The Seattle Seahawks may look at a Marshawn Lynch trade or release after this season for cap reasons and if that happens, teams like the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings and Patriots could be interested, as Lynch is considered to be one of the toughest running backs in the league.
Lynch has been a workhorse for the Seahawks over the past few years and while he has been extremely productive, the team is likely to make a move with him this offseason. According to ESPN.com, Chris Mortensen reports that the Seahawks have grown "tired" of Lynch's antics off the field and with his cap number fairly high for 2015, he likely will not be on the roster. Around the trade deadline Mortensen reported that Lynch could have been available for a trade, but nothing ever came close to happening.
Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson both publically backed Lynch and while he has been a strong part of the offense this season, all signs point to him being gone in 2015. Lynch counts for over $5 million on the cap next season and will be a free agent in 2016 and with more contracts coming for young players on the Seahawks, the money will have to come from somewhere. The Seahawks have prepared for this, as they have drafted Robert Turbin and Christine Michael over the past few years to backup Lynch.
Lynch has over 1000 yards again this season with double digit touchdowns and now that is four straight seasons hitting those marks. Lynch will actually hit 1200 yards in that span for those years, as he is just 70 away from that this season and he comes into Week 16 with 10 touchdowns. Last season Lynch scored 12 times on the ground and had 1257 yards while averaging 4.2 yards for the champs. Lynch is getting to the age when RBs start breaking down, but of course there is the chance that the two sides work things out.
If Lynch is released after the season there will be a number of teams interested in picking him up, including the Browns, Vikings, Patriots, Oakland Raiders, 49ers and Baltimore Ravens. The Raiders are going to have wholesale changes and with Darren McFadden a free agent they will need another starter. The Patriots always give veteran RBs a look and he could also be an option for the Browns after they got rid of Ben Tate this season.
Lynch helped the team win the Super Bowl last season, but he has been frosty with the media during his time with the team, stayed away from the White House visit earlier in the year and also was a training camp holdout. The two sides resolved that issue with a raise for this season, but both sides left that with things looking like a split would be coming, as Lynch held out and got more money up front now, likely thinking more would not be coming later. Mortensen also added that Lynch may have contributed to some of the locker room issues surrounding Percy Harvin.