Report: Seahawks to evaluate future of Pete Carroll after the season

The report from Ian Rapoport also adds an interesting new wrinkle on the contract status of Carroll that carries significant weight and meaning for the future.

It’s no secret that the leadership of the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll and John Schneider, sit down with ownership in the days following the conclusion of each season in order to review the recently finished season and discuss the future.

However, a report from insider Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network adds a couple of interesting wrinkles to the mix.

Specifically, Rapoport adds a new detail on the contractual status of Carroll heading into the future.

The Seahawks always are evaluating and updating contingency plans in the event longtime coach Pete Carroll, now 72 years old, decides to walk away.

…

Carroll is under contract through 2024, with an option for 2025 that can be exercised in the offseason.

The fact that Carroll’s contract only runs through 2024 changes the calculus on many things. First and foremost, moving on would only cost about half as much as had been previously believed since Carroll’s 2025 salary wouldn’t become fully guaranteed until the 2025 option had been exercised.

Also of note is the fact that Rapoport hints at the possibility that Carroll “decides to walk away”. This is noteworthy for the specific reason that after the Portland Trail Blazers failed to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs for the fourth time in five years, Vulcan moved on from head coach Terry Stotts with a year left on his coaching contract. What started as negotiations on a potential contract extension ended when the two sides could not reach agreement on a new deal and mutually agreed to part ways.

So, it’s been a little more than two years since Mike Garafolo reported that Jody Allen was not happy with the performance of the Seahawks, and that she did not look at the struggles of the 2021 Seahawks as a one-year problem. Now, on the morning of the regular season finale, one of the most connected insiders in the league is noting that Carroll could potentially walk away just hours ahead of the team set to battle for a playoff spot when they take on the Arizona Cardinals, while looking for some help and hoping the Chicago Bears can upset the Green Bay Packers.