The Seattle Seahawks informed running back Chris Carson that they will not place their franchise tag on him, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Carson, 26, is coming off a season in which he totaled 968 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns, but an early career trend continued as he missed four games with a foot injury.
Carson has been one of the league’s most productive running backs when healthy, but he’s missed 19 of a possible 64 regular-season games since entering the league as a seventh-round pick out of Oklahoma State in 2017.
He rushed for 1,151 yards in 2018 and then a career-best 1,230 in 2019, becoming the first Seahawks player since Marshawn Lynch in 2013 and ’14 to top the 1,000-yard rushing mark in consecutive seasons. Carson played in all but three regular-season games in that two-year stretch, and his 2,381 combined rushing yards in those two seasons was fifth-best among NFL running backs while his 16 rushing touchdowns were tied for 10th.
Since 2017, Carson’s 4.57 yards-per-carry average ranks 15th among running backs with at least 300 carries. He averaged a career-best 4.83 YPC in 2020, rushing for 681 yards and five touchdowns on 141 carries, while adding a career-high 4 receiving TDs.
As a rookie in 2017, Carson beat out Eddie Lacy and incumbent starter Thomas Rawls for the starting job heading into the season, but he missed the final 12 games due to leg and ankle injuries. He missed two games in 2018 with a hip injury then finished the 2019 season on IR after fracturing his hip in Week 16.
ESPN’s Brady Henderson contributed to this report.
