MAKING SOME MOVES

Carroll doesn’t mind running back being big

House, Francois added; Lacy joins Seahawks

Green Bay — The Green Bay Packers definitely will need to seek a running back in the NFL draft this year.

Eddie Lacy, the team’s workhorse back, signed with the Seattle Seahawks, removing a prime option to lead the running game in 2017.

According to a source familiar with the contract, Lacy got a one-year, $4.25 million deal that includes a weight clause linked to a $385,000 workout bonus. He got a $1.5 million signing bonus and a base of $1.365 million in guaranteed money. He can gain up to an additional $1.3 million in incentives based on his rushing total in Seattle.

The Packers, along with the Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings, hosted Lacy on visits, mostly to examine his surgically repaired left ankle but also to talk about his conditioning and weight issues. According to a source from one of the teams Lacy visited, he weighed in at 267 pounds, 33 above his listed weight in Green Bay.

In a radio interview with KIRO in Seattle, coach Pete Carroll said the Seahawks “want him big” but that they will have a plan for him to stay in the 240-pound range. Carroll said he thought Lacy finished runs in a similar fashion as his former star back Marshawn Lynch and was excited to have him.

All along, the Packers seemed to be interested in Lacy returning so he could team up with Ty Montgomery to form a physical duo. They are also high on Don Jackson, an undrafted free agent who started the year on the practice squad but was added to the 53-man roster on Oct. 20. Jackson played in three games and carried 10 times for 32 yards before landing on injured reserve with a knee injury

Lacy told ESPN a week before free agency that the Packers’ interest remained high.

“Talking to my agent,” he said, “the Packers have been very vocal about having me back there.”

The Packers released James Starks after the season, leaving Montgomery, Jackson and Christine Michael, who was re-signed by the Packers, as the team’s options at running back.

The most logical place for help is the draft. It is a particularly good year for running backs and it’s likely general manager Ted Thompson will address the position there.

According to one of the sources, all three teams submitted similar offers, but Lacy picked Seattle because he felt it was the offense that put the most emphasis on the running game. Seattle returns the physical Thomas Rawls and the speedy C.J. Prosise and they’re hoping Lacy becomes the hammer that Lynch once supplied to the offense.

Seattle ranked 20th in the league in rushing attempts last year, but that was well ahead of Green Bay, which ranked 29th.

For his Packers career, Lacy carried 788 carries for 3,435 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns.

RICK WOOD / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL Eddie Lacy had 3,435 career yards and 23 TDs in his four seasons with the Packers.