Chris Carson's time as a free agent is over. His tenure with the Seahawks is not.
The standout running back is signing a two-year deal worth up to $14.625 million to remain in Seattle, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported. The contract includes a third voidable year for cap purposes. More importantly, it reunites the Seahawks with their best running back since Marshawn Lynch was in his prime.
Carson is coming off a shortened but still productive fourth season, in which he generated a career-high 4.8 yards per carry, 37 receptions and nine touchdowns over 12 games. The combination of injuries and a platoon with Carlos Hyde cut dramatically into Carson's rushing attempts. He ended up with just 141 carries last year, this after averaging 262.5 between 2018-19 and amassing nearly 2,400 yards on the ground.
All three campaigns demonstrated Carson's importance to the Seahawks' run-heavy offense. And with Pete Carroll noting he wants his club to pound the rock even more this year, re-signing the best RB available (and No. 41 player overall in Gregg Rosenthal's Top 101 NFL free agents of 2021) to presumably be his feature back again made the most sense.
The former sixth-round pick spent all of about 48 hours on the open market. Still, news of his return has already fostered good feelings with at least one notable teammate.
