Nothing has happened yet between free safety Earl Thomas and the Seattle Seahawks, but that doesn’t mean it won’t. The All-Pro safety held out this entire offseason for a contract extension or trade but returned to the team empty-handed in time to start the regular season.
“Everything’s possible, everything’s possible,” coach Pete Carroll told reporters Monday. “We are working whatever we need to do to keep moving forward in a positive manner. I totally understand when a guy is at the end of their contract and they want to get another contract. We’ve been through that for years, so it’s nothing new. It’s legit. It’s legitimate.”
Having been in this position before, Carroll now understands things from a player’s perspective, even one who has threatened to sit out practices going forward.
“Guys are concerned about their future,” Carroll explained. “I get it and we respect the heck out of that. There’s a lot of business that goes beyond just one person’s business and there’s a lot of things taking place and there’s a lot of things going on. It’s all under consideration as we work forward.
“We’re trying to do really good stuff by our guys, we always have, and we will continue to try to do that whenever we can.”
So for now, Thomas remains on Seattle’s roster and will likely continue to make his displeasure known until something changes. But if he shows up on Sundays, produces on the field and stands by his teammates, the Seahawks might have to re-think his contract situation.
After all, everything’s possible.
