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Eddie Lacy’s weight has been a constant point of discussion over the past few years of his NFL career. It all seemed to start about two years ago when an unflattering photo of him at Packers workouts made the social media rounds, and speculation took off from there.
Lacy’s 2015 season was a disappointment by the lofty standards he had established over his first two campaigns, and last offseason he spent time working out with P90X founder Tony Horton. He had appeared to slim down at least somewhat, and was off to a very productive start early on in 2016 before an ankle injury landed him on injured reserve for the season.
Now Lacy is in Seattle, after signing a free agent contract with the Seahawks this March. That deal, reportedly worth about $3.5 million minus production incentives, has a total of $385,000 tied up in weight-related clauses. On Monday morning, the first detail of those incentives was noted by ESPN’s Field Yates:
Today marks Seahawks RB Eddie Lacy's first weigh-in for his weight clause incentive. If he weighs 255 pounds or less, he earns $55,000.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 15, 2017
This number is consistent with Yates’ earlier reporting, which stated that he had $55,000 paydays for making weight each month between May and December (excluding July). Regardless, Lacy has plenty of incentive to ensure that he is at the desired weight for each weigh-in, even if the weight-based provisions are a fraction of the nearly $3 million guaranteed in the contract.
Then there’s that number. Lacy was listed at 231 pounds coming out of college, but Bob McGinn of Packersnews.com reported that he weighed 267 pounds when he visited the Seahawks during free agency. Dropping 12 pounds in two months should be feasible for a pro athlete, though.
The Packers will get a first look at Lacy in week one, when the Seahawks visit Lambeau Field. If he is down to the 245-pound target that Seattle has for him in September, that should make him an even more dangerous back than he was early last season.
UPDATE: It’s good news for Lacy, as his agents tweeted out that he successfully hit his target of 255 pounds, coming in at 253. Congratulations to Eddie!