RENTON — Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll stood at the podium in the auditorium at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, a smile splashed across his face.
There was good reason for Carroll’s joy. His prodigal son had returned.
Kam Chancellor, the Seahawks’ disgruntled Pro Bowl strong safety, returned to the fold Wednesday as he ended a holdout that lasted 55 days.
“It’s good to have the big fella back,” Carroll said enthusiastically.
Chancellor is the player who puts the Boom in Seattle’s Legion of Boom. The hard-hitting safety is perhaps the biggest secondary intimidator in the NFL, having gone to the Pro Bowl three of the past four seasons.
But Chancellor sat out all of training camp, the preseason, and the first two weeks of the regular season as he sought to renegotiate his contract. His holdout ended when he flew from Los Angeles to Seattle on Tuesday night and reported to the team Wednesday morning.
“I just feel like the time is now,” said Chancellor, who’s considered the leader of Seattle’s defense. “I’ve always been a guy who follows my heart. Just watching my teammates and my team play, week to week, that first and second game, watching those losses hurt me, being the leader that I am. So I think the time is now to come back, put all business to the side and address that after the season, just get back to work.”
Said Carroll: “It’s been a long process getting him here, but we’re really thrilled that he’s here. He’s a big part of our program, he always has been, he’s a fantastic leader. He’s just one of the blood-and-guts guys of this program and has been forever. We’re thrilled to have him back and we’re ready to go to work.”
Chancellor was a surprise no-show when Seattle’s training camp began on July 31. He signed a four-year, $28 million contract extension in the 2013 offseason, a deal that runs through 2017 and makes Chancellor one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL.
However, Chancellor since has watched teammates Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Bobby Wagner sign more lucrative contracts. Perhaps more importantly, Chancellor’s contract, though it runs through 2017, contains no guaranteed money in the final two seasons of the deal, meaning this is the last year the contract is certain to pay off.
Meanwhile, Seattle was adamant about not renegotiating Chancellor’s contract. The Seahawks have a policy of not renegotiating contracts until there is only one year remaining, and they feared a wave of players seeking new contracts had they caved on Chancellor.
Both sides took a hit during the first two weeks of the regular season because of Chancellor’s holdout. Chancellor forfeited two game checks, which totaled $535,294 of the $4.55 million he’s scheduled to make this season. Meanwhile, the Seahawks went 0-2, with Seattle’s vaunted defense allowing more than 30 points per game in Chancellor’s absence.
“It was very hard [watching the first two games] because, not taking away from anybody else, I knew I could make a difference, so it was very hard,” Chancellor said.
Neither side commented Wednesday on the business aspects of Chancellor’s return to Seattle. Carroll would not comment on whether the Seahawks reached out to Chancellor, or whether any of the fines accrued during training camp — amounts that surpassed $1 million — would be rescinded. And neither side discussed the contract situation.
“Those are things I would rather deal with at the end of the season,” Chancellor said. “Right now this is about coming back and playing football.”
Despite the holdout, Chancellor said he was greeted warmly by everyone in the organization, including his coaches and teammates.
“I was happy to be here seeing everybody smiling,” Chancellor said. “Everybody welcomed me with open arms. It was like I was never gone, like I never missed a beat, like we never missed a beat with each other. It felt good just coming back and being around the guys and actually going through walkthrough.”
Though Chancellor has returned, the Seahawks have a two-week roster exemption for him, so they need not trim from their 53-man roster just yet. However, to activate Chancellor for Sunday’s home opener against Chicago the Seahawks would need to free up room on the roster.
Chancellor seems to think he’s ready to jump straight into the fray. Carroll said Chancellor reported in excellent shape, weighing in at a svelte 226 pounds and a minuscule 6-percent body fat.
“I know I can play Sunday,” Chancellor said.
“I trained like crazy,” Chancellor added. “I always stay prepared. I always believe in staying ready so you don’t have to get ready.”
Chancellor, now in his sixth season with the Seahawks, certainly has familiarity with Seattle’s defense, so the Seahawks aren’t anticipating any difficulty reincorporating Chancellor into the schemes. However, Carroll stopped short of saying Chancellor would play Sunday.
“My thought is that we are going to go in with the approach that he will play, but we are going to take it one day at a time. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t. It will depend on how he responds to the workload and we are just going to gauge it.”
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