Emerging reports from Renton indicate that Chris Clemons is still conspicuously missing from his normal spot at the LEO position for the Seahawks' defense. His absence from earlier optional mini-camps and OTAs hinted at the idea that Clemons was unhappy with the current state of his contract, but as of last week he had told Pete Carroll that he'd be at the mandatory mini-camp that's happening today through Thursday. According to the various media members that were present at VMAC today, the 6'3, 254 pound defensive end was an unexcused no-show today, contradicting what Pete Carroll had been told by Clemons himself. The late developing nature of the decision to miss the camp likely means Clemons has decided to up the pressure on the front office to work out an extension as the 9th year vet heads into the final year of his deal.

I had thought that Clemons might take a more conservative route in trying to work out a new deal, perhaps taking things into the season and hoping to work something out sometime during the winter, but this does seem to signal he'd be motivated enough to stage a full-blown hold-out. Considering reports that Carroll doesn't expect him for the next two days either, Clemons stands to lose a ... well, largeish chunk of change. He will be fined $10,000 for missing today's practice, $20,000 for Wednesday, and $30,000 for Thursday - a $60,000 investment in adding a few years and millions to his current deal. From the numbers I've seen John Clayton throw around, we could expect that a good Clemons compromise would likely involve two to three years, at $6 - $7 million a year.

UPDATE: The always-excellent John Boyle shares what Pete Carroll had to say on the situation (hit the link to see the whole set of quotes):

"In communications with Chris, I thought he was coming, so this is kind of a late development that he's not. So I'm a little bit surprised that he's not here. We've had open communications with the agent and with Chris, and we feel like everything is on the up and up and very amicable. It continues to be one of our priorities and we'd love to get him back, but it doesn't look like he's going to show up for the rest of camp."

"He's got another year on his contract, so we're talking about future potential stuff, and that's something we've had our eye on for some time with him."