If Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks are going back to basics on offense in 2022, they reportedly have the man to lead the charge in the running game.

Seahawks cut veteran DEs Carlos Dunlap and Kerry Hyder Jr.

Rashaad Penny, who enjoyed a breakout stretch late in the 2021 season out of Seattle’s backfield, is returning to the team on a one-year deal, according to the NFL’s Ian Rapoport.

Per Rapoport, the 2018 first-round draft pick comes back to the Seahawks on a contract worth $5.75 million guaranteed, with incentives that could push his salary to $6.5 million. Even more notable is that Rapoport reports that Penny turned down more money elsewhere to come back to Seattle, perhaps signaling an increased importance to the running game for the Seahawks following the blockbuster trade of quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos.

Sources: The #Seahawks are in agreement on a 1-year deal with one of their own — RB Rashaad Penny. The former first-rounder turned down more money elsewhere to build off his stellar second half of 2021. He gets $5.75M with ability to earn up to $6.5M.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 20, 2022

Penny, 26, rushed last season for 749 yards on 119 carries in 10 games (six starts) for six touchdowns and 6.3 yards per carry, the last stat tying Buffalo QB Josh Allen for best in the NFL. He also had six receptions for 48 yards.

Seahawks offseason tracker from SeattleSports.com

There was always promise with the 5-foot-11, 220-pound Penny coming out of San Diego State, but injuries held him back for the first 3 1/2 years of his career. He was slowed out of the gate as a rookie with a broken finger suffered in training camp, and a torn ACL in 2019 sidelined him just as he was finding his stride out of Seattle’s backfield, coming on the heels of back-to-back games with at least 100 total yards from scrimmage.

Coming back from that knee issue was a particularly tough road as multiple smaller injuries followed, preventing him from staying on the field until Week 12 of the 2021 season. He appeared in just three games late in the 2020 season, then in 2021 he missed Weeks 2-5 following just two carries in Seattle’s season opener. He returned for Weeks 6-7, didn’t play in Week 9, played sparingly in Week 10, and was inactive for Week 11.

That’s when things turned around for Penny.

He rushed 10 times for 37 yards and caught a 27-yard pass in a Week 12 win over the 49ers, then reeled off his third career 100-yard rushing game the next week in a win over Houston. Over the final four games of the Seahawks’ season, Penny doubled his total of 100-yard rushing games to six with big performances against the Bears, Lions and Cardinals. The best came last as he ran for a career-high 190 yards plus a touchdown in a 38-30 win over Arizona in Week 17.

RASHAAD PENNY CANNOT BE STOPPED. 62-YARD TD. #Seahawks

📺: #SEAvsAZ on FOX
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/VorOzU8W98

— NFL (@NFL) January 10, 2022

When all was said and done, Penny rushed for 671 yards and six touchdowns over the final five games of the season, which led all NFL running backs over that stretch. That made him a high priority for the Seahawks to re-sign this offseason – Seattle declined to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract following the 2020 season – especially with the availability of previous lead running back Chris Carson in question due to a neck issue that sidelined him for the last 13 of Seattle’s 17 games in 2021.

More on Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny from SeattleSports.com

• Jake & Stacy’s Seahawks free agent profile on Penny
• Heaps: Seahawks should ‘work hard’ to bring back Penny
• How huge game from Penny showed Adrian Peterson’s influence

Follow @BrentStecker