Here's the problem: the culture that Pete Carroll has brought to the Seahawks literally cuts the legs out from under potential cuts. With all the talk from Carroll about Christine Michael taking carries from Lynch and the supposition of Michael being the starter come next season after we let Lynch go, you are looking at Lynch's production going down and then hitting the market. If his numbers are down, he won't get as big a contract when he signs with his new team. Lynch sees this just as well as Chris Clemons saw it with Irvin about to take snaps from him at the LEO spot. We caved to Clemons at the time and Lynch is probably hoping for the same treatment.
The problem with that is that Clemons had been playing on a contract that was no where near his production level. Lynch has been paid as a top five back for each of the seasons of his contract and he is a top five back in the league. It's not like he has been underpaid.
It is time to take a hard line on this since it boils down to the way Pete Carroll and John Schneider are running this team. Your replacement is going to be on the roster a year or two before your contract is going to be up like any good college program would be run. That way the player is being coached by your organization and you know what you have in that player. Once it is your time to be replaced, you really don't have much recourse, so you have to take steps during that last year to see if you can maximize your dollars.
