Beast Mode’s back: Marshawn Lynch re-signs with Seahawks for NFC West title game, playoffs
Beast Mode is back.
Marshawn Lynch re-signed with the Seahawks Monday night after almost four full years away from Seattle and 14 months since his last NFL game.
Doug Hendrickson, Lynch’s long-time agent from his native Bay Area, posted the signed contract on Twitter.
That was hours after Lynch,33, passed his physical examination.
Lynch re-signed with the Seahawks after they lost their top three running backs to season-ending injuries: Chris Carson, Rashaad Penny and C.J. Prosise.
Coach Pete Carroll’s and general manager John Schneider’s intent is to have Lynch and fellow 2013 Seahawks Super Bowl champion Robert Turbin, who also agreed to re-sign Monday night, in the backfield with rookie Travis Homer on Sunday night in the NFC West championship game against San Francisco at CenturyLink Field.
Carroll announced Monday morning on his day-after-game radio show with KIRO-AM radio that Lynch was flying into Seattle to visit Seahawks headquarters for a physical and likely a new contract.
“He’ll be flying in here this morning and we’re going to give him a really good chance to come back and play for us. I’m fired up for it,” Carroll told 710 ESPN Seattle.
“He’s got to get through some hoops he’s got to jump through here, a physical (exam) and stuff like that. But he’s been working really hard. He’s excited for the chance to do something helping out.
“I think it’s freakin’ great.”
The coach who first got to know Lynch recruiting him out of Oakland when Carroll was leading USC in the mid-2000s said he thinks Lynch “may have four or five games left in him.”
The Seahawks (11-4) have Sunday’s game against the 49ers then the playoffs remaining in their season. They have an extreme need for running backs in an offense that needs the run game to help its iffy pass protection for quarterback Russell Wilson. The five-sack loss Sunday to Arizona reinforced that.
Carson has a fractured hip he got in that loss. Penny is on injured reserve needing reconstructive knee surgery. Prosise broke his arm in the defeat to the Cardinals.
Lynch last played a game since Oct. 14, 2018, for his hometown Oakland Raiders against Seattle in London.
“From what we understand, he’s in really good shape,” Carroll told KIRO AM.
This is a calculated move by Carroll and Schneider, beyond whatever yards Lynch may (or may not) be able to give Seattle in this return.
This bold stroke changes the Seahawks’ mood and direction. It tells the locker room they will go get what they need. It brings back an uber-popular personality when morale could use a boost.
What they get from Lynch in yards and carries will be a bonus.
Wilson and Turbin, who turned 30 this month and has been out of football also since Oct. 14, 2018, when he was with the Colts, have been close since they were draft classmates with Seattle as rookies in 2012.
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 8:48 PM with the headline "Beast Mode’s back: Marshawn Lynch re-signs with Seahawks for NFC West title game, playoffs."
