The Seattle Seahawks have dealt with quite a few contract issues this offseason, but one thing they’re stuck with is Kam Chancellor, a team captain and one of their best defensive players, holding out for three weeks, waiting for the team to renegotiate and improve his contract.
Chancellor, unlike Russell Wilson or Bobby Wagner, has a lot of time left on his deal. He signed a four year contract extension with the Seahawks on April 23, 2013 worth $28 million with $7.825 million in full guarantees upon signing and a total of $17 million guaranteed. But being “just” the 8th highest average salary for safeties, Chancellor wants his deal improved.
As his agent says, nothing has changed. He will not report without his contract being addressed this season. The team and I have been in contact, but we haven’t been able to agree on any compromise.
Right now, he has no leverage. The Seahawks can fine him up to $30,000 for every day of training camp he misses and have the option of going after $250,000 of his $1 million signing bonus proration. Once the regular season begins the sums rise. They can start fining him entire game checks ($267,000) and further recoups of his signing bonus up to another $250,000. Holding out during the regular season is expensive.
Chancellor is hoping that the Seahawks, who on principle don’t negotiate with players who have more than one year left on their contracts, are afraid of him missing games and won’t let this go too far. However, for the Seahawks, setting a precedent here against their usual behavior might open up a big problem for them with other players who want raises and will send their agents to the GM’s office.