Hasselbeck weighs in on Lynch’s contract situation
Jan 6, 2012, 12:45 PM | Updated: 1:06 pm
By Brady Henderson
Matt Hasselbeck has seen it. Twice.
His team dished out lots of money to a free-agent running back only to get underwhelming results.
Shaun Alexander signed an eight-year, $62 million extension after the 2005 season and was out of the NFL three years later. Chris Johnson, Hasselbeck’s teammate in Tennessee, signed a four-year, $53.5 million extension after a holdout last summer. He topped 1,000 yards rushing in 2011, but it was by far the least productive of his four NFL seasons.
 Matt Hasselbeck said former Seahawks teammate Marshawn Lynch “has something that is very, very special.” (AP) |
Those cautionary tales prefaced a question about Marshawn Lynch’s contract situation Friday when Hasselbeck was a guest on “Brock and Salk.” Lynch, who ran for over 1,200 yards and became the identity of Seattle’s offense, tops the list of the 18 Seahawks who are set to become unrestricted free agents.
Here’s what Hasselbeck had to say about Lynch and his contract situation:
“He came to us last year as we went to Chicago to play the Bears and he just gave us that boost that we needed in just terms of a physical, physical guy in first and second down and the goal line and short yardage, all those situations. He’s got something that is very, very special. There is no doubt about that.
“I think one of the things that you’ve go to think about when you make a decision, if you’re going to commit to a guy in free agency is this is going to be one of our guys, we’re essentially married to this guy not just as a football player but as a leader in our locker room, as a guy that we can market to the community with community endeavors but also selling tickets and putting him in front of a camera and doing interviews, all that stuff. So there’s just so much that goes into it.
“I know from my experience, I had an image of Marshawn Lynch when we traded for him, and then I got to know him and the two didn’t line up. He was really a hard-nosed football player but really fun, easy to get along with …”
Hasselbeck offered the caveat that he can’t speak to anything that happened this season since he was in Tennessee.
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