Eddie has what the doctors call, a little bit of a weight problem.
Eddie Lacy has spent that last few years in the NFL, being criticized for being overweight. Even his former head coach, Mike McCarthy, famously stated, “he(Eddie) cannot play at the weight he played at this year”. Ultimately his lack of conditioning pushed Lacy out of Green Bay way too early. Lacy has found a second chance in a new home, though.
The Seattle Seahawks signed Eddie Lacy this off season to a modest 1 year $5.55M with $3M guaranteed. This is a far cry from the guy who went only thirteen picks after LeVeon Bell in the 2013 draft. The contract publicly advertised, is not the only money he can make, however. This is where it gets interesting. Lacy also has incentives written in his contract to motivate him to get into shape, more bluntly, lose weight.
Lacy will receive a $55K bonus for every month he makes the team’s weight goals. What are the targets? Well, Eddie came into Seattle weighting close to 270 pounds. His first target weight is 255 pounds by May. If he does that he get $55k. Next he will need to be 250 pounds in June, July and August. That is another $165k if he maintains that weight. Finally, 245 pounds, from September-December which will fetch him another $220k if he makes it all four months. So if my math is correct, Lacy can earn an additional $440k if he were able to stay off the pizza and hot wings.
Lacy’s Agent Doing Damage Control
Personally I think Lacy’s agent has made the best of a fat situation. He knows his client is losing money due to his lack of off season commitment, so this is a way for him to recoup some of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was pulling an endorsement deal with P90X as this was the workout that famously helped him shed weight last off season.
The reality is this, when you are an NFL athlete making the money these players make you need to treat your body with the attention it needs. You can not be some overweight slob, that sits behind a keyboard taking about overweight athletes.