Marshawn Lynch cryptically announced his retirement during Super Bowl 50 with a tweet showing a pair of sneakers hanging from a telephone wire. However, he still hasn’t officially filed the paperwork and the Seahawks haven’t placed him on the retired list.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said following the conclusion of the draft on Saturday that Lynch remains “committed to being retired.”
“He’s riding camels and stuff, man,” general manager John Schneider joked when asked if he saw a scenario where Lynch would play for Seattle in 2016.
Schneider expanded on the Lynch topic in an interview with Mitch Levy on Sports Radio 950 KJR in Seattle. The Seahawks could spread out the cap hit from Lynch’s retirement by waiting to place him on the reserve/retired list until after June 1. The $5 million cap charge could be split into equal $2.5 million shares in 2016 and 2017. However, Schneider said they aren’t looking to do that.
“If we place him on reserve/retired, then we accept that cap hit this year and we’d rather do that than do it after June 1,” Schneider said. “That’s the situation for us. We’d rather pay as we go, so we’d rather do it right now.”
Seattle prepared for life after Lynch through last weekend’s draft. They selected three running backs and three offensive linemen among their 10 selections. Notre Dame’s C.J. Prosise, Arkansas’ Alex Collins and Clemson’s Zac Brooks will join Thomas Rawls and Christine Michael as the group to take over the rushing attack for Seattle in the post-Lynch era.