Let me be blunt for a moment, the Seattle Seahawks will not repeat as Super Bowl champions if Marshawn Lynch retires or holds out into the regular season due to wanting an increase in salary. The ferocity and recklessness with which he runs has turned him into a fan favorite as well the focal point of the Hawks offense. Don’t get me wrong this will be Russell Wilson’s team in the near future but for now Marshawn is the engine that runs Seattle’s high powered offense.

Over the past few season in Seattle Marshawn Lynch has averaged 300 carries, 1350 rushing yards and 11 almost 12 touchdowns. These numbers put him into the top echelon of running backs and he deserves to be paid accordingly. This past offseason he watched as teammates Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas become some of the highest paid players at their respective positions. In Sherman’s case he was the highest paid defensive back for about a week before Joe Haden of the Cleveland Browns took over that distinction but I digress. The point being he watched as other key contributors from a Super Bowl winning team get the pay increases they deserved while he did just as much if not more and did not see his annual salary increase. In reality the Seahawks don’t have to actually give Lynch a bump in salary because he still has 2 years remaining on a 4 year $30 million contract. This is where Pete Carroll and John Schneider have to get together and discuss whether to pay Lynch a little more or risk messing up their salary cap situation with all the upcoming free agents; Russell Wilson, Russell Okung, Cliff Avril, Bobby Wagner, Byron Maxwell and Bruce Irving, just to name a few. If this decision was up to me I would pay the man. His presence on this team has transformed the whole culture as well as the “soft” perception this team used to have. He has reenergized this fan base as well as the whole city of Seattle. His guts and determination brought the Seahawks their 1st Super Bowl trophy.

Now the question is how much of an increase is he due? The smart thing to do would be to keep his annual salary around $5 million, extend his contract a couple extra years, and double his bonus from $1.5 million to $3 million. I would also throw in some performance bonuses for yards, touchdowns, Super Bowl appearances, and Pro Bowl appearances. Hopefully this increase in total salary and extra years would entice Marshawn to come back and work harder than ever because the Seahawks need him to be fully committed if they want to win another Super Bowl.