Marshawn Lynch, in the midst of another electrifying press conference
Ian Rapoport — one of the more active reporters when it comes to this whole Marshawn Lynch saga — had a fresh update today. It wouldn’t be a NFL Sunday without another chapter in this story would it? The latest is he could retire rather than continue his career. This won’t be a shock to Seahawks fans. It was revealed after the Super Bowl that Lynch had told teammates he would consider retiring if Seattle won a title. They did — and he didn’t quit.
It’s hard to piece together what exactly is going on here. On the one hand high profile reporters like Rapoport (the league network’s own ‘insider’) and Chris Mortensen have both suggested Lynch won’t return to Seattle next year. Pete Carroll hasn’t flat out denied this — choosing instead to say, “We’d be thrilled to have him playing for us next year… We’ll do everything to get that done.”
Now we get this latest nugget. The possibility Lynch might just call it a day. We’re all left guessing what the future holds. As much as you’d like to shelve this subject until January — it is just too significant to avoid. The Seahawks are as much about Marshawn Lynch as they are Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, Earl Thomas or Kam Chancellor. It’s hard to contemplate a future without Lynch. As the 2014 season has shifted in Seattle’s favor, Lynch has come into his own.
Should we be prepared for some kind of power struggle? Will Lynch use the threat to retire to either force a trade (probably to a specific team) or a new contract if Seattle doesn’t grant his release? Are the Seahawks willing to increase his pay to keep him for at least another year? Are they even interested in that — given Lynch is getting more banged up and will turn 29 next year? Can they afford to meet whatever demands he may have considering they have to pay Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner (and others too) during the next off-season?
The 2015 draft will be loaded at the running back position. For the first time in a while we might see multiple runners go in the top-40. Todd Gurley’s ACL creates some mystery over his stock, but Melvin Gordon, Tevin Coleman and T.J. Yeldon should go relatively early. The Seahawks could still draft Lynch’s eventual replacement next April. But removing him and creating a new hole you eventually fill early in the draft seems like a sideways step at best.
Seattle is right in the middle of a Super Bowl window. Next year they can come back even stronger by adding a couple of pieces to the defensive line, getting healthy and finding a big target. I guess whatever will be will be — we know this franchise won’t dump Lynch just to save a few bucks. It’s encouraging that Pete Carroll felt the need to defend his running back amid all the recent attention over his lack of media skills. Is this a positive sign?
It’s not like he’s an issue in the locker-room like Percy Harvin — his teammates all speak highly of his presence. This appears to be about money and respect. Harvin got paid. Richard Sherman got paid. Russell Wilson is about to get paid. Beast Mode wants his share of the wealth. Can you blame him? At the same time, the Seahawks have to manage this like a business. They have to play the market. Maybe there’s a middle ground?
Or maybe Lynch will retire? Or join another team? Stay tuned for next weeks inevitable update.
In the meantime, take a look at Tevin Coleman (RB, Indiana) if you haven’t already. Melvin Gordon and co get a lot of love. Coleman deserves more.
and just like that, the Cardinals lose a second in a row and the Seahawks find themselves one game out of first place in the NFCW. Given this week’s NFCW performances it sure is looking like the NFCW championship is the Seahwaks for the taking. Who woulda thunk it just a couple weeks ago.
I’m getting really tired of all the Marshawn talk. To his credit though, none of it seems to have affected his on-field performance.
At some point, be it this year or next, the Seahawks are going to have to figure out the longterm answer at RB. I would think at most Lynch has two productive years left in the tank, though one is more likely. So, they need a replacement either next season or the following. My money would be on them looking RB this year and try to get one last year our to Lynch while the new blood learns the ropes.
I hope that new blood is Coleman. He’s the only back in this draft that gets me excited.
It looks like both sides are jockeying for leverage in contract-extension negotiation, with the anonymous FO sources saying that they are ready to let him go, and anonymous sources from Lynch’s camp saying that he’s ready to retire. We will just have to see what happen in the offseason.
These dumbasses don’t have any idea where he’s going next year. It’s just click bait and filling a deadline. Nothing substantive as per the norm.
I agree, all speculation. I love Lynch, but I think we could survive without him. Our team and philosophy are based on running the ball (Lynch can’t even do that at times) and playing standout D. Let’s not overspend on the former. I would rather see how Turbin and CMike can play and make our D that much better with 2 top round DLineman.
I agree. Turbin to me is sturdy and reliable, and Cmike, well who knows what he can do, he hasn’t been given much of a chance. He has the speed and quickness to be productive. I can’t see taking another back with first pick when the o line is in such bad shape.
How do they know what he’s going to do if he doesn’t say anything? Unless Mrob is talking behind the scenes…
I guess they could speak to his agent. Or sources close to Lynch.
They don’t.
Nobody does. Not even Lynch.
Am I the only one who thinks that maybe the Christine Michael ship hasn’t sailed yet? I still want to believe the guy could be our next feature back.
at this point you very well may be the only one. Unfortunately. All evidence points towards the team not trusting him.
It sucks. Dude is a physical freak and probably more talented than any RB in this year’s draft, but there’s something between the ears with him that’s stopping him from becoming the RB of the future with this team.
I’m #2.
I haven’t given up on Michael. Once Seattle doesn’t have a choice but to give him the ball he is going to do some impressive things on the football field. It drives me nuts when he gets up and celebrates a 5 yard run so I don’t doubt that he doesn’t quite get it but the talent is there and there have been plenty of guys who have been very successful who have had similar issues. RB isn’t rocket science. He is better than any runner in this class.
His run against SF – where he could have put his head down and got the first down, instead he stepped out a yard before the sticks. That makes me question whether he can be the featured back in this offense.
That was a terrible play by Michael. Gave up the first down.
Wow… People are really that deluded that they think a perennial 3rd stringer who has spent over 75% of his career as a healthy scratch is better than ANY RB im this class? You Michael honks are going to death grip him until his inevitable release. Gee whiz. I for one, wholeheartedly agree with the Hawks FO in that it is okay to try and squeeze bliod from this turnip until you cut ties with him. He isn’t going anywhere so you may as well get some value from.your investment. I hope that Michael is their big lesson to not have SPARQ baloney outweigh what is in the brain housing group and they just start drafting heady football players. This continued Micheal honking just makes me scratch my head though…
or…he’s the next Ahman Green for this organization.
We shouldn’t pretend we have any definitive answer. It appears the FO doesn’t like him. For whatever reason. But it’s just as silly to dismiss him as a nothing as it is to assume he’s the next great back. We don’t know.
Tim Ruskell drafted “heady” players too and he disregarded the SPARQ ratings. Ultimately you need to select guys who are both but if they don’t have the athleticism then you’re looking at a repeat of the Ruskell era
Jay Ajai…
Rob, I know you are not a fan… But do yourself a favor and watch the Utah State tape.
In my book, he is the top 2015 RB.
Great feet, explosive, great vision, decent speed, tough, and most importantly: great after contact.
Beast Mode Part Deux.
I doubt we’ll ever see a Beast Mode part deux to be fair — he is one of a kind. Ajayi just doesn’t do it for me, average speed/strength. Too many spin moves (not like Eddie Lacy). Don’t see much to get excited about overall.
I’m with you on Ajayi, Rob.
For RB prospects in this draft, I like Mike Davis, David Cobb, and Josh Robinson. The later two might be really nice mid round values. They’re powerful, work horse runners. They might lackthe explosiveness JS looks for. We’ll have to see their combine numbers. But they’re hard to bring down, have good hands, and have the ht/wt combo they seem to look for.
I love Marshawn Lynch. But with his back problems and hard running style, how many more years do you really expect from him? It seems like asking him to play next year, the year he has already signed for, would be the best option. Then evaluate at the end of the 2015 season. Maybe he will still be a stud running back, or maybe he will be worn out by then, or maybe he just won’t want to play anymore.
I watch some of the other running backs and have a couple thoughts. One is that our offensive line needs to continue to improve. Marshawn has deflected a lot of criticism from them. We would be an average running team until we can find health and improvement in the starting five.
The other thing is: there are a lot of good running backs out there. Denver is on it’s 4th string running back and he is doing great. Of course he has an awesome line to block for him. But he is also shifty and speedy and it just proves that there are many different styles of running back. We would do just fine if we upgraded our backups. Do any of us really expect Turbin and Michael to take over and perform at an elite level? I don’t. Maybe they could but they haven’t shown it yet. In Michael case he hasn’t even been allowed to play despite being on the team for two years. That’s crazy! If you won’t use him then find another back. There are plenty of them out there on practice squads or UFA. Plus by the time we are ready to use Turbin and Michael they will want big bucks which is totally unnecessary when there are new running backs coming out every year.
So the three keys moving forward are:
Ask Lynch to play out his contract
Keep upgrading the offensive line
Find at least two more running backs for starter/practice squad
Only one game behind Arizona! Got to love it.
Denver’s current running back got some tips from Marshawn. CJ was tough to bring down.
Thank you. I don’t know why more people aren’t bringing up his back.
I’d love to have a healthy M.Lynch back, even at his upcoming contract salary, but it’s seeming like that is becoming less and less of an option. He missed the Cleveland game a couple years ago because of his back and it doesn’t seem to be getting better.
A RB his age with a bad back that is seemingly becoming more and more of an issue is a bad bet for that kind of money. It’s better to be a year too early than a year too late on this sort of thing.
Yes we lost that Cleveland game 3-6 behind Tavaris and Turbin and Forset. Hmmmm!!!!
Turbin wasn’t on the team yet
I hope Marshawn plays out his contract, but I won’t blame him if he wants to retire. He has to look out for what is best for him.
I’m kind of still in disbelief of what the Seahawks have done the last 2 games. I even started a perfect scenario that would earn some talking for generations beyond. Too do this we go into Philly and pull off a game like we had against Buffalo last year. Then we come home and have another game just like the one on Thanksgiving. Then we go to Arizona and do what we did to them before. A close but hard fought close game to win the division. We win #2nd seed and the Green Bay packers are the #1 seed. In the end Seattle meets the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship in Lambo. We win of course and then we(fans included) go to the Superbowl and Win. So Russel Wilson lets look at your career record to get a figure for contract negotiations. Bobby Wagner wins MVP honors for Superbowl. We need to some how resign K.J. Wright and Bobby Wagner along with R. W.
It would be a great place for the Beast to retire, winning 2 Superbowls. I’ll be looking TE and DT next draft if this happens.
Always the talk about beast getting his respect and his money, we one a SB and he was one of the few who was getting paid (him a dip #$it Harvin) It was Wilson, Sherman, Wagner and damn near everyone else who was balling and outperforming there contracts, Lynch made his money especially if you look at what the free agent RB were getting the last couple of off seasons. On another note the Jets are now my favorite team to watch lose hope Harvin never wins another game again ever no matter where he goes, will always be a quitter to me.