Kam Chancellor: Will He Play For The Seahawks This Season?
Kam Chancellor’s holdout continues, as he will miss his second consecutive game this week. For a defense that is clearly missing the three time Pro Bowler’s production out of the strong safety position, the Seattle Seahawks appear unwilling to cave in and give Chancellor the new deal that he wants, and for good reason. Many players on the Seahawks, and in the NFL in general, desire new contracts. The problem is that if you give one player a new deal, everyone on the team is going to want a new deal, and that is just not realistic for any NFL team.
Following the Seahawks week 1 loss to the St. Louis Rams, many analysts and fans speculated that could lead to either the Seahawks giving Chancellor the deal that he desires, or Chancellor forgetting his demands for the moment, and getting back on the field to help his team. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the loss has not changed anything.
The loss didn’t change things, so holdout continues for #Seahawks S Kam Chancellor. He’s not in Seattle, ‘Hawks will play without him again
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2015
For their week 2 matchup, the Seahawks will face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. Even though he lost Pro Bowl wide receiver Jordy Nelson, Aaron Rogers still has a ton of talent around him, and will be throwing the ball upwards of 40 times. Without Chancellor, that is going to cause problems for a secondary that also has an injured Earl Thomas.
Chancellor’s teammate, defensive tackle Michael Bennett, is taking a different stance on his wish for a new contract. According to NFL.com, Bennett said the Seahawks miss Chancellor’s playmaking abilities and leadership.
“We miss Kam Chancellor, not just the way that he plays, but the way that he approaches the game, his leadership. Even though Kam Chancellor wasn’t in the game, we had multiple chances of winning that game. I wonder, would the conversation be the same if we won the game? Would people be saying, ‘Hey, they don’t need Kam Chancellor’? And so it’s all about the wins and losses in this league.”
Speaking on his own contract situation, Bennett is not holding out because he has a wife and kids.
“At the end of the day, my situation’s different than his. I’ve got three kids. I’ve got a wife. My wife wouldn’t let me hold out, so I had to come to work. And his situation’s different from mine. I respect what he’s doing, but I know he respects what I’m doing, too.”
Bennett can now see first hand that holding out is not the way to get more money. Unfortunately, the Seahawks find themselves in a no-win situation. If they do not pay Chancellor, their football team is going to be considerably weaker. If they pay Chancellor, it is going to set a new precedent, and other Seahawks players are instantly going to want new deals. While they would prefer him on their team, one option is to trade him.
McManaman: Seahawks should trade Kam Chancellor http://t.co/JhOJC64VCS
— Bob McManaman (@azbobbymac) September 18, 2015
Even if the Seahawks were able to complete a trade for Chancellor, the odds are they would be on the losing end of the deal. Cam Chancellor is a special player, and the Seattle Seahawks are going to need him back in uniform if they have any chance of reaching another Super Bowl. They way things are going though, he may not suit up for the Seahawks this season.
[Image via Christian Petersen/Getty Images]
