With the Seattle Seahawks being forced into allowing safety Kam Chancellor's 2018 base salary ($6.8 million) to become fully guaranteed last Friday, the question remains what does the future hold for Chancellor's Seahawks career? The answers aren't readily available at this time and his teammate, cornerback Richard Sherman, only further illustrated just how murky the situation currently remains at present.

Due to injury guarantees, the Seahawks had already lost the battle on the $6.8 million. Even if they had tried to release him and save that money, a grievance would have likely been filed by the veteran safety and that process would have been much more trouble than its worth. At the same time, the guaranteed money means cutting Chancellor only hurts your cap situation now. The only way the Seahawks can recoup any money at this point is if he retires but will he? Is it possible for Chancellor to return from the injury? According to Sherman, even the man himself doesn't have that information currently.

Because he can't rehab as of yet. He can only wait like everybody else.

“He and his wife are traveling around,’’ Sherman told the Seattle Times Bob Condotta last week. “They went to Italy, New York at some fashion show. He is in great spirits. Everything is just testing. He has to go back and get an MRI every couple of months, so there’s not much he can do, like any rehab. He can do the healing. So just have to make sure the pictures look okay.’’

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If you juxtapose that against Cliff Avril, who's already had surgery and begun the rehab process, it brings into focus just how much remains to be discovered about Chancellor's future. He can't make an informed decision on his fate without all the information at his disposal and currently, they don't have all the information. But, as of now, the team isn't any hurry to figure out what he'll do in 2018.

At this point, the money situation is what it is and the team will have to navigate around the potential sunken cost. Now that Friday's deadline has passed, the team has no real need to rush the situation not that it appears they ever were. They've reiterated time and time again through head coach Pete Carroll that ultimately the final decision on his career will be made by Chancellor.

Something to note on the difference between Avril and Chancellor. The injuries aren't the same and Avril's injury happened at the beginning of October. Chancellor's happened at the beginning of November. Also Chancellor hasn't had surgery like Avril; it's unknown if surgery is even an option for the hard-hitting safety.

Still, it remains unsettling that a couple of months later the injured safety still doesn't have any good information on whether a return is possible from a season-ending neck injury. The wait and see game has likely become agonizing for the 12's; so just think how much more so it is for Chancellor himself.

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