John Schneider: No Seahawk will wear Marshawn Lynch’s 24 in 2016
May 3, 2016, 1:27 PM | Updated: Jun 4, 2016, 10:24 pm
(AP)
Seahawks general manager John Schneider shot down whatever remote possibility there may have been about running back Marshawn Lynch playing again for Seattle, saying Sunday that even though he has yet to file his retirement papers, he is indeed retiring.
And if Lynch isn’t wearing his No. 24 for Seattle next season, no one will.
Schneider said as much when he joined “Brock and Salk” on Monday and was asked about the tweet that wide receiver Doug Baldwin posted after the draft. It was addressed to coach Pete Carroll and it requested, on behalf of the rest of the team, that no one wears No. 24 for “years to come.” Lynch tweeted back his approval.
Schneider said it was already the plan that no player wear No. 24 during the 2016 season.
“Yeah, I appreciate Doug’s input on that,” Schneider said sarcastically, “but one of my last conversations with Marshawn was that nobody was going to wear 24 this year in the regular season. But I appreciate his input, though. I’m glad he wants to help distribute jersey numbers.”
Schneider’s qualification about the regular season means someone could wear potentially No. 24 in the meantime. The reason: rosters expand to 90 during the offseason, and with certain numbers only allowed for certain positions, there are only so many that can go unused. So if the team issues the number out of necessity, whatever player who wears it would change numbers before the regular season if he were to make to team.
Dear @PeteCarroll,
We are thrilled with the new teammates. One condition. Nobody wears #24 for years to come.Sincerely,
The Players— Doug Baldwin Jr (@DougBaldwinJr) April 30, 2016