Kam Chancellor Activated, Dion Bailey Cut by Seahawks: Latest Comments, Reaction

Facing a 4 p.m. ET deadline to get their star safety back for Week 3, the Seattle Seahawks officially activated Kam Chancellor on Saturday.

According to Around the NFL on Twitter, the Seahawks had to waive safety Dion Bailey to create roster space for Chancellor. 

After missing all of the preseason and the first two regular-season games during a contract holdout, Chancellor returned to the Seahawks on Sept. 23, telling Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com it was hard to sit and watch his team lose its first two games:

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I've always been a guy who follows my heart, and just watching my teammates and my team play week to week, first, second game, watching those losses, it hurt me being the leader that I am. It was very hard because, not taking away from anybody else, but I knew I could make a difference.

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On Sunday, NBC Sports' Mike Florio reported Chancellor and the Seahawks will have to work out their "trust issues" following the season. He examined the two parties' relationship:

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From Chancellor’s perspective, per a source with knowledge of his thinking, the team backed out of a verbal agreement struck in early August that would have pumped up his salary for 2016, citing a reluctance to set the precedent of revising a deal with three years remaining. But the team, from Chancellor’s perspective, later offered something less than the deal to which the two sides verbally agreed, which contradicted the desire to not set a new precedent.

So, basically, Chancellor initially concluded the team reneged. Then, he decided that the team was being disingenuous about its desire to not break new ground with Chancellor’s deal.

Chancellor also believes that, along the way, Seattle offered to proceed with a contract that was postdated for March 2016. The deal, if signed, would have been held until March and then filed with the league office, allowing the Seahawks to placate Chancellor without re-doing a contract that has three years left on it.

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Aside from Chancellor's future for 2016 and beyond, another major question after he returned to the team's facilities for workouts was how long it would be before he suited up. Given all the time he missed, it would have been understandable if Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll wanted him to take some extra time.

However, during a Friday appearance on KIRO radio (h/t Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times), Carroll said he was encouraged by Chancellor's progress following the team's practice sessions:

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He’s been working out really hard, he’s really lean and ready to go. He was anticipating coming back with the thought that he worked out really hard to get here so he looked great both days, the hard days of the week. So he looks like he’s going to be able to play some football and we are looking forward to that.

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Even though Seattle's defense is loaded with stars in the secondary, the difference when Chancellor is on the field compared to when he's not is remarkable, per ESPN's Field Yates:

This week against the Chicago Bears feels like an opportune time for the Seahawks to work in Chancellor before unleashing him full bore. The Bears will be starting Jimmy Clausen at quarterback while Jay Cutler recovers from a hamstring issue. 

Sunday also marks Seattle's first home game of the year, after going to St. Louis and Green Bay, and this will be the first time in 2015 the Seahawks have their core offensive and defensive lineup on the field together. 

The rest of the NFC has been able to build up a small amount of equity while the Seahawks get their bearings, but Chancellor's return will launch this team back into the mix of Super Bowl contenders.