Seahawks Extend Marshawn Lynch Through 2017

6:20pm: Lynch has officially signed his extension, according to Rapoport (via Twitter), for $24MM over two years. Lynch will make $12MM in 2015. After that, there’s a “distinct possibility” Lynch will retire, tweeted Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, even though the deal will run through the 2017 campaign.

5:50pm: Per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Lynch’s new deal is for three years and $31MM. Lynch will receive $12MM in 2015 ($4.5MM in salary and a $7.5MM signing bonus), and base salaries of $9MM in 2016 and $7MM in 2017. He’ll also get a $3MM roster bonus in 2017 if the Seahawks retain him beyond the fifth day of the league year. Should Lynch retire after next season, he’ll owe the team $5MM of the signing bonus, though Florio doesn’t think the Seahawks would pursue the money.

3:35pm: After a few weeks of uncertainty, Marshawn Lynch has decided to continue his NFL career, and has reached an USATSI_8233640_168380616_lowresagreement with the Seahawks on a new deal, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). It appeared last month that the two sides were close to a resolution, though the situation remained fluid until now.

If the terms of Lynch’s new deal are identical the reported Seahawks offer from last month, the running back is expected to earn around $12MM in the first year of the deal and $9MM in year two. However, it’s not yet known if the two sides continued to negotiate over the last couple weeks, and perhaps altered some of the terms of that arrangement.

Regardless of the financial terms of Lynch’s new deal, it appears “Beast Mode” will be back in Seattle for the 2015 season after having contemplated retirement following the team’s Super Bowl loss to New England. Recent reports indicated that chronic back troubles could ultimately prompt Lynch to hang up his cleats, but it seems as though both he and the team are confident in his health going forward.

The Seahawks went through a protracted contract dispute with Lynch prior to last season, but the two sides ultimately inked a new deal that guaranteed the running back $6.5MM. Lynch went on to rush for than 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns, catching another 37 passes out of the backfield as Seattle earned its second consecutive Super Bowl berth. Once the Seahawks officially get Lynch to sign on the dotted line, they’ll presumably turn their attention to extending other notable players such as Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Lynch is currently en route to Seattle to meet with team owner Paul Allen, at which point the two sides will presumably finalize the new contract. Until the mercurial running back makes it official, there’s always a chance things could fall apart, but it sounds like he has made up his mind.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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