The two franchise icons helped the Seahawks bring the Lombardi Trophy to Seattle. The Seahawks have parted ways with safety Kam Chancellor and wide receiver Doug Baldwin, the team announced on Thursday. According to the team, Chancellor and Baldwin had their contracts terminated with failed physical designations. Chancellor spent all of the 2018 season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list with a neck injury sustained in 2017. Baldwin struggled with numerous injuries throughout the 2018 season and underwent multiple surgeries this offseason. “The Seahawks have made the difficult decision to terminate/failed physical Doug Baldwin and Kam Chancellor,” general manager John Schneider said. “These are two of the most iconic players in franchise history and both were instrumental in establishing our championship culture, great examples of competitiveness and leadership on the field and in the community. These legendary players will always be a part of our Seahawks family.” A fifth-round pick in the 2010 draft, Chancellor played an integral role in the Seahawks' league-leading scoring defense for four straight seasons in 2012-15. Chancellor was a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time second-team All-Pro selection. Baldwin joined the Seahawks as an undrafted rookie in 2011 and went on to become one of the best receivers in franchise history. He led the team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in his debut season. He set a franchise record for touchdown catches in a season with 14 in 2015 and matched the team's record for receptions in a season with 94 in 2016. Baldwin earned two Pro Bowl nods during his eight seasons with the team. The Seahawks finished the 2018 season 10–6 before falling in the wild-card round to the Dallas Cowboys.<doc-sep>It has become difficult to keep track of all the comings and goings from the Legion of Boom–era Seahawks, who have disintegrated in slow motion over the last two years. The team cut cornerback Richard Sherman, let safety Earl Thomas leave, traded pass rusher Michael Bennett, watched pass rushers Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor suffer career-ending injuries, made Russell Wilson the highest-paid player in NFL history, and saw Marshawn Lynch retire, then unretire before trading him to Oakland, where he is now re-retired. Keeping track of the Seahawks threads is so hard that even the Monday Night Football graphics team played around with it. The Seahawks officially parted ways with two more key players from that era on Thursday by releasing receiver Doug Baldwin, 30, and Chancellor, 31, with failed-physical designations. The Chancellor release is not news as much as paperwork catching up to reality. Chancellor was a fifth-round draft pick in 2010 who almost immediately became one of the best, hardest-hitting strong safeties in the league. But after he suffered a neck injury in 2017, he announced his retirement in an emotional social media post last July that ended, “P.S. Pray for your boy. I have no clue how these head injuries will go after the game. What I do know is that my God is stronger. Peace and Love ❤️.” While Chancellor announced his retirement last year, he still had money on his contract guaranteed for injury, so he did not formally retire. Releasing Chancellor in 2018 would have cost the Seahawks nearly $20 million in salary cap space. Releasing him now could create as much as $4.8 million in cap savings, according to ESPN’s Brady Henderson. Baldwin’s release is new but expected. Rumors around Baldwin’s health circulated this offseason and reached new heights with Seattle’s selection of D.K. Metcalf with the last pick of the second round in the 2019 NFL draft. Baldwin missed the entire preseason last year with a knee injury, and when he returned in Week 1, he suffered an MCL tear in his other knee. He still played 14 of Seattle’s 17 games, including the playoffs, but he admitted in August before the MCL injury he would not be at 100 percent health at any point during the year. Baldwin had multiple surgeries this offseason, including ones on his knee, and sports hernia surgery last month. He described the 2018 season as “hell.” With the release of Baldwin, who will carry a $6.3 million cap hit for 2019, the Seahawks will have a receiving corps led by wide receiver Tyler Lockett, Jaron Brown, David Moore, and rookies Metcalf and Gary Jennings Jr., plus tight ends Will Dissly and Nick Vannett. It’s an underwhelming group for Wilson to work with, though Lockett proved he was capable of carving out a larger role for himself. Lockett led the Seahawks in receiving in 2018, the first year since 2013 that Baldwin was not Seattle’s leading receiver. Still, when the team needed Baldwin, he always made things count. If Baldwin does not sign with another team, this will go down as the second-to-last catch of Baldwin’s career. Baldwin was a two-star high school recruit offered just four scholarships. On a college visit to Stanford, he met Richard Sherman, who was still a wide receiver at the time. The two became fast friends, and when the Seahawks drafted Sherman in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, Sherman called Baldwin, who had gone undrafted, and told him Seattle was going to make him an offer and he should accept the deal. Baldwin immediately became Seattle’s steady hand. He started just one time his rookie year, but he appeared in all 16 games and led the Seahawks in targets, receptions, and receiving yards over Golden Tate, Sidney Rice, and Ben Obomanu. In his first seven years, Baldwin played 123 of a possible 125 games, including the playoffs. Baldwin led Seattle in receiving yards in five of his eight seasons, and in 2015 he tied for league lead in receiving touchdowns. He was also a significant voice off the field, serving as an active member of the Players Coalition, and told 60 Minutes Sports that he received death threats for speaking out on police brutality. In May 2014, three years after Sherman convinced Baldwin to sign with Seattle, both players signed life-changing contract extensions. “We talked about it at Stanford,” Baldwin told The Seattle Times. “One of our mottos was ‘Be happy for another man’s success.’ It’s easy in this world, in this business, to get caught up and get jealous of people. But in that moment, because I’ve known him for so long and I’ve known his struggle, I was so happy for him.” Later that year, Sherman famously walked into a press conference with a life-sized cutout of Baldwin, which Baldwin was hiding behind and voicing, as the two discussed Marshawn Lynch’s $100,000 fine for not speaking with reporters. It’s a fitting summary of Baldwin’s career: Sherman was the face of the 2010s Seahawks, while Baldwin was in the background.<doc-sep>The Seattle Seahawks announced Thursday afternoon that they had terminated the contracts of two players who have long been stars for the franchise – safety Cam Chancellor and wide receiver Doug Baldwin. These two guys were key players on teams that won a Super Bowl and came so close to having won another. It’s just two more big departures of guys from those championship days and it came as a shock for fans, who thought Chancellor would be done but hoped that Baldwin would return. The team posted this statement on Twitter, calling them both icons and thanking them for everything they did both on, and off the field: Seahawks fans were very saddened by the news: Such sad news – I hope that there is a way to keep both of these inspirational people within the program in some fashion. @KamChancellor @DougBaldwinJr the passion that they brought to the game will be difficult to replace — Sean Hobday (@SeanHobday1) May 9, 2019 @DougBaldwinJr and @KamChancellor, thank you for all that you contributed to the Seahawks success and bringing us our one and only Lombardi trophy. It goes without saying that you will be sorely missed but NEVER forgotten. #GoHawks #Seahawks — Mike Clark (@mikeclark206) May 9, 2019 Thank you for all the hard work @DougBaldwinJr, the impact you made will never be forgotten by the 12s💪💙💚 — lars_bvhduv (@NickB8600) May 9, 2019 Sad, sad day 😭 — Dean Byrne (@DeanB1987) May 9, 2019 DAMNIT NOOOOOOOO!! WHY. Not like this I thought doug would be with us for one more season😥😪😥😪 — Tate Hering (@HeringTate) May 9, 2019 Rip I’m soo mad and sad🤯😤 — Eli Am (@EliAm26076223) May 9, 2019 Doug Baldwin 😩😩 he’s going to be a huge miss out wide! Hopefully the rookies can push on and fill the role he held for years to come 🙌🏻 — Rhys Gale (@rhysmgale) May 9, 2019 Alright, that’s it. No more twitter today for me. I can’t even process this yet.. 💙💙💙😥 — Heidi l wilson (@Heidilwilson3) May 9, 2019 Two of my favorites. I hate this part of the game. — Another Broken Veteran (@VeteranAnother) May 9, 2019 Absolutely gutting man, loved watching these 2 play! — Kieran Fleet (@FleetKieran) May 9, 2019<doc-sep>
Elaine Thompson/Associated Press The Seattle Seahawks released longtime stars Doug Baldwin and Kam Chancellor on Thursday because of failed physicals. Seahawks general manager John Schneider said in a statement: "The Seahawks have made the difficult decision to terminate/failed physical Doug Baldwin and Kam Chancellor. These are two of the most iconic players in franchise history, and both were instrumental in establishing our championship culture, great examples of competitiveness and leadership on the field and in the community. These legendary players will always be a part of our Seahawks family." Chancellor and Baldwin have been a big part of Seattle's extended run of success in recent years. The team has made the playoffs in seven of the last nine seasons, reaching the Super Bowl twice. They helped capture the franchise's first Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLVIII. Chancellor, a fifth-round draft pick by the Seahawks in 2010, is a four-time Pro Bowl safety who was a key member of the Legion of Boom. He piled up 641 tackles, 12 interceptions and 44 pass breakups in eight seasons. Chancellor hasn't played since suffering a neck injury in November 2017. He discussed the challenges presented by the injury in July 2018: Video Play Button Videos you might like An undrafted free agent out of Stanford in 2011, Baldwin leaves Seattle as one of the Seahawks' greatest receivers ever. He ranks second in franchise history with 49 receiving touchdowns and third in both receptions (493) and yards (6,563). However, the 30-year-old has spent the early part of this offseason trying to get healthy. He underwent operations on both his shoulder and knee following the 2018 season, and he then had sports hernia surgery in March. Baldwin's health has led him to contemplate retirement this offseason, per the News Tribune's Gregg Bell: Ian Rapoport of NFL Network noted this move could mark the end of the road for the wideout: As ESPN's Bill Barnwell pointed out, these transactions are just the latest in the roster transformation that has taken place in Seattle since its last Super Bowl appearance in February 2015: Stars such as Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Marshawn Lynch have moved on in recent years. Chancellor and Baldwin will be remembered as all-time great Seahawks, but unfortunately for them, injuries cut their time in Seattle short.