NFC West Notes: Seahawks, Rams, Cardinals

After suffering a leg injury last night which will sideline him for the remainder of the season, Seahawks safety Earl Thomas tweeted that retirement had crossed his mind, and as he tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter links), he’s still considering his options. “I’m taking it one day at a time,” said Thomas. “I still feel the same way I felt last night. You have to remember my team is still fighting I don’t want to become a distraction.” One positive is that Thomas won’t require surgery, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), which should ease his recovery and rehab process.

Here’s more from the NFC West:

• The Rams recently announced an extension for head coach Jeff Fisher, but that doesn’t mean the club won’t part ways with Fisher after the current season, per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. The new deal, which was reportedly agreed to over the summer, only runs through 2017 before containing an option for 2018. As such, Los Angeles wouldn’t be on the hook for much money if it chose to fire Fisher after this year. In fact, the extension is viewed as more of a “token of appreciation” from owner Stan Kroenke to Fisher rather than a sign that Fisher will be around for the long haul, writes Gonzalez.
• Cardinals general manager Steve Keim told reporters that he was not pleased with punter Drew Butler‘s play on Sunday against Washington, tweets Darren Urban of AZCentral.com. Butler re-signed with Arizona late last month after previously having agreed to an injury settlement. Cards head coach Bruce Arians confirmed that the club will work out an unidentified punter on Tuesday, per Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 (Twitter link).
• Although a weekend report indicated that “confidants” believe Arians could consider retiring from the Cardinals after the 2016 campaign, Arians himself told reporters that the news was false, according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic (Twitter links). “First of all, I don’t have that many friends,” said Arians, before adding that he’s “damn sure” he’ll be coaching in 2017.