It appears as though Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson are going to get their reunion.
Multiple sources reported Friday that the Seattle Seahawks agreed on a deal with Jackson, the veteran running back who was cut loose by the Buffalo Bills on Monday.
NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter both reported Friday that the Seahawks and Jackson agreed on a one-year contract. The terms of the deal were not reported.
Rapoport also reported that the Seahawks plan on waiving Robert Turbin with an injury designation to make room for Jackson. Turbin, in his fourth season with Seattle, was Lynch’s primary backup at tailback each of the past three years. However, Turbin suffered a sprained ankle in last Saturday’s preseason game at San Diego, and Rapoport said Turbin’s likely to be sidelined for approximately five weeks.
Jackson spent the past eight seasons with Buffalo before being released Monday, and speculation has been rampant ever since that Seattle was his likely destination. Jackson visited Seattle on Tuesday and underwent a physical, but no contract was signed.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll, following Seattle’s 31-21 preseason victory over Oakland on Thursday night, reiterated that nothing had been agreed with Jackson yet:
“It was an information-gathering visit,” Carroll said. “He’s an incredible football player and person and has been extremely productive. We’ll see what that means. We had a good visit with him, I really like the kid, we all did, and we’ll see what that means. I don’t know that answer right now.”
Jackson, who became good friends with Lynch when they were teammates on the Bills from 2007-10, is the oldest running back in the NFL at 34. In his eight seasons with Buffalo he gained 5,646 yards on 1,279 carries. Jackson, who was scheduled to earn $2.35 million with the Bills, was surprisingly released by Buffalo under controversial circumstances — Jackson was quoted in the Buffalo News saying, “There’s only one person in that organization that I haven’t gotten honesty from, and that was (Bills general manager Doug Whaley).”
Following Tuesday’s practice, Carroll, while emphasizing there was no signing, spoke gushingly about Jackson. Carroll was particularly effusive about Jackson’s ability as a receiver out of the backfield — Jackson had 66 catches for 501 yards last season.
While the impending signing of Jackson seems to cloud Seattle’s situation at running back, Turbin’s release would ease the crowding. Turbin, a fourth-round pick in the 2012 draft, gained 928 yards on 231 carries the past three seasons. Last season he rushed for 310 yards on 74 carries, adding 16 receptions for 186 yards.
Should the reported moves go through, Seattle would be looking at Lynch, Jackson and Christine Michael as the probable three tailbacks. The Seahawks also have to consider the fate of rookie free agent Thomas Rawls, who capped off a strong preseason with an 11-carry, 87-yard performance Thursday night.
The deadline for teams getting down from 75 to 53 players is 1 p.m. Saturday.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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