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Brady HendersonESPN
RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson said he’s trying to push thoughts about his contract situation aside as he enters the final year of his rookie deal.
And all indications are that no extension is in the offing.
Speaking with Seattle-area media for the first time this year, Carson was asked Tuesday if the Seahawks have spoken to him about his future.
“Not really, no,” he said.
When extending players who are entering the final year of their contract, the Seahawks typically have gotten those deals done well before the start of the season. Last year, for instance, they signed linebacker Bobby Wagner to a $54 million extension at the start of training camp.
“Of course it’s something that’s on my mind,” Carson said of his contract. “You see a lot of guys, they’re starting to get paid, but I try not to [let it] distract me from this season. I just try to push it away, but like I said, it is something that’s on my mind but I try not to let it affect me.”
Carson smiled as he deflected a question asking whether he’d like to remain in Seattle long term. Asked again, Carson said: “I mean, if everything plays out the right ways. I guess we’re just going to have to see.”
A seventh-round pick in 2017, Carson is set to make $2.133 million in 2020. He has finished fifth in the league in rushing in each of the past two years while becoming the Seahawks’ first running back since Marshawn Lynch in 2013 and 2014 to top 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. Carson ran for 1,151 yards (4.66 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns over 14 games in 2018, then 1,230 yards (4.42 YPC) and seven touchdowns over 15 games in 2019. His six rushing fumbles were the most among running backs last season.
“Just being a seventh-round draft pick, you’re always going to have that chip on your shoulder but at this point in the game I don’t really have nothing to prove,” Carson said. “I feel like my game has spoken for itself for the last three years or whatever. As far as the fumbling, that was something that played a big part last year, it’s something I worked on in the offseason. But like I said, you’ve got to have quick mindset, let that go and just move on from it. Learn from it and like I said, move on from it.”
Carson won the starting job out of training camp as a rookie in 2017 only to see his season end after four games due to leg and ankle injuries. He also finished last season on Injured Reserve because of a hip fracture suffered in Week 16.
Carson said he feels 100 percent coming off his hip injury. Coach Pete Carroll on Sunday gave a strong review of how he has looked. Carson returned following two excused absences to tend to a family matter home in Atlanta. Carson declined to discuss the matter but said he appreciates Carroll and general manager John Schneider allowing him to step away from the team.
Carson is one of several starting running backs from the 2017 draft who are entering their contract season. Joe Mixon was among them until he agreed to a four-year, $48 million extension from the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday.
“I’m happy for him,” Carson said. “Me and Joe Mixon got a relationship. I’m happy for him. I reached out to him, but I try not to pay too much attention to it.”
The Seahawks signed Carlos Hyde to a one-year deal in free agency as a complement to Carson on early downs. Rashaad Penny, their 2018 first-round pick, is expected to begin the season on the physically unable to perform list as he works his way back from a torn ACL. Seattle drafted DeeJay Dallas in the fourth round and also returns Travis Homer.