When the Seahawks signed free agent running back Eddie Lacy in March, they did so with a contract that famously included incentives to meet monthly weight goals during the offseason and into the regular season.
Monday, Lacy's agents reported via Twitter that Lacy had passed his first test, weighing in at 253 _ two pounds under the 255 that his contract called for him to be in May to earn an additional $55,000. Lacy signed a one-year deal with Seattle that could be worth as much as $5.5 million if he meets all incentives but has $2.865 million guaranteed.
As reported in March, Lacy will get $55,000 for each month that he achieves a specific weight _ 255 in May, 250 in June, July and August and 245 from September through December _ or essentially, for the regular season.
Seahawks general manager John Schneider said in March that he was a believer in incentives in general while saying he didn't want to talk specifically about Lacy's contract.
"Philosophically, I would tell you that any time you can incentivize somebody, I think it's a good idea _ whether it's sacks, interceptions, play time, weight," he said. "Anything you can do like that. But specifically to Eddie, I'd rather not get into it."
"... Any time you can incentivize contracts, I think it's awesome. If we went back 60, 70 years, something like that, it'd be pretty sweet, this would be the ultimate league based on incentives. That's one of the cool things about our league is that we don't have the guaranteed contracts, but there's different avenues to help a guy accentuate his strengths."
In an interview Monday morning on ESPN 710 Seattle, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll deflected questions about the weight clause but said Lacy "looks awesome. He looks great and he's huge and he's going to keep playing huge and he did a fantastic job."
Carroll noted that Lacy also continues on a rehab program for an ankle injury he suffered last October that held him out for the rest of the season.
"Last week he ran real hard in the drills," Carroll said. "Not full speed but he ran really hard. He's getting all of the reps."
Carroll said Lacy and offensive lineman Luke Joeckel, who also signed as a free agent in March and is coming off of ACL surgery, will have to "back off some" when the Seahawks get into OTAs (Organized Team Activities) later this month. The Seahawks are currently in Phase 2 of their offseason program where offenses and defenses can work as one but have to do so separately. In OTAs, the offenses and defenses can work against each other on an 11-on-11 basis.
But Carroll said the team is "orchestrating a formula where we can keep those guys pretty much in the flow of things."
Lacy signed with Seattle after four seasons in Green Bay.
