Carroll says 'everything's possible' as Seahawks deal with Earl Thomas

RENTON, Wash. – Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll faced a barrage of questions about disgruntled safety Earl Thomas on Monday, saying “everything’s possible” going forward.

Carroll spoke a day after Thomas followed a two-interception, seven-tackle performance by saying he planned to skip practices whenever he deemed necessary to keep his body “100” as he plays out the final year of his contract.

“We’re open to whatever we need to do to keep moving forward in a positive manner,” Carroll said during his press conference at the VMAC. “I totally understand when guys are at the end of their contracts and they want to get another contract. We’ve been through this for years. It’s nothing new, and it’s legit. Guys are concerned about their future, I get it and we respect the heck out of that.”

Carroll didn’t say what, if any, punishment the team levied against Thomas for his postgame comments or for missing two practices last week. He did reiterate that he believes “practice is really important” and said that the team prefers to deal with problems in-house.

“Earl gets to say – (all of) these guys get to say - whatever they want,” Carroll said. “I can’t stop them from talking. But truly, there’s consequences with your actions and that’s just the way it is. (Just) because (the media) don’t know about it doesn’t mean something’s not going on.

“We don’t share that stuff with you because we don’t have to and there’s no need to.”

Carroll made the point that the team doesn’t make contract decisions in a vacuum. The Seahawks have decisions coming soon on some of their biggest players, as Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner will both be entering the final years of their deals next year.

“There’s a lot of guys that are also involved,” Carroll said. “This is not just one person’s concern, we have a lot of things going on. It’s a team, and there’s a lot of guys on the squad and there’s a lot of guys who have contracts that are under consideration, which we’re always working on, on a very long-range plans. And things fit accordingly and I think (general manager John Schneider) has done a fantastic job orchestrating it and we’re continuing to work on it, and we’re on it.”