Seahawks sign safety Chancellor to 3-year extension
RENTON, WASH. » Kam Chancellor wore a wry grin, knowing that a day earlier when he was peppered about his contract status and future with the Seattle Seahawks that all those questions were about to be answered.
“I didn’t want to tell you all,” Chancellor said with a chuckle. “But I had an idea it was pretty close. Both sides were positive and it turned around great.”
The Seahawks’ starting strong safety signed a three-year extension Tuesday that will keep him with the only club he’s ever played for through the 2020 season and creates the possibility that Chancellor will retire having played only in Seattle.
Chancellor’s new deal is worth up to $36 million with $25 million guaranteed, a hefty payday for a 29-year-old whose physical style of play has led to big hits but also a variety of injuries during his career.
Tuesday’s announcement was a stark change from two years ago when Chancellor was a training camp holdout because he was unhappy with his contract.
“I don’t think the relationship ever fell off. I think it was just a process. The past was the past and I put that behind me two years ago and it worked,” Chancellor said. “We’re here today back to where we started, both sides in a great agreement. Bygones be bygones. I’m ready to play football.”
Without a new deal, Chancellor could have left Seattle in free agency after this season. Chancellor’s first contract extension, signed in 2013, is set to expire after the 2017 season.
Broncos’ Clady retires after 9 seasons
ENGLEWOOD, COLO. » Ryan Clady, the talented and towering tackle whose nine-year NFL career was checkered with injuries, is retiring from football.
“I’m excited about what life holds for me going forward,” Clady wrote Tuesday on Twitter, where he thanked the Broncos and team owner Pat Bowlen for bringing him to an organization where he was “blessed to experience eight great years, four Pro Bowls and a world championship.”
The Broncos selected him 12th overall in the 2008 draft out of Boise State, where Clady made a pivotal block on the Statue of Liberty 2-point conversion play that stunned Oklahoma in the January 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
Among a dying breed of plug-and-play tackles in the NFL before colleges turned so heavily to spread offenses, Clady allowed just half a sack in his first 20 NFL games.
But injuries slowed him down and the twotime All-Pro missed both of Denver’s Super Bowl appearances in recent years, first with a foot injury and then with a knee injury.
Jags’ Mathers strapped to board, carried off field
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. » Jacksonville running back I’Tavius Mathers was strapped to a board and carried off the practice field after experiencing “neurological symptoms.”
Mathers collided with defenders during training camp drills. He raised both arms as trainers removed his jersey. He was taken to a hospital for further evaluation, and the Jaguars say he was conscious during the move.
Mathers is a 5-foot-11, 203-pound rookie from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Giants sign Nugent to challenge Rosas
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. » The New York Giants have decided to give Aldrick Rosas some competition for the placekicking job.
The Giants signed 13-year veteran Mike Nugent on Tuesday in a move to up the pressure on the 22-year-old Rosas, who has never kicked in a regular-season NFL game.
“I’ve always wanted to play 20 years,” said Nugent, who spent the past seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. “I’m going to see what I can do, make sure I stay in shape and try to keep up with the younger guys and to get to a point where the ball is going where I’m aiming it, and keep at it.”
Nugent, who has been working out in Arizona, said the Giants called him recently.