Seattle Seahawks: Earl Thomas is coming back to the team

The Seattle Seahawks free safety will end his holdout and rejoin the team on Instagram. Also takes out some frustration on team management.

While the Seattle Seahawks may no longer have the “Legion of Boom,” they will get one of its mainstays back to the team. On Instagram earlier today, Earl Thomas announced he was returning to the Seahawks.

It’s been a nasty situation for between the Seahawks and all-everything free safety Earl Thomas throughout the summer and preseason. He held out the entirety of training camp in hopes of securing a better contract. What he got instead was a hefty fine and the ire of many Seahawks fans.

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In an Instagram post earlier this morning, Thomas announced he will come back to the team in which he’s played his entire eight-year career for. He said he is not going to let his teammates, the 12th man, or the city of Seattle down.

"I worked my whole life for this….. I’ve never let me teammates, city or fans down as long as I’ve lived and don’t plan on starting this weekend. With that being said, the disrespect has been well noted and will not be forgotten. Father Time may have an undefeated record but best believe I plan on taking him into triple overtime when it comes to my career."

An interesting statement to say the least. It shows two things. First that Thomas is a team player, he knows that he is accountable to the other 52 plus players in the Seahawks locker room. Second, he is still very upset about the situation and feels disrespected by ownership.

This is the final season of a four year, $40M contract Thomas signed in 2015. Even if he plays the entire 2018 season for Seattle, it seems unlikely given all that’s happened in recent months that he would return in 2019. “ET3” feels disrespected, and that doesn’t fly with professional athletes.

Also earlier today, ESPN’s Adam Shefter tweeted that the Dallas Cowboys had upped their offer for the disgruntled superstar. Dallas offered up next year’s second-round draft pick but were again rebuffed by the Seahawks who feel that still isn’t enough of a return for Thomas.

The famous “Legion of Boom” defense which led to Seahawks to within a two-point conversion of back-to-back Super Bowl championships in 2014 and 2015 is no more. Stalwarts Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor are gone. That’s football in the salary cap era. It’s up to Thomas and Bobby Wagner to teach the next group. Not an easy task when at least one them has an ax to grind with the team.