I am one of the biggest Kam Chancellor fans out there. The year he was drafted (Jammer can confirm this) my top three safeties were Earl Thomas, Eric Berry and Kam Chancellor. I thought he had superstar written all over him and one of my best days as a Seahawks fan was the day we drafted Kam Chancellor.
When he signed his contract and everyone was critical of John and Pete for making that their first big re-signing, I told everyone to wait. They would see. He would be more than worth it. Kam proved his critics right. He has become the locker room leader and the on-field intimidator. His importance to this team on the field and off is severely underestimated.
I believe there are two things motivating Kam right now to seek a new contract. One is completely irrelevant and the other is enitrely legitimate and any one of us facing the same circumstances would at least consider the route Kam has taken. The first and most irrelevant reason is comparative economics. Kam is looking at other players contracts and feeling undervalued by the team. I think this is especially true with Cary Williams. In Kam's mind, Cary is an outsider who has proved nothing to this team getting paid just as much as Kam himself, but with more guarantees. I think that signing really got under Kam's skin. It shouldn't, but it did. The reality is Cary's contract is two years later (inflation) and for a different position (value) so what Cary got is irrelevant to Kam's contract.
The bigger reason is this: Kam missed two games last year and played in the Superbowl with a substantial knee injury. A knee injury that would knock most other human beings out of competitive athletics forever. Kam knows his body and he knows his style of play. He knowsthat he plays faster, harder, more recklessly and more relentlessly than any other player in the NFL. He knows that eventually, and probably soon, his body is going to hit a wall where he can no longer do what he wants to do on the field. And with a player like Kam, when that time comes it will be sudden and it will be final. Last' year's injury forced Kam to come face to face with the end of his career. What Kam wants is a little insurance. A safety net. he wants to play in 2015 with the same fearlessness that he has always played, but its hard to give it all in 2015 when you know there could be nothing left in 2016.
The problem with all of this is that the team sees the same thing Kam does. Its likely why they gave him a pretty small bonus to begin with. Its hard to tie up long term money in a guy whose career could be over in an instant. Of course, every football player has that same concern. but let's be honest . . . its Kam Chancellor. He's a catastrophic injury waiting to happen.
I completely understand where both parties are coming from. I get it, Kam. I am enormously sympathetic. But the economics of the NFL don't work in your favor. They just don't. But my fear is that you are so far on the defensive at this point that there is no way to come back from this. Kam is a proud man, and I don't think his pride lets him back down from this fight at this point. Its the trait we love on the field, but its biting him (and us) back in this negotiation.
My personal opinion is that one of three things needs to happen:
1. Kam needs to fire his agent to save face and come back ASAP. I don't think its the agent's fault. This is all Kam. But the agent needs to take the sword for Kam. Sorry.
2. Kam needs to be traded to the highest bidder. We can't cut him, but even if he comes back in week ten, we will have a hard time playing him.
3. Tear up the contract and re-sign him to a one year deal and let him hit FA in 2016.
