Seattle Seahawks Extend Kam Chancellor

The Seattle Seahawks announced today that they have signed strong safety Kam Chancellor to a multi-year contract extension. The exact details remain in question.

That’s more expensive than I thought it would be. $7 million a year places him among the highest paid players at his position. Chancellor is very good, but this contract seems excessive for a player of his skill set.

Of course, it all depends on the structure of that money. We don’t know if Chancellor will get any of that money in 2013. I’d bet that he does, which makes the yearly cap hit less than $7 million a year.  If a lot of the total number is pushed into the years after the guaranteed money ends, then the “real money” in the contract would be much lower.

This extension also puts pressure on the team to find salary cap relief at other positions. The team already has large paydays coming for Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas next year, as well as Russell Wilson the year after. This extension for Chancellor, while necessary, puts the upcoming cap issues front and center.

I expect we’re going to see a few vets replaced with lower cost replacements before this season starts. Michael Robinson, Paul McQuistan, and Breno Giacomini all come mind.