For years now, Kam Chancellor has proven that he is one of the top defensive players into the entire NFL. Unfortunately, the phenomenal safety has also been frustrated with a contract with the Seattle Seahawks that isn’t paying him nearly what he feels he is worth. Trades have been discussed and rumors have flown around, but Chancellor has now let it be known who he wants to play for.
Last season, his contract dispute was such a huge deal and he felt so strongly about his stance on it, that he held out until Sept. 23. So many thought it was only a matter of time until he was either traded or straight-up released by the Seattle Seahawks.
He returned to the team, played in 11 games, and still ended up with 74 total tackles and two interceptions and one forced fumbled. Many thought that 2015 would be the last time that Chancellor was seen in a Seahawks’ uniform though, but they may have been wrong.
As KOMO News reported, Chancellor let all fans of the Seattle Seahawks know that he wants to play for one team, and one team only.
Now, it’s not exactly known who he is talking about when he mentions a “higher power,” but he’s most likely talking about God. Some have made the assumption that he’s referring to Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider.
One of the key members of the “Legion of Boom,” he helped lead a secondary that wreaked havoc on NFL offenses for the past few years. He signed a four-year extension with Seattle right before the 2013 season, and how he’s upset with it.
Kam Chancellor believes he is a defensive player that is worth more than four years for $28 million.
Field Gulls did an extensive bit of research to determine is Chancellor is correct in being upset with his contract with the Seahawks. He believes he’s underpaid so the site wanted to do some work and see if his argument held any type of water.
Over the course of his six years in the NFL, he has racked up 472 tackles, nine forced fumbles, and 10 total interceptions. Yes, he’s been a demonstrative force on the field and a primary cog of the Legion of Boom, but is he right in demanding more money?
Field Gulls used a number of factors including cash flow, percentage of guarantees, and average per year between Chancellor and a number of other safeties in the league. Some of the others included in the study were Reshad Jones of Miami, Aaron Williams of Buffalo, Clint Gresham of Seattle, Donte Whitner of Cleveland, and Morgan Burnett of Green Bay.
In 2016, Kam Chancellor is going to earn a base salary of $5,100,000 with salary cap hit to the Seahawks of $6,100,000. His contract extension before the 2013 season came with a $5 million signing bonus and $7,825,000 in guaranteed money.
When all the numbers were said and done, Field Gulls came to the conclusion that it was “very difficult to justify Kam Chancellor as being underpaid.”
One of the biggest reasons they came to that determination is that his 2015 season was not his greatest and it is obvious that his numbers went down. Even when looking just at the amount of games he played, it’s still hard to think that he played at a top level and as a premier safety in the NFL.
The Seattle Seahawks could very well look at younger and cheaper options than Kam Chancellor at safety, but they will likely stick with him until his contract is up. If he has another lackluster season in 2016 though, they may look to part ways with him even though he wants to stay.
[Image by Otto Greule Jr.]