Seahawks notebook: New contract for Chancellor “soon”?

RENTON — Kam Chancellor went face to face with Earl Thomas. And then they danced.

The star safeties were jogging between drills on Sunday during the first day of Seattle Seahawks training camp. They found that in their zeal from being full go on Day 1 following surgeries on both ankles plus a spring stint in a wheelchair (Chancellor) and a broken leg in December (Thomas), they were early for the start of the next drill.

So they looked at each other. They found the groove to the old-school R&B blaring across the practice fields. And they hopped up and down in unison.

Will Chancellor have millions more reasons to dance soon?

The 29-year-old soul of the team began camp in the final year of his contract. It’s a deal most thought Seattle would have extended by now, given how beloved he is inside the locker room and how productive he’s been on the field.

Yet Chancellor hasn’t played a full season since 2013, because of multiple injuries plus his fruitless holdout for a new deal two summers ago.

It took exactly one practice into this preseason before coach Pete Carroll got asked about Chancellor’s contract situation.

“We have looked long and hard at that,” Carroll said. “There is a lot of real positive stuff coming.

“We aren’t quite there yet. But I think it’s nothing but positive stuff. But hopefully we will be able to get stuff done soon.”

“Stuff” includes an extension that would likely be for a more team-friendly cap number than $8.1 million, Chancellor’s current cap charge for 2017. It would likely have signing-bonus guarantees and back-loaded money beyond this year that Seattle could easily shed if his performance declines at age 30 and beyond.

The longer he goes without a new contract, the more this becomes something into Seattle’s real season.

Lockett, Shead on PUP list

Technically, Tyler Lockett wasn’t even on the roster as the Seahawks began training camp.

Yet he’s closer to returning to full-go status than he’s been in eight months.

The Seahawks put their speedy wide receiver and Pro Bowl kick returner on the physically-unable-to-perform list, the result of him breaking his tibia and fibula on Christmas Eve.

DeShawn Shead, Seattle’s starting cornerback from last season, and rookie offensive tackle Justin Senior also went on the PUP list.

New defensive end Dion Jordan (clean-up knee surgery this spring) went on the non-football injury list and is also exempt from the team’s 90-man roster limit, at least for now.

Lockett ran routes and caught passes during minicamp last month. But he watched Sunday’s practice wearing a hoodie under his No. 16 jersey on the sunny, 78-degree day.

Carroll said he believes Lockett’s stay on the PUP list will be a short one. Players on PUP can come off it at any time during the preseason and directly onto the 90-man roster.

“Yeah and I think that should be very short stint there (on PUP), just because of something we wanted to be sure and take care of,” Carroll said. “He didn’t clear his physical, so we placed him there to start.”

Shead had surgery in January after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the playoff loss at Atlanta. Carroll said Shead recently had a clean-up surgery to fix loose cartilage in that knee. The team believes this recent procedure will accelerate his return to playing.

It’s still possible that may not be until October. Shead is seven months out from his injury that often takes nine months or more of recovery time.

League rules stipulate only players on the PUP list to begin training camp can be on it to begin the regular season. Players on PUP to begin the regular season miss a minimum of the first six weeks.

“DeShawn had a minor surgery,” Carroll said. “He cleaned up something he needed done, and he is really excited about the change that has taken place. Just a little cartilage thing in his knee. He is thrilled about it, and we should expect to see really good progress made after that.”

Jordan was Miami’s third-overall choice in 2013 out of Oregon. He signed this spring after a checkered and injury-filled past with the Dolphins. He hasn’t played an NFL game since 2014.

Upon arriving with the Seahawks in April, his new team’s medical staff determined the need to have clean-up surgery on his knee. The 27-year-old didn’t participate in last month’s minicamp, and is a question mark for availability in training camp.

That’s part of the reason Seattle this weekend signed Marcus Smith, a former No. 1 pick by Philadelphia. Smith was the second-team strongside linebacker behind Terence Garvin when the Seahawks scrimmaged in base defense Sunday.

Jordan has yet to practice this spring or summer, at least in the practices that have been open to the media.

“His hopes and his spirits are up and we will see when the timing is,” Carroll said. “But I’m hoping we will be able to do something before the end of camp, for sure.”

Extra points

With a new diet and after an offseason of work with a new personal trainer, QB Russell Wilson reported to camp at 208 pounds. He said that’s about six pounds lighter than he was this time last year. … Wilson on why he has set a goal of playing 25 seasons, something no NFL QB has ever done: “Well, I’ve always aimed high.” … RB C.J. Prosise missed practice because Carroll said the 2016 rookie and third-down back was “sick as a dog” with the stomach flu.