Seattle Seahawks Rumors: Marshawn Lynch Could Be Back By October, But Team Will Likely Trade Or Cut Him

The Seattle Seahawks are rumored to have a big decision looming, with Marshawn Lynch potentially coming out of retirement, but the team has already moved on and is possibly planning on cutting or trading the Pro Bowl running back.

Lynch made the shocking decision last offseason to hang up his cleats, retiring after a 10-year career that included 9,112 rushing yards and a Super Bowl ring.

But now, there are rumors that Lynch is getting antsy in his retirement and planning on making a quick return to the NFL. A source close to Lynch reportedly told Pro Football Talk that he wants to come back, and is targeting the fourth or fifth week of the season to do so.

That doesn’t necessarily mean he will be a member of the Seattle Seahawks again, however. The report noted that the team had already made plans to go forward without Lynch and his $9 million salary (that would be prorated to whatever week he would return).

“The Seahawks still hold Lynch’s rights, since he was placed on the reserve-retired list. If he files the appropriate paperwork necessary to end his retirement, the Seahawks will have to decide whether to welcome him back onto the active roster, to trade him, or to cut him.

“If he returns before the trade deadline, which comes on the Tuesday after Week Eight, Lynch would become a free agent, if released. After the trade deadline, he would pass through waivers, if the Seahawks cut him. (Obviously, at that point they couldn’t trade him.)”

Seattle also invested a lot into shaping a new backfield, using three draft picks on running backs and preparing second-year Thomas Rawls to take over as the lead back.

Marshawn Lynch could come out of retirement by October #Seahawks https://t.co/LMPcmpNCTa pic.twitter.com/DOTmFQZCEr

— Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors) September 9, 2016

This is not the first time that rumors have circulated about Marshawn Lynch coming back out of retirement. Back in May, his friend and now-former teammate, Richard Sherman, dropped a hint that Lynch may already be planning his return to the league.

“I don’t put anything past him,” cornerback Richard Sherman told NFL Network‘s Michael Robinson. “He’s about as predictable as a pair of dice. So I don’t try to call his plays.”

But Sherman went on to say that the team had already gotten used to playing without Lynch during his extended injury absence in 2015. While Sherman said the team is prepared to move forward without Beast Mode in the backfield, he would welcome the idea of Lynch coming back.

“You would hope that he comes back,” Sherman said. “In the back of your mind, you hope he comes back and plays another year. But he doesn’t owe us anything. He’s given us everything. He’s given the game everything we asked.”

And even at the time those reports first emerged, there were rumors that the Seattle Seahawks weren’t planning to bring Marshawn Lynch back onto the roster. As the New York Post noted at the time, the team would be more likely to cut him and stick with the more cost-efficient Rawls.

“Even if those around him persuade him to delay hanging his cleats up, there is no certainty the franchise will take him back. Lynch, a five-time Pro Bowler, would cost $11.5 million against the salary cap next season. 22-year-old Thomas Rawls was a revelation filling in for Beast Mode (before Rawls himself went down with an ankle injury), and he’s owed just $530,000 for 2016.”

There has also been plenty of doubt cast on the rumors that Marshawn Lynch could be planning a return to the Seattle Seahawks. Though he was always enigmatic during his career, Lynch was also a careful planner and reportedly saved all of his $50 million in salary, Ian Furness said on The Ian & Puck Show on 950 AM KJR in Seattle. Some close to Lynch have also said that he seems quite content in retirement.

[Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images]