Projecting The Future Of Marshawn Lynch

Marshawn Lynch has officially ended the holdout that was the talk of the NFL media for the last week, which is excellent news for the Seahawks organization.  Better yet is that according to Lynch’s good friend and former teammate Michael Robinson, there was never anything personal going on behind the scenes between Lynch and Seahawks management. It was all strictly business.  This means that Lynch will be playing at the high level we have all grown accustomed to watching.

The Seahawks organization initially took a hard-line stance and refused to budge on the contract dispute.  Because they were unwilling to add any more money to his current contract, you had to wonder about Lynch’s future with the team.  Statistically, Lynch has reached the age (28) that running backs begin to decline in production.  Research has shown that their overall on-field production decreases by 40% by the time they reach age 30.

Now that the ‘Hawks have added additional money, it is clear that the organization wanted to get their star running back into camp. The increase is not immense, so you could argue that both sides mostly got what they wanted.

Marshawn was not shy about contemplating retirement once he won a Super Bowl, so last seasons victory came with question marks in regards to the Oakland natives future.  It seems likely that he will finish out the remaining two years on his contract, then call it quits for good.  At his age, he won’t find more money with a team that is considered a Super Bowl contender, and I seriously doubt he would be willing to play out his later years with a rebuilding team, regardless of the dollar amount they might offer.

Christine Michael is progressing quickly, and Robert Turbin is far from an afterthought himself.  Nobody wants to see Marshawn Lynch walk away from football, but it just seems as though his time is approaching quickly.  He is a quiet man who doesn’t often reveal much to the press, but he is also a man of his word.  If he said once that he is contemplating retiring soon, you can believe that he is serious.

As far as this season is concerned, it appears as though Lynch will be in good health and ready to grind out another successful 16 games.  So long as Lynch is under contract in Seattle, we should all appreciate him and what he does for the organization as a whole.