Kam Chancellor holdout: Safety will miss Sunday's game vs. Rams

Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor has not reported to Seahawks headquarters and is now expected to miss this weekend's opener vs. the Rams. Chancellor has been holding out because he's not happy with the four-year contract extension he signed in 2013, while the Seahawks have made it clear that they won't re-negotiate deals until the final year of the contract is reached. Chancellor has three years remaining.

A stalemate had been reached, and apparently both sides have their heels dug in.

"He's not here right now, so he's not playing. It's Wednesday," said Pete Carroll.

With Chancellor now expected to miss Sunday's game, the Seahawks will lean on second-year pro Dion Bailey to start at strong safety, and while it will be Bailey's first NFL game, his play during the preseason was impressive. Pete Carroll and the Seahawks have a long history of playing young players.

It's entered a weird territory for Chancellor, a former team captain that is now, in effect, hoping the Seahawks will struggle in his absence, because if they don't, the last remnants of his leverage will disintegrate. It puts him in a tough spot with both Seattle fans and his teammates, who likely support him in theory, but surely wish he'd be around to help them try to get back to the Super Bowl.

I honestly never thought that the holdout would get to the point of missing actual games, so this is a surprising lack of action. We'll see how long he's willing to hold out, and how much the Seahawks can stomach.