RENTON— The Seattle Seahawks activated star safety Kam Chancellor and waived safety Dion Bailey on Saturday, a day before their home game against the Chicago Bears.
Chancellor reported to the team’s facility early Wednesday morning, ending a holdout that started when he missed the first day of training camp on July 31 and lingered through the 0-2 start to the regular season.
The Seahawks were given a two-week roster exemption for Chancellor, which allowed him to practice while not counting against roster limits. Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Friday the expectation was that Chancellor would be activated and play against the Bears.
At issue for Chancellor was his contract and having future money paid sooner. He signed a $28 million, four-year extension during the 2013 offseason but that did not take effect until a year later. The Seahawks refused to budge on restructuring a contract that had so much time remaining, believing it would lead to a stream of players seeking new deals in the early stages of their contracts.
Chancellor, one of the league’s top safeties and a leader of the “Legion of Boom” secondary, was scheduled to make $4.55 million in base salary this season before missing two game checks. He is scheduled to make $5.1 million in 2016 and $6.8 million in 2017.
Bailey won the starting job at strong safety during Chancellor’s absence and was the starter in Week 1 at St. Louis. But Bailey made a costly mistake in pass coverage that allowed the Rams to tie the game in the final minute of regulation and St. Louis eventually won in overtime. The Seahawks went with DeShawn Shead at strong safety in Week 2 against Green Bay.
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