Dallas Cowboys Rumors: Marshawn Lynch To Big D Whispers Heat Up — Darren McFadden Done?
It isn’t until March 7 that NFL teams are allowed to contact players in free agency to negotiate things, and it will be another week until they can officially sign. The thing is, a player needs to be a free agent in order to get involved in all of this. Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch isn’t one, but his time with the Seahawks may be done as talk of him landing with the Dallas Cowboys heats up.
Right now, Lynch is under contract with the Seattle Seahawks through the 2017 season. In 2016, his base salary will be $9 million and in 2017, it will be $7 million. The problem is that with a signing bonus, Lynch will count for $11.5 million against the cap in 2016.
In 2015, Lynch was limited to just seven games due to injuries in which he had three touchdowns and a mere 417 yards. Rookie running back Thomas Rawls has proven himself to be a franchise player and one that can lead a team. Christine Michael returning to the team gave the Seahawks a solid starter and back-up at a bargain price.
The Seattle Times states that Lynch could be leaning toward retirement and if so, he may be asked to pay back $5 million in bonus money, but that isn’t confirmed. Cutting Lynch wouldn’t help the Seahawks a lot as they’d just save $6.5 million against the cap in 2016, but $10 million in 2017.
Now, a trade?
A trade of Marshawn Lynch isn’t necessarily out of the question, but they need to find a team willing to bite on a 30-year-old running back with injuries and inflated contract. That’s where the Dallas Cowboys’ name has been coming up.
Sports Blog states that it is pretty much a no-brainer that the Seahawks are at least going to explore a trade for Lynch. They also state that all signs are pointing to the Dallas Cowboys as a trade partner after letting the 2014 NFL’s leading rusher in DeMarco Murray go.
In 2015, the Cowboys went through a rotation of running backs and ended up with Darren McFadden as their starter for most of the second half of the season. ESPN doesn’t believe that McFadden’s time in Dallas is done yet and that Jerry Jones won’t trade for Lynch just because society dictates it.
McFadden didn’t start for the Cowboys until Week 7 of 2015 and he still finished fourth in the NFL in rushing with 1,089 yards. He’ll turn 29 in August and is younger than Lynch, so he comes with a much better price tag in 2016 of $1.2 million with a $500,000 roster bonus.
All of the signs do seem to favor the Dallas Cowboys sticking with McFadden and not bothering to even looking into a trade for Marshawn Lynch. Still, is the possible talk of it all dead?
Far from it.
The rumors are going to persist for the next month or two and maybe even into late April with the 2016 NFL Draft. It really just already seems like Marshawn Lynch’s time in Seattle is done and the Seahawks aren’t going to pay that kind of money to a running back who is being outplayed by a rookie and a back-up.
Jerry Jones isn’t going to make a rash move, but the Cowboys having a 4-12 record this season is frightening and anger-inducing. Jones wants to win and he wants to win now. If that means bringing in another few players, then that’s a risk he will take if the wins come in.
The Dallas Cowboys don’t want to have a second losing season in a row, and they want to win. Jerry Jones wants to win. The Seattle Seahawks have a lot of money invested in Marshawn Lynch, but not a lot of time left for him. Beast Mode heading to Dallas in 2016 may seem far-fetched, but it’s possible.
[Image by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images]
