5 Story Lines I’m Watching As Seahawks Camp Nears

One week from today, the Seahawk players will take the field in front of a large crowd of fans at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center for their first practice of 2012’s training camp. As this offseason finally draws to a close, there are still a few story lines worth keeping an eye on. Here’s 5 that are on my radar for the next week:

1) Will Chris Clemons Get Re-Signed? For a while, I operated under the belief that even if Chris Clemons didn’t get a new deal, he’d still report to camp. Now, I don’t believe that’s the going to be the case. When Clemons sat out the mandatory minicamp in June, he didn’t just lose out on the $100k workout bonus that we believed he did. According to this report, Clemons also forfeited a contract escalator, meaning that he’s going to make $1 Million less in 2012.

Clemons giving up a million changes the game. It indicated that he’s likely going to dig in his heals and hold out for as long as it takes to get a new contract, because the new contract will give him that million back.

2) The Ongoing Marshawn Lynch Saga. This site has already covered all aspects of the Marshawn Lynch DUI story over the past few days. The only thing added today was that Lynch came out and apologized, which isn’t very newsworthy, but at least it did happen.

There isn’t likely going to be anything new happen between now and the start of camp, but the situation is worth keeping an eye on anyways. Will the Seahawks bring in another back “just in case?” Will the league make a statement regarding a possible suspension? Will Lynch’s lawyers successfully put off all the legal proceedings until after the season?

3) People Recovering From Injuries. It’s a tough time of year for some players. While their teammates are back working and getting ready for a new season, they are stuck rehabbing old injuries that aren’t healed yet.

Some, like James Carpenter and Walter Thurmond are still a long ways away from recovered. These 2 are almost certainly going to start the season on the Physically Unable to Preform (PUP) list.

But for others, the last month has been a race to try and get healthy before workout begins. This includes guys like Sydney Rice who’s recovering from 2 shoulder surgeries. It also includes offensive linemen John Moffitt and Russell Okung, who participated in non-contract drills a month ago, but must now show that they’re healed enough to hold up once the hitting begins.

4) Any Last Second Roster Tweaks. The John Schneider era in Seattle has been one of constant roster flux. Schneider never seems content with the players he has, and always seems to be looking to improve the roster in one way or another. Are there any players available out there right now that are worth a roster spot?

5) Where Will Brian Banks Land? After going through tryouts for at least 3 teams last month, Banks remained unsigned. Pete Carroll said that Banks had a long way to go to get into football shape before the Seahawks might be interested. Well, it’s been a month, and Banks has been working out trying to get ready for another round of tryouts. The guy deserves a shot, I just wonder which team it will be with.