The assumption for fans of the Seattle Seahawks to this point has probably been that strong safety Kam Chancellor will end his holdout sometime in the not-too-distant future and make his triumphant return to the Seahawks defense with only a few hurt feelings and couple of missed games under his belt. Unfortunately, at least one of Chancellor's teammates believes it's entirely possible that Chancellor won't return to the Seahawks at any point this year. ESPN's Ed Werder reported early Tuesday that the Seahawks are continuing to prepare as if Chancellor won't show at any point. While that approach isn't all that surprising, the comment of one of Chancellor's Seattle teammates is.
"I don't think we're going to have him at all this season," the unnamed Seahawk told Werder, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
While that's certainly troublesome news for Seattle fans, Chancellor already lost $30,000 a day by not showing up for Seahawks preseason work. Per Smith, if Chancellor starts missing regular season time he'll forfeit approximately $267,647 each week that he's absent. Still, it seems that Chancellor is serious about his holdout and may not be appearing anytime soon, which could potentially create a major issue on the back end for the vaunted Seattle Legion of Boom secondary.
Unless, of course, that is, Chancellor's replacement, Dion Bailey, provides, if not a similar impact, at the very least a competent level of play. According to a report from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, Bailey's efforts thus far have impressed other NFL executives around the league.
"John has no reason to budge -- that Bailey kid is good, man," an unnamed personnel man said, via La Canfora. John, of course, is Seahawks GM John Schneider. Schneider has already handed major deals to quarterback Russell Wilson, running back Marshawn Lynch and linebacker Bobby Wagner, so he's unlikely happy about Chancellor demanding his own deal be reworked. Bailey, for his past, has amassed 11 solo tackles, four assists and one pass deflection thus far this preseason as the Seattle defense seemingly hasn't missed a beat despite Chancellor and Earl Thomas's absences. While there's always the caveat that it's preseason, Bailey's performance could make Schneider even more reticent to talk turkey with Chancellor.
Still, while the team would no doubt prefer to see Chancellor return just as badly as fans of the team would, with Bailey looking promising and Kelcie McCray being added via trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, it certainly seems the Hawks are planning for an immediate future without Chancellor. How long his absence continues to last and the impact it has on the Seattle defense will be an interesting storyline to follow this NFL season.