Seahawks make Chris Carson’s re-signing official. He’s hugely important to their 2021 plan
The Seahawks officially have back the guy to get them to where they want to go.
Seattle announced its re-signing of Chris Carson Saturday, eight days after the team’s agreement on a two-year contract for its lead running back kept him from leaving in free agency.
Agents Murphy McGuire and Casey Muir told The News Tribune last week Carson’s deal is essentially two years, $14,625,000 with $5.5 million guaranteed in 2021. Carson could earn up to $6.9 million in the first year of the contract with incentive bonuses.
The deal in total is technically three years and $24,625,000. The third year and other $10 million is a voidable year. The Seahawks included that to thin and spread Carson’s salary-cap charges over three years instead of two.
Carson’s deal leaves the Seahawks crammed against the salary cap. The team released starting defensive tackle Jarran Reed on Friday to clear $8,975,000 in cap space.
More moves, including perhaps restructuring of veteran contracts such as Russell Wilson’s (to create up to $12 million in cap room) or Bobby Wagner’s (for up to $6 million in cap space), could be imminent.
Carson, 26, becomes the first running back not named Marshawn Lynch to get a multiyear contract extension from the Seahawks in the Pete Carroll-John Schneider leadership era. Seattle’s coach-general manager partnership began in 2010.
It appeared for months the 26-year-old Carson would leave Seattle, the team that selected him in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL draft then featured him into a star. He wanted a new Seahawks contract in September, and talked about how it was on his mind that the team hadn’t started negotiations on a new deal.
He also was seeking $8 million or more per year.
The market in this year with a reduced salary cap ($198.2 million in 2020 to $182.5 million in 2021) didn’t offer Carson any deals of $8 million per year.
Wilson celebrated his lead back returning to the Seahawks’ offense last weekend.
Carson’s return is a huge aspects of Carroll’s plan to redirect Seattle’s offense for 2021: back to the run.
The coach has vowed to return the Seahawks’ offense to more balance and more running in 2021 to improve Wilson’s pass protection. Wilson was again among the league’s most-sacked quarterbacks in 2020 while he continually held onto the ball longer to throw it deep to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. The offense continued to do that even after defenses adjusted over the latter half of the season to putting a second safety deep to take away Wilson’s long passes.
“We have to run the ball better. And not even better; we have to run it more,” Carroll said in January at his season-ending press conference.
That was two days after the NFC West champions lost in the first round of the playoffs because the Los Angeles Rams’ defense dominated Seattle’s offense.
“We have to dictate what is going on with the people that we’re playing, and that’s one of the ways to do that,” Carroll said of running the ball. “I know the fans aren’t jacked about hearing that, but Russ knows it, too.
“We need to be able to knock those guys into the scheme that we want to throw at.”
Now they’ve got their main man back to do it.
Carson romped for 2,381 yards and 16 touchdowns in the 2018 and ‘19 seasons for Seattle. But the Seahawks were hesitant to sign him to the longer-term, big-bucks extension he wanted. He hasn’t completed a full injury-free season since junior college.
He rushed for 681 yards and five touchdowns in 2020. He missed four games in the middle of last season with a foot injury. That validated the Seahawks’ concerns about committing too much money and years at the NFL’s most-injured position with the league’s shortest shelf-life for a career.
Carson shopped this week in free agency, and reportedly had heavy interest from the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins.
That was while veteran Carlos Hyde, Carson’s backup last season and a 1,000-yard rusher with Houston in 2019, left Seattle. Hyde signed with Jacksonville this week for two years and $4.5 million.
Until the running-back market and thus Carson came back to them, the Seahawks had been staring at Rashaad Penny, their unproven first-round pick from 2018 coming off reconstructive knee surgery, being their lead back in 2021. DeeJay Dallas, Alex Collins and Travis Homer are the other running backs on the roster.
Ultimately, Carson went with familiarity, Seattle’s money and Carroll’s vow to run more in 2021.
This story was originally published March 27, 2021 at 1:42 PM.
