Hold out free safety Earl Thomas was back wearing his familiar No. 29, in full pads and ready to go, as the Seahawks held their Wednesday practice at the VMAC in preparation for Sunday's regular season opener at Denver.
As Thomas walked onto the practice field, he ended an absence from the team that began at the conclusion of the 2017 season, when he stopped attending any team events in hopes of getting a long-term contract extension.
He returned with no extension _ and apparently no promise of one, and by most accounts no substantive talks toward one _ and having posted on Instagram that the disrespect he felt from the team would not be forgotten. But coach Pete Carroll also said he expected no problems reincorporating Thomas into the team and onto the field.
"It's really good to have him back," Carroll said. "It's an adjustment period as he jumps in with us now and we have to figure out how that works. Our guys will welcome him back. They are excited to see him and we will move forward with that."
Thomas announced his return earlier in the day on Instagram, accompanied by a picture of himself in the Seahawks' weight room, that: "I worked my whole life for this. ... I've never let me teammates, city or fans down as long as I've lived and don't plan on starting this weekend. With that being said, the disrespect has been well noted and will not be forgotten. Father Time may have an undefeated record but best believe I plan on taking him into triple overtime when it comes to my career."
That Thomas wrote that the "disrespect has been well noted and will not be forgotten" means Thomas obviously is reporting rather unhappily. But he is apparently reporting nonetheless, the latest step in a story that began last year when he began making rumblings of wanting a new contract, and a story that likely has many more chapters to come.
But Carroll said he talked to Thomas, and to the team about Thomas, and thinks any hard feelings won't last _ or at least, won't seep onto the football field.
"I don't anticipate any issues at all other than what comes back to us and we have the questions that we have to answer (from the media) and all that," Carroll said. "There is too much at hand right now and we are going to move forward."
Thomas' return came on the heels of another report from Adam Schefter of ESPN that the Seahawks were offered a second-round pick by Dallas "within the past week" for Thomas but turned it down. A source confirmed to the Times the news of the second-round offer and Seattle's refusal to accept it with the Seahawks apparently holding out for at least a first.
There have apparently been no contract talks between Thomas and the Seahawks.
But Carroll intriguingly didn't seem to rule out that there could be.
Asked if there would be a move to secure Thomas' future, Carroll said "we'll see as we move forward."
Later, he said "we would like him to be a Seahawk for the rest of his career. That's how we've always thought about it. The rest of it we'll take care of when the time is right."
And when asked if the team could still trade Thomas, Carroll said: "He's a Seahawk. He's a Seahawk. He's always been and he'll be one forever."
Thomas has not participated in any activities with the Seahawks since the end of the 2017 season in an attempt to get an extension on a four-year, $40 million contract that runs out after the 2018 season.
He has racked up fines of more than $1.5 million in terms of missed practice days and bonuses the team could recoup. Those are all at team discretion, though, and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that the Seahawks "did agree to wipe away almost all of his fines."
Carroll would not confirm that but his answer also didn't seem to rule out that the team had done so, simply saying those issues would stay internal.
This week, Thomas would simply begin losing game checks were he not to show up _ $500,000 for each game missed. He also would have to report by midseason to avoid his contract tolling, meaning if he did not play this season he would still be under contract to Seattle in 2019. Also, as a vested veteran, Thomas' base salary of $8.5 million for this season becomes fully guaranteed if he is on the roster week one.
Seattle has not wanted to give Thomas an extension, apparently as part of its "retooling" that also saw the team move on from the likes of Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett, wanting Thomas to play out the final year.
That has led to a stalemate that has had Seattle entertaining trade offers for Thomas since last spring.
Seattle had been thought wanting at least a second-round pick all along with it thought Dallas had not offered more than a third.
Schefter's report is the first evidence of Seattle being offered at least a second-rounder for Thomas, who will turn 30 next May 7.
A second-round pick would replace the second-rounder Seattle doesn't have in 2019 as part of the deal to acquire left tackle Duane Brown from Houston last October. Seattle has also been thought wanting to at least get more for Thomas than a third-rounder because the Seahawks could theoretically get a third-round pick in 2020 as compensation if Thomas were to sign elsewhere as a free agent (that wouldn't be guaranteed but Seattle had been thought setting that as at least a bar).
Thomas will avoid becoming the first Seahawk since Kam Chancellor in 2015 to miss games due to a holdout. Chancellor missed the first two games before reporting. Like Chancellor, Thomas is reporting without the team having done anything with his contract.
Thomas had been known back in Seattle, taking a picture with a worker at Sea-Tac airport on Monday, who posted it on Twitter. A later report stated Thomas was in town solely to accompany his daughter to her first day of school.
But Carroll foreshadowed that maybe something was going on when he was asked Monday if there had been any additional contact with Thomas and he paused and said there was "nothing to report." That was different from the simple "no" Carroll had offered several other times in recent weeks when asked about any new contact with Thomas.
Wednesday, Carroll acknowledged that Thomas being back in town had had some meaning.
"It's been coming," Carroll said of Thomas' return. "It's been coming the last couple of days. He's ready. He wants to play football. He's ready to get back at it."
Thomas had been working out primarily in his native Texas, and specifically in Austin, where he attended the University of Texas.
Thomas has been on a reserve/did not report list and has not counted against the team's 53-man roster. But that will change now and Seattle will have to make a corresponding roster move to account for Thomas, though they could also initially put him on an exempt list. But if he is to play Sunday against Denver he will have to be on the 53-man roster.
Asked if Thomas will start Sunday, Carroll said "I don't know that. We'll see."
Chancellor reported on Wednesday before a game that Sunday against the Chicago Bears in 2015 and played 37 of 47 snaps.
Some of Thomas' teammates said there would be no hesitation in welcoming him back. Receiver Doug Baldwin said he was "ecstatic" and "excited" to see Thomas back in the meeting room.
Said middle linebacker Bobby Wagner when asked about Thomas's return: "Feels good man. It was pretty cool to see him walking into the meeting room. And you know to get a guy like that back, you know he's probably been going through a lot, so I just felt like it was important for us to just kind of embrace him and let him know he was on our hearts while he wasn't here and just welcome him back."
