Seahawks' Robinson: Marshawn Lynch wants to be paid like 'the face of this franchise'

Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch attended the team's mandatory minicamp last week amid talk that he is seeking a new contract, and teammate Michael Robinson says Lynch still wants a raise.

Lynch did not practice during the mandatory session due to a sore ankle, but he attended despite reportedly seeking a contract extension.

Robinson told the Tacoma News Tribune that Lynch wants to be paid like the Seahawks' franchise player:

The guy has been the face of this franchise since the day he stepped in that door, it’s been Beast Mode. Just from my knowledge of it, he has been the face of the franchise. [Head coach] Pete [Carroll] and [general manager] John [Schneider], they’ve made no qualms about saying that. And he’s just like ‘I just want to be paid like it.’

Lynch is set to earn $5 million this season and $5.5 million next season, after which he'll become an unrestricted free agent barring an extension.

Robinson admits the league's sudden reluctance to reward running backs with large contracts is part of Lynch's problem:

I think the devaluation of the [running] back doesn’t help his case, the fact that he has two years let on his deal doesn’t help his case, which I’ve expressed to him.

The fact that the biggest free agent running back signing got $3.5 million a season [Chris Johnson of the New York Jets] doesn’t help him. But you take Marshawn Lynch off the team last year, do we win the Super Bowl? I think all of us know the answer to that. He just wants to be paid like it. He knows he has a short window left. Nobody says anything when teams cut a guy at this juncture, though. I’m all in for players getting their dollars, man, because you have a short life.