The Seattle Seahawks defense has Earl Thomas back in training camp, as the safety was able to pass his physical to come off of the PUP list after dealing with a shoulder injury. Fellow safety Kam Chancellor has continued to hold out from training camp and he is hoping to get a new contract from the team.
Chancellor did not show up for the start of training camp and he is looking for a boost in salary after players like Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner got extensions. Wilson signed a four year deal worth over $80 million, while Wagner signed a deal worth $40 million over four years. Thomas returning from the list does not mean that the safety is fully healthy, but it makes it more likely that he will be ready to play Week 1 for Seattle.
Thomas is a key part of the Seahawks secondary and the safety was previously placed on the PUP list after suffering a shoulder injury in the NFC Championship game. Pro Football Talk reports that the team likely "can expect to have Thomas on the field" for the first game of the season. ESPN's Field Yates reported that Thomas was cleared for training camp after passing his physical and it comes after reports earlier in the offseason that the safety was "in doubt" for Week 1 of the season.
Thomas has not missed a game for the Seahawks in his career and he is hoping to avoid doing that this season. Last year Thomas had 97 total tackles and one interception and over the past three seasons Thomas has had nine picks and five fumble recoveries for the Seahawks. NFL.com reported in July that Thomas was hoping "to be ready for the third or fourth preseason game," which would put him on track to be in the starting lineup to open the season.
The Seahawks want to keep Chancellor, with head coach Pete Carroll saying in camp that he expects the safety to return "soon." Chancellor is set to be a free agent in 2018 and he previously signed a five year contract for nearly $30 million and he is set to get paid $4.55 million for 2015. According to Jim Trotter at ESPN, the Seahawks have "no intentions" of giving in to Chancellor. Last season Chancellor had 78 tackles and over the past two seasons he has four interceptions.
Wilson has put up strong numbers in his first three years in the league and Pro Football Talk reported that Wilson and his agent Mark Rodgers were looking for the quarterback to be among one of the highest paid players in the NFL. Wilson later said that being the highest paid player in the league was "not important" to him and now he comes in as the second highest paid player per season by average per year.
The Seattle Times did a big profile on the relationship between Rodgers and Wilson and in that article Rodgers talked about the importance of free agency. Rodgers has experience in baseball and in that sport free agency often brought out large contracts. That threat may have helped the deal get done.
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