Seahawks Decision to Sign George Fant Raises Questions About Abraham Lucas' Health
Amid of a flurry of signings on the first official day of free agency on Wednesday, the Seattle Seahawks solidified their offensive line by bringing back veteran George Fant, who began his career with the franchise as an undrafted signee.
Initially, the move looked to be nothing more than adding much-needed depth up front for the Seahawks, as Fant has started games at both tackle positions. Along with providing an invaluable "swing" tackle the team has not had since drafting Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas two years ago, he could be utilized occasionally reporting in as a sixth linemen and a pseudo tight end in specific personnel groupings.
But while Fant's return to the Pacific Northwest undoubtedly is the type of feel good reunion story fans enjoy and the player couldn't be happier to re-sign with Seattle, contract details paint a potentially murky picture about the long term outlook of Lucas and raises legitimate questions about his health.
The Seahawks will be hoping that George Fant doesn't have to start a lot of games in his second stint with the team, but his signing does raise alarms about the health of Abraham Lucas.
As reported by Aaron Wilson of KRPC2 Houston, Fant's new two-year deal with the Seahawks could be worth up to $14 million with a $3.7 million signing bonus. As more details trickle in, including guaranteed money, it's possible that contract could be chocked full of incentives based on playing time and most likely will have easy outs after the first year.
Still, while Fant's contract isn't top-15 starter money, offering a contract with upside to earn as much as $7 million per year isn't a typical backup deal either and this looks to be more than a typical hedge signing. At minimum, general manager John Schneider appears to be bracing for the possibility Lucas' knee issues continue to be problematic after undergoing surgery earlier in the offseason by investing in a more expensive insurance plan.
Making history with Cross as only the third pair of rookie starting tackles in the NFL since 1970, Lucas impressed in his first season in Seattle, starting 16 out of 17 games while earning a respectable 68.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. But he did miss one start in December against the Jets with a knee injury, which has wound up being a far bigger deal than anticipated.
At the time, Lucas bounced back quickly and returned to the lineup against the Chiefs one week later, finishing the season on a strong note. Playing well down the stretch, including giving up no pressures or sacks in a playoff-clinching win over the Rams in the season finale, he showed no ill effects from the injury.
Interestingly, Lucas underwent surgery last offseason, but it wasn't for his troublesome knee. Instead, he had a minor procedure on his shoulder that prevented him from partaking in most of the team's on-field offseason program before returning to full action early in training camp. Nothing was mentioned by coach Pete Carroll about his knee still acting up.
After the calendar flipped to September, however, Lucas exited shortly after halftime in a season-opening home loss to the Rams with an undisclosed knee injury. Providing ambiguous details, Carroll told reporters initially he wasn't injured and simply was dealing with "patellar area soreness" that required rest and an injection.
But by late October, Carroll's updates on Lucas became more ominous as he continued to deal with discomfort nearly two months after being placed on injured reserve. Though he had started running and working out, the Seahawks were still trying to find ways to get him over the hump in his recovery, and by mid-November, the coach went as far as using the dreaded word "chronic" describing how the team needed to manage him without rushing him back to action too quickly.
After missing 10 games, Lucas finally returned two weeks after those comments from Carroll, starting against the Cowboys a week after Thanksgiving in Dallas while platooning with veteran Jason Peters. With him back in the lineup, Seattle put up 35 points in a losing effort in part due to strong pass protection in front of Geno Smith, allowing the quarterback to throw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns.
But behind the scenes, Lucas wasn't close to 100 percent healthy and after playing every snap in back-to-back wins over the Eagles and Titans, he couldn't gut it out anymore. With his condition getting worse, he exited midway through a crushing Week 17 loss to the Steelers and didn't return, landing back on injured reserve before the season finale.
Weeks later, Lucas posted a photo on Instagram suggesting he was undergoing surgery on his troublesome knee. Schneider acknowledged that fact at the NFL combine last month and didn't provide the most optimistic sounding answer when asked whether or not the procedure would correct the issue.
"Hopefully, yes," Schneider responded.
By signing a proven veteran in Fant, the Seahawks have prepared themselves in case Lucas' operation doesn't fix his worrisome knee. An incentive-laden deal wouldn't impact the team's salary cap as much as a deal with a higher base salary or signing bonus, but offering up to $14 million also hints that the organization expects he could play quite a few snaps.
With a new offensive coordinator in Ryan Grubb who didn't run as many multi-tight end sets at Washington, Seattle likely won't be asking Fant to report in as eligible very often either, which further justifies lingering concerns about Lucas moving forward.
In the long run, Lucas may very well report for the start of the offseason program next month in good shape and be ready to roll by the start of the regular season. That would be the ideal scenario for the Seahawks, who will be at their best on offense if both of their third-year tackles stay healthy and play to their potential in 2024.
Without knowing all of the details on Fant's contract, it remains to be seen how much money Seattle will actually pay him in terms of base salary and potential incentives. If the contract is mostly incentive-based with a low cap hit, then that would suggest the organization is being proactive more than anything else.
But by signing Fant to a contract that could be worth up to $7 million per year, the Seahawks clearly have internal concerns about Lucas, at least until they see him back on the field and he's able to stay in the lineup without his knee flaring up again. If the organization felt more confident in the situation, they likely wouldn't have made signing a starter-caliber tackle a priority over other glaring roster needs this early in free agency.
