Kam Chancellor Will Not Play in Week 1 as Seahawks Safety Continues Holdout

As Kam Chancellor's contract holdout continues, the Seattle Seahawks will start the season without their star safety. 

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was very matter-of-fact about the situation with Chancellor for Week 1, via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:

Carroll also said the team is taking things "week to week" with Chancellor at this point, per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. 

Kevin Shockey of Sports Radio 950 KJR in Seattle provided a full transcript of NFL Network Dan Hellie's conversation with Chancellor:

Even though a lot of holdouts tend to end before the games count, so players can collect their paycheck, Chancellor is taking a hard-line stance with the Seahawks. The 27-year-old has been away from the team since camp opened on July 31. Carroll noted there was no change in regard to Chancellor's holdout, via Gregg Bell of the News Tribune.

In April 2013, Chancellor signed a five-year, $35 million extension with Seattle that included $17 million guaranteed. 

Since that time, though, the Seahawks have given bigger extensions to other key defensive players like Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner and Earl Thomas. 

Player	Total Value	Guaranteed Money
Richard Sherman	4 yrs, $56 million	$40 million
Bobby Wagner	4 yrs, $43 million	$22 million
Earl Thomas	4 yrs, $40 million	$27.75 million

Chancellor still has three years left on his contract, giving him little leverage in negotiations with the Seahawks. The one great hope he has is his value to Seattle's defense, as broken down by Nathan Jahnke of ProFootballFocus.com:

"

Chancellor is our third-highest ranked safety entering 2015 in terms of PFF rating, at 88.6. There are a few NFL safeties who are better against the run, and a few who are better in coverage, but it’s hard to find any who are better at both. Only Eric Weddle, Will Hill and Chancellor have PFF ratings above 85 in both run defense and coverage among safeties.

"

Sherman gave a window into the team's perception of the holdout, telling Liz Mathews of ESPN 710 he was "not surprised" Chancellor was still away from the team, and he believes the rest of his teammates understand the safety's viewpoint.

The NFL salary cap is $143.28 million this season, up from $133 million in 2014. That does give teams more financial freedom to retain their players with bigger extensions than they have been able to dole out in the past. 

However, with all of the recent extensions given out by Seattle, including for quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch, there are some players who will be excluded. 

There's no denying the impact Chancellor has on the game, because he's a safety who is built like a linebacker and able to defend the run or pass. The Seahawks have as much talent on defense as anyone in the NFL, but there's no way to replace what he brings even if it's just for one week.