money isn't actually guaranteed anymore in the NFL. A lot of NFL contracts are structured more on the year to year basis where they say "if player x is on the roster at say March 6th of year 3 of the contract then the $5 million guaranteed goes into affect." The only thing that is actually guaranteed anymore is signing bonus pretty much.

Also when looking at Cap Space don't look at how much you have. Most teams anymore try to keep $3-4 million extra in case of injuries and midseason signings plus then carry over for the next season. So realize paying Lynch this season does affect the Cap next season in that could have been money carried over to the next season to use to sign a guy like Wilson.

If he is wanting to get paid probably the best way he could do that and not hurt the team is sign a contract with quite a bit of signing bonus money included. Or at least rework his deal now where since he is making $5 million this year and $9 million next year have it be where he signs a contract with say a $5-6 million signing bonus. This gets him paid pretty well this year and makes it a bit tougher to cut him the next yet at the same time wouldn't hamper the team so terribly if they did have to cut him ($3 million in dead money is not too bad in today's NFL).

 

[Screamin12th]

Let him hold out. He gets what like 3-4 total carries through out the preseason anyway. It's not like they would be risking him to injury. When the games start counting Lynch will be there new deal or not. He is just all about that action boss. lol

 

[WizardHawk]

Even guaranteed money isn't actually guaranteed anymore in the NFL. A lot of NFL contracts are structured more on the year to year basis where they say "if player x is on the roster at say March 6th of year 3 of the contract then the $5 million guaranteed goes into affect." The only thing that is actually guaranteed anymore is signing bonus pretty much.

Also when looking at Cap Space don't look at how much you have. Most teams anymore try to keep $3-4 million extra in case of injuries and midseason signings plus then carry over for the next season. So realize paying Lynch this season does affect the Cap next season in that could have been money carried over to the next season to use to sign a guy like Wilson.

If he is wanting to get paid probably the best way he could do that and not hurt the team is sign a contract with quite a bit of signing bonus money included. Or at least rework his deal now where since he is making $5 million this year and $9 million next year have it be where he signs a contract with say a $5-6 million signing bonus. This gets him paid pretty well this year and makes it a bit tougher to cut him the next yet at the same time wouldn't hamper the team so terribly if they did have to cut him ($3 million in dead money is not too bad in today's NFL).

I said in another post here that the Hawks would be well served to reverse his current deal. Give him closer to 9m this year and 5m next. I can't see them giving him more than his current two years. It's all about how much he makes this year and how likely the team is to keep him next year. Seems to me if he is paid less next year the chances he is cut go way down and he earns more in the long run. Far more likely to keep an aging back that isn't taking every snap at 4-5m than 9m.

As for cap space and that issue, the team just saved 1.5m this year when Rice announced he was going to retire. The team could give him that without any impact on their bottom line AT ALL as long as he isn't demanding that kind of money added to next year as well.

Look, this is just Lynch being Lynch. He is getting older and never did do camps well and misses all kinds of practices in the regular season. He always keeps himself in great shape and comes to play when it's game time. I'm sure most Seahawk fans are not that concerned about this at all. I will be surprised if he isn't back by at least the second preseason game. I really wouldn't expect this to get dealt with before the first game though. Again, he's all about that action, but only at game time.

 

[Cloud]

Every day he holds out he loses 30k. He avoided fines by showing up and talk to the media when it was required of him even though he didn't liked it. Let see how long he holds out for if it's costing him some dough.

 

[cdumler7]

Oh I'm sure he will be back. He is a guy with a very unique personality but knows when to work and works hard at what he does. I was more making suggestions of how to maybe get the deal reversed like you said. Giving him the signing bonus of that size gets him to that $9-10 million this year without adding a ton of extra money against the cap this season. They can lower his number for next year and almost make it to where a big chunk of it is the Signing bonus hit that they would have already paid him. So they could say keep him at that base $5 million for this season with say a $5 million signing bonus added on. Then lower his number for next year to something like $1-2 million. His cap hit for this season only goes up say $2.5 million yet he is getting paid as one of the top 3 or so RB's. Then the cap hit the next year stays closer to that $3-5 million so that he can still play the next season but at a rate that more shows where 30 year old RB's get paid.


I wouldn't blame the Seahawks though if they didn't change anything at all. He is getting paid pretty well for his position and fairly close to his value in the NFL by most experts of right about that top-5 for his position. He is probably a little underpaid but at the same time the Seahawks signed him to a very nice contract compared to his actual showing on the field when they signed him in the first place so really he should be thanking them for showing such trust in him to perform. He proved the FO right in getting him.

 

[Destroydacre]

If they can do it without hitting the cap in anyway shape of form ... BUT it's still not cool when he happily signed his contract not long ago and now he's gonna complain about it... 5 mil a year isn't chump change... Plus he's getting endorsements... Lynch is a great player and I've loved the guy as a Seahawk but right now the organization has the leverage and Lynch has nothing to really stand on.... There are a couple very good backs sitting in the wings so Lynch better be careful ... Seahawks could probably get allot for him right now in a trade if he takes a firm stand on this... When I say this I absolutely want Lynch here, but I don't think Seattle should really budge much because he's under contract and needs to honor it...

Normally I would agree with that sentiment, but not in the NFL where contracts aren't fully guaranteed. It really goes both ways. Marshawn Lynch would have been cut by the Seahawks before next season without hesitation despite the fact they both amicably agreed on a contract extension, because of his cap hit. That's the nature of the business in the NFL. Lynch can see the writing on the wall. It sounds to me that he understands the situation and is asking for more money this year, one of the last where he will be in his prime. He's not looking to strap the Seahawks with a $10M+ cap hit for an aging running back for the next 5 years. I have no problem with it, and as the Seahawks have cap space for him this year, I hope they can get something done. But regardless of what the FO decides, I'm sure they'll make the best decision for the Seahawks both for this season and in the future.

 

[WizardHawk]

Seahawks GM on Lynch contract situation

Seahawks GM John Schneider on Marshawn Lynch: 'He's made a decision not to be here' | Seahawks Blog | Seattle Times

Schnieder was on 710 this morning in an interview and talked about the Lynch situation.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider, in an appearance on ESPN 710 Seattle radio this morning — the team’s flagship station — said running back Marshawn Lynch has “made a decision not to be here” as training camp starts today.

And while he said he would not talk specifics about Lynch’s issues with his contract, Schneider’s comments seemed to confirm what has been reported here and elsewhere — that the team isn’t real interested in giving Lynch a new deal.

Schneider noted that the team has had a financial plan in place “for several years” and that it was “just two years ago Marshawn was one of our first guys we were able to reward in terms of this plan going forward.”

Schneider further noted that the team has to make “tough decisions” every year and referred to many of the players the team had to let go during the off-season – such as Red Bryant, Chris Clemons and Golden Tate — to create the cap space to reward others (such as the new deals to Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas).

“There is a specific plan in place here and it’s my responsibility to (owner Paul Allen) and the fans to try to provide a consistent championship-caliber football team, one that the fans feel we have a shot every year,” Schneider said.

He then added that coach Pete Carroll and his staff “do a good job of teaching young players and getting them ready to play” and enabling the team to move forward.

Asked if he would be comfortable going into the season with Christine Michael and Robert Turbin at tailback, Schneider said “I think it’s a fair question. But I think obviously Marshawn Lynch is a heck of a running back, you know what I mean? But it’s just like we had players at different positions, like last year we ran into the deal with Brandon Browner and (Byron) Maxwell steps up and has to go. … I think that the players and teammates think that they are comfortable with the next player. And that’s no disrespect to Marshawn — everybody knows what he can do.”

 

[gowazzu02]

Hes not gonna miss a game check so hell be around. What shape will he be in tho??

 

[DunceKaep]

In RW we Trust.
We Luv the Beast, but be reasonable.
REPEAT.
The CAP ml, there is a CAP.
You got paid first, yes others have followed with superior contracts.
Timing, you, ML, got paid first.

I, run a foundation too, and it has NOTHING to do with my work salary.
Having M-Rob state your foundation as a huge factor in this decision, is well, QUESTIONABLE.

Play Football ML.

 

[WizardHawk]

ESPN’s John Clayton said yesterday he expects Lynch to stay out 5-6 days and then come back, getting no new money:

That leaves open the idea that Lynch could get some sort of alteration to his deal that would give him some more immediate money. Clayton’s statement echoes some of the general feeling around the team that the holdout won’t last long. But then it’s always a bit risky presuming to know exactly what Lynch will do.

 

[WizardHawk]

Michael Robinson sheds more light on Marshawn Lynch situation: 'This is not a decision he came at lightly' | Seahawks Blog | Seattle Times

Former Seahawk Michael Robinson, who is the de facto spokesman for Marshawn Lynch, shed a bit more light on the holdout by the Seattle running back in comments made today on the NFL Network, for which Robinson is now an employee.

Robinson, asked if he’d spoken more to Lynch on the topic, said: “Marshawn and I, we spoke on the phone for a number of hours last night and what I gauged from the conversation, it seems as if you have a case where a team doesn’t want to set a precedent with paying a guy two years before his contract ends. And you have a player who feels that he’s clearly outplayed the contract. We have to think about Marshawn, he’s in different in this: he takes his money very seriously, he takes his foundation very seriously, and in my opinion that’s what it should be about. He’s trying to maximize his financial earnings while he still has time left in the league so that it can help him with his post-career, what he wants to do post-career and his foundation is what it’s all about.”

Here’s some more of what Robinson said, in comments from the NFL Network:

On Marshawn Lynch’s resolve with the decision to holdout: “He’s very firm. His resolve is there. He’s thought about this very much. This is not a decision he came at lightly. He very much wishes he could be with his team, he misses his teammates, he expressed how much he misses his teammates. He’s working out, he’s still doing all of the Beast Mode workouts that he’s used to doing. He just wants to be respected as one of the faces of the franchise.”

On if the hold out goes back to last season: “A little bit of it. I remember having conversations with Marshawn last year during the season, and some of the Seahawks players can attest to this also, he very much wanted to win that Super Bowl. He was to me in my opinion one of the driving forces as to how the Seahawks won the Super Bowl.”

On Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles’ contract extension: “[Marshawn Lynch] did mention Jamaal Charles last night when we spoke. He just said look at what a team does when they reward a guy for putting his everything on the field. He applauded the Chiefs for doing that.”

 

[uwdawgfan]

Hopefully he will get in there soon, the whole team loves this guy, probably not the same at camp without him. Give him a little something something and lets go! We need to be running on all cylinders by September 4.

 

[WizardHawk]

I'd agree with Mike Rob, before Clayton on this one. I don't see Lynch coming back before preseason and would be surprised to see him before the last preseason game.

 

[SonnyCID]

I'd agree with Mike Rob, before Clayton on this one. I don't see Lynch coming back before preseason and would be surprised to see him before the last preseason game.

Clayton's case is pretty solid though. The Hawks will withhold $900,000 of his signing bonus on Tuesday, on top of the $30,000 grand per day. Then they can take money out of regular season game checks for missed preseason games.
Video Hub - ESPN

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

In RW we Trust.
We Luv the Beast, but be reasonable.
REPEAT.
The CAP ml, there is a CAP.
You got paid first, yes others have followed with superior contracts.
Timing, you, ML, got paid first.

I, run a foundation too, and it has NOTHING to do with my work salary.
Having M-Rob state your foundation as a huge factor in this decision, is well, QUESTIONABLE.

Play Football ML.

I think MR better get on the horn with some better advice...

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Sounds like both parties are dug in their position. At the end of the day, if they don't compromise Lynch will lose, but not sure if that works out in the Seahawks favor. I'm hoping CM really flashes some talent during preseason.