The Seahawks won the NFC West last season, and also knocked off the defending Super Bowl champions in the Wild Card round last season, and Marshawn Lynch had one of the most famous runs in NFL postseason history. Things started off poorly this season, as Seattle started off the season 2-6, essentially knocking themselves out of a spot in the postseason halfway through the year. As the season wore on though, a funny thing happened. Marshawn Lynch, after posting a total of 117 yards and no touchdowns through the season's first three games (in which Seattle went 1-2), Lynch started to regain his "Beast Mode" form that led him to the Pro Bowl for the Buffalo Bills.
Starting in their week four game against the Falcons, Lynch has scored a touchdown in every contest he's played in (the sole exception being the team's week seven loss to Cleveland, which he missed due to injury), a streak that now stands at eleven games. Lynch now holds the Seahawks franchise record for consecutive games with a touchdown, breaking the record held previously by former All-Pro Shaun Alexander. In those past eleven games, Lynch has rushed for 1,001 yards (91.0 yards per game), has scored a total of 13 touchdowns, and eclipsed the 100 yard mark six times. The Seahawks in that time frame are 6-6, and have losses of three points to the Browns (at Cleveland, without Lynch), and a pair of two point losses to San Francisco (who is 12-3) and Atlanta (9-6).
Lynch will be hitting free agency this summer, and with some of the contracts that were handed out after the new collective bargaining agreement was signed, Lynch will be in line for a pretty significant contract. I don't think he's going to get Adrian Peterson (7 years, $100 million) or Chris Johnson (6 years, $55 million) type money, due to the fact he's not the dynamic play-maker that those two players are. Then again, Carolina gave DeAngelo Williams a 5 year, $44 million contract, and Frank Gore received $26 million over four years. If I had to hazard a guess as to what he's worth, Lynch should get a contract that will be worth in the neighborhood of 4 years, $30 million.
The fact of the matter is, management NEEDS to keep Lynch in Seattle, as there is no other back on the roster that can produce despite playing behind a young offensive line, and should still have at least four more productive years in his body. Ultimately, the decision to re-sign Lynch rests with Seahawks general manager John Schneider and owner Paul Allen, though I don't believe there's much of a decision to make. Lynch needs to be a Seahawk.
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