Kam Chancellor’s future with the Seattle Seahawks remains hazy, but the Pro Bowl safety is sure to get paid by the team in 2018.
A guaranteed-for-injury clause in Chancellor’s three-year, $36 million contract extension in 2017 required the Seahawks to release the veteran safety by Friday or guarantee his $6.8 million in base salary for 2018.
Now that the deadline has passed, Chancellor, who turns 30 in April, has collected $19.8 million of his $25 million in guaranteed money. He has $5.2 million guaranteed on his contract in 2019.
Chancellor suffered a neck injury on Nov. 9 against Arizona which prematurely injured his season two months early. He has missed 18 games over the last four seasons due to numerous injuries.
The deadline led many to speculate that Chancellor might get cut or retire from the team, but the NFL’s rules for injured players make it difficult for the Seahawks to cut him.
If Seattle wanted to release Chancellor, they would be required to reach a settlement with the veteran safety and take a $19.5 million hit to the salary cap.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll would not speculate on Chancellor’s future with the team as the season concluded, but acknowledged the veteran safety was “going to have a hard time playing football again.”
