Lucrative payday may elude Seahawks MVP Alexander

He set an NFL single-season scoring record, won the league's Most Valuable Player honor and proved himself statistically as the best player at his position in 2005.
Still, Seattle's Shaun Alexander might not be able to land the kind of lucrative contract he is seeking in the offseason.

Such is the life of a tailback in today's NFL, where the championship round of the playoffs is showing that teams might be better off spending big money elsewhere.



Mind you, Alexander was brilliant during the regular season with 1,880 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns to help lead the Seahawks (14-3) to the NFC's best record. If Seattle is to reach Super Bowl XL, Alexander will almost certainly need another extra-large outing in Sunday's conference title game against visiting Carolina (12-6).

Based solely on performance, Alexander was worth the $6.32 million he earned this season. And considering the megadeals signed by fellow tailbacks LaDainian Tomlinson (eight years, $60 million) in 2004 and Deuce McAllister (eight years, $50.4 million) in 2005, Alexander isn't out of line asking for a raise.

But the Panthers and AFC finalists Denver and Pittsburgh also fielded effective ground attacks at a much lower cost through a two-tailback system.

The combined 2005 salaries of the top two rushers from those three teams - Pittsburgh's Willie Parker and Jerome Bettis, Denver's Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell, and Carolina's Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster - totaled $5.82 million. That translates to an average salary of just $970,000, which gave those franchises financial flexibility to bolster other parts of their rosters.
Anderson and Bell had more combined rushing yards (1,935) than Alexander and posted 21 touchdowns. Parker and Bettis had 1,570 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns; Foster and Davis, both of whom are now on injured reserve, had 1,428 rushing yards and 15 scores.
The tandems complemented each other well. Bell, Foster and Parker add speed in the backfield; Bettis, Davis and Anderson provide the power.

The dual success of those backs doesn't detract from what Alexander has accomplished. However, it does help explain why big-ticket tailbacks like Alexander and Indianapolis' Edgerrin James didn't receive much interest when shopped in trades by their respective teams during the 2005 offseason.

Alexander is slated to become an unrestricted free agent because Seahawks management promised he wouldn't be named their franchise player in 2006. Despite having an NFL-best 7,504 rushing yards since 2001, assessing Alexander's value on the open market is difficult. He can provide an instant upgrade for a team with an anemic rushing attack. But Alexander will be 29 entering next season and has some wear and tear from logging more than 300 touches (rushes and catches) each of the past five seasons.

Alexander said Thursday that how he performs in the postseason won't affect his offseason value. Alexander, though, certainly can help his public standing in Seattle by rebounding from last Saturday's 20-10 second-round playoff victory over Washington in which he lost a fumble inside the red zone before being knocked out of the game with a first-quarter concussion.
If he carries Seattle to its first Super Bowl, Seahawks fans will understandably clamor for the team to re-sign Alexander. Under that scenario, a sizeable three- or four-year contract offer would be reasonable.

Such a deal might not be everything that Alexander desires, but it could beat the alternatives in free agency, especially with the well-stocked Seahawks poised to remain a title contender in future seasons.
source: mercurynews.com