Safety Kam Chancellor said he hasn't talked to the Seahawks about a new contract, but coach Pete Carroll said the team would like to get a deal done "if we can."
The Seahawks “would very much like” to work out a new contract with safety Kam Chancellor, coach Pete Carroll said.
Chancellor is entering the final year of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
“We’re working at it, and that’s really all we’ll say, but we’re working at it with every intention of taking care of this business,” Carroll said after minicamp practice Tuesday in Renton. “These things take a while. His frame of mind and our frame of mind are in a really good place, and we’re going to work hard to get something done if we can.”
Chancellor, however, said he had not spoken with the Seahawks about a new contract.
“I trust their words, trust what they say,” Chancellor said. “I just let it happen when it’s supposed to happen. All I can do is control what I can control right now, and that’s playing on the field and keeping that camaraderie together with my brothers and just keep building.”
So what kind of deal could Chancellor get? He turned 29 in April, has made four Pro Bowls and is a tone-setter on a defense that takes pride in being physical and aggressive. When the Seahawks’ brass talks about “core” players, they talk about Chancellor.
Malcolm Jenkins signed a four-year extension in 2016 with the Eagles, including $21 million guaranteed. He was 28 at the time. Jason Fitzgerald of OvertheCap.com wrote this year that Jenkins’ extension could be Chancellor’s “comparison.” Reshad Jones, who is the same age as Chancellor, signed a five-year deal with the Dolphins with $35 million guaranteed earlier this season, which could also help set Chancellor’s market.
But the Seahawks drafted Delano Hill, a strong safety, in the third round of this year’s draft, the highest safety they’ve drafted since they took Chancellor in the fifth round in 2010.
Chancellor is coming off surgery to remove bone spurs on both ankles and said he played with the pain for the past two years.
“I don’t feel all that pain anymore,” Chancellor said. “There was just a lot of pain in my ankle every time I made a cut, every time I squatted into my position, every time I went to go make a hit. I just felt pain in my ankles trying to jolt off my ankles. But now it feels clear and clean.”
He had surgery in February and decided to have surgery on both ankles at the same time instead of having separate surgeries, as he did after the 2012 season. He was in a wheelchair and unable to walk for a little over a week.
“I had the procedure before, and I did it one at a time,” Chancellor said. “I just didn’t want to go under the knife again, so I did it all at the same time and just dealt with the pain for a week. I’m here now. It paid off.”
Said Carroll, “You can tell right now he has a great burst. He’s changing directions. He’s really hitting it.”