The NFL may have no idea when free agency is going to start (a weekend of labor talks and deadline extensions ended with yet another extension, this time until Thursday at 12:01 am), but when it does, Shaun Alexander won’t be available. The reigning league MVP agreed to an eight-year, $62 million deal with the Seahawks Sunday, a deal that should keep the six-year veteran in Seattle for the rest of his career.
Agent Jim Steiner said the deal is the richest for an NFL running back and will pay Alexander over $15.1 million in guaranteed cash, through signing and other bonuses and 2006 base salary.
This contract should make a lot of people happy. The Seahawks will again be one of the premier teams in the NFC now that their workhorse back is locked up long-term, and fantasy owners will continue to benefit from Alexander running behind one of the best offensive lines in football.
As for the ongoing labor negotiations, the Thursday extension was granted to reportedly give the owners time to vote on the Players Association’s latest offer. Hopefully all of this drama will end this week and we can turn our NFL focus back to free agency and the upcoming draft. Stay tuned.
