With training camp for the 2014 NFL Season about to begin, the Seattle Seahawks still haven’t worked out their contract problems with Marshawn Lynch, meaning the running back will likely intentionally miss the beginning of it until he feels he’s getting enough respect and hopefully money to go with that.

Sometimes it feels as if football teams just hope that waiting a problem out will make it disappear. Marshawn Lynch isn’t happy about not getting the contract he wants, which means he is likely to execute his camp holdout plans until he gets the offer he’s been waiting for.

Lynch didn’t take part in any of the team’s voluntary programs during the preseason, but did show up for minicamp. He wasn’t part of the practice sessions because of his sore ankle. He thought that attending the minicamp would show good faith on his part and prompt the Seahawks to open up his contract and move a little bit in his direction. Obviously, that hasn’t happened, and with the opening of training camp coming this weekend, Lynch is a likely no show.

What’s actually the problem? Lynch doesn’t want to get cut next season, when his cap number becomes $9 million although he’ll make $7 million. What doe he want? Lynch wants more money up front for this season and the next one while getting a more cap friendly number for later years, pretty much giving himself an insurance policy if the Seahawks want to cut him. When running backs usually cost so much money to the team, the front office starts thinking, no matter the numbers and the contributions, about going cheaper and younger.

But as replaceable as running backs seem to be in today’s NFL, it’s a bit different with Lynch, maybe their most consistent performer over the last three seasons. He landed in Seattle via a trade from the Buffalo Bills and had a rough time in 2010. But since 2011, he has rushed for over 4000 yards on 901 carries, scoring 39 touchdowns. He isn’t a yards per carry monster, but his ability to carry the workload and put up big numbers on big occasions make him a lot more valuable than your usual running back.

Michael Robinson, the team’s former fullback and a very close friend to Lynch and something of an advisor to him thinks that eventually, Lynch will be playing football for the Seahawks this season.

I really think he just wants his position in the organization and how they view him, he just wants that recalibrated a little bit. He’s been the face of the franchise, he’s been the face of the organization. I think Marshawn will be playing football this year. I don’t know how they’re going to get it done, I don’t know how they’re going to make it work, but that team is not the championship team that they can be without ‘Beast Mode.’

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