Kam Chancellor‘s neck injury has ended his 2017 season. Coach Pete Carroll has indicated that the injury could also be a career-ender for the safety, and that could have serious long-term ramifications for the Seahawks both on and off the field. As noted by Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (Twitter links), the Seahawks could be on the hook for $12MM if he cannot suit up again. That’s because Chancellor’s $6.8MM 2018 base salary and a $5.2MM portion of his 2019 base salary are guaranteed for injury.
[RELATED: Kam Chancellor Done For Season]
The Seahawks won’t have much time to evaluate things before Chancellor’s 2018 skill and salary cap guarantees lock in. As dictated by the contract, the $6.8MM will be iron clad five days after 2018 waivers begin. This year, that falls on February 10. In theory, the Seahawks could cut Chancellor loose before that date, but the safety would have serious ammo to file a grievance case against the team.
Chancellor, 30 in April, had 49 tackles and two passes defended before suffering the neck injury in Week 10. The metrics at Pro Football Focus rank him as the sixth-best safety in the NFL this year, so it’s clear that he’s still playing football at a very high level. Hopefully, he’ll be able to continue doing what he does best.
It’s a shame to lose such great talent!! I wish you the best Kam whatever your future holds!!
Not a Seahawks fan and in fact I actually very much dislike them but this is just terrible. You hate to see anyone hurt like that and possibly end his career. The game will be missing one of the best if he can’t play again. Hope he has full recovery and can play again and if he can’t I still wish the guy the best.