There has been plenty of chatter in recent days about the future of Marshawn Lynch in Seattle. Due to earn a base salary of $5 million in 2015 with another $2 million available in per-game roster bonuses and $500,000 in incentives based on rushing yards, Lynch undoubtedly will get a raise.
The first question is whether Lynch wants to keep playing. As one source with knowledge of the situation recently told PFT, it’s safe to say that if Lynch decides to return to football in 2015, he’ll be getting more cash.
But does he want to keep playing? “You never know with him,” the source said.
In 2014, the thinking was that the Seahawks would begin phasing out Lynch, using Robert Turbin and Christine Michael more heavily, in the hopes that one of them would emerge as the next Beast Mode. It didn’t happen; Turbin contributed 310 yards in 16 games in 2014, and Michael added 175 in 10 games.
The challenge for the Seahawks will be to decide when to move on from Marshawn, assuming he wants to keep playing. Even though he doesn’t have a significant injury history, plenty of tailbacks see their skills quickly diminish as they approach/surpass 30. Lynch, who turns 29 in April, is definitely closer to the end of the road than the start of it.
Unless the Seahawks can find a solid alternative to Lynch, they’ll be far closer to the end of their road as contenders than the start of it, too.