The Seattle Seahawks will be without Kam Chancellor when the season kicks off on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams, which means the team will be without its starting, three-time Pro Bowl strong safety but also the player who was the defensive team captain a year ago.
Kam Chancellor wants to get paid for his leadership, too
Kam Chancellor was the Seahawks defensive team captain in 2014, and he thinks that should be worth a little extra money, too.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
According to NFL Network analyst and former Seahawks player Michael Robinson, it's both Chancellor's role as a player and as a teammate that make him believe he is worth more than what the team has been willing to pay.
On Sunday morning on NFL Network, Robinson said that Chancellor wants to be compensated for his leadership in addition to his play. Via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:
Chancellor's role extends well beyond what he does on the field, operating essentially as an extra coach. For example, Chancellor helps get guys like Marshawn Lynch (who wore Chancellor's jersey to practice the other day) in the right frame of mind. Chancellor, as Robinson explained it, otherwise does things that would fall onto the shoulders of head coach Pete Carroll.
While it’s a unique argument, it’s one that many aren’t buying, including former New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, who was a team captain during his 15-year playing career.
“It thinks that’s BS,” Rodney Harrison of NBC’sFootball Night in America and NBCSN’s Pro Football Talk told PFT via text message on Sunday morning. “I didn’t want extra for helping out Asante Samuel and young guys I played with. That was something I wanted to do in my heart to see these guys have success. That’s the part that makes you a leader. The fact he expects to get paid for it , baffles me. With that being said I love this guy and the way he plays the game.”
Chancellor is currently due to make $4.55 million of base salary in 2015, $5.1 million in 2016 and $6.8 million in 2017 with $1 million of signing bonus money spread out over each season. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Seahawks made an offer in training camp of $8.1 million for the 2016 season, but Chancellor wants $9 million.
In five seasons with the Seahawks since he was picked in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, Chancellor has played in all but three games for the Seahawks, earned three trips to the Pro Bowl and has eight interceptions, six fumbles forced and two sacks.
Chancellor will miss the first game of the season, which continues to tack on to the already costly amount of fines he has accrued because of his absence. According to Florio, Chancellor will forfeit $267,000 for each game he misses and the total fine is quickly approaching $2 million, although the Seahawks could reach a settlement with the safety when he returns and waive some or all of the fines.
With Chancellor gone, the Seahawks will turn to Dion Bailey to fill in at strong safety against the Rams. Bailey signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and spent his rookie season on injured reserve and the practice squad.
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