It’s looking more and more like six-time Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas will not be returning to the Seattle Seahawks next season.
Slated to become a free agent in March, Thomas’ 2018 campaign was cut short four games in after he suffered a lower-leg fracture back in October. Thomas, who had been in a contract stalemate with the Seahawks’ organization, displayed his displeasure when being carted off the field following said injury.
Needless to say, things are not going too swimmingly on this front.
In talking to reporters during his season-ending press conference on Monday, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll noted that there’s been no contact between himself and Thomas recently.
For what it’s worth, Pete carrol says he hasn’t talked to Earl Thomas recently. Asked about having earl back, Carroll says sure, calls earl a great player and throws him in there with the other free agent “issues” to handle this offseason.
— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) January 7, 2019
That certainly leads us to believe the 29-year-old Thomas is done in the Pacific Northwest. Remember, he had held out prior to the 2018 season for a new contract. Nothing came to fruition on that end. It led to a ton of drama in Seattle.
One of the best safeties in the game, Thomas will likely draw a ton of interest in free agency. Heck, his former teammate is recruiting him to the San Francisco 49ers as a way to potentially recreate the Legion of Boom. What say you, Richard Sherman?
In any event, Carroll’s comments seem to clear up any previously confusion regarding Thomas’ status. The future Hall of Famer is extremely unlikely to return to Seattle next season.