On Friday, $5.2 million of Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor’s $10 million base salary becomes fully guaranteed. That amount was written into his contract in the event of an injury.
Even if Seattle had made the decision to cut Chancellor — who won’t be playing in the NFL again after suffering a devastating neck injury in 2017 — they still would have forked over that money.
In fact, cutting Chancellor prior to Friday’s contract agreement would cost Seattle even more against their cap while still guaranteeing Chancellor his money.
Because of this, and because Chancellor has no reason to retire and give up money that is guaranteed to him, the Seahawks are in a rather unusual situation with the future Ring of Honor member.
The most likely outcome is that Chancellor will be cut later in the offseason, when the hit against the cap will be less substantial. Seattle has to minimize the cap hit in order to make a splash in free agency this year while still keeping enough money to give quarterback Russell Wilson an extension in the near future.
Chancellor’s contract is a bit of a burden, but by not cutting him yet the Seahawks are helping themselves financially in the long run.
