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Brady HendersonESPN
The Seattle Seahawks are bringing back running back Rashaad Penny on a one-year deal, a source confirmed to ESPN on Sunday.
Penny returns on a prove-it deal after a stellar finish to an injury-plagued first 3½ seasons in the NFL.
Chris Carson, who has been Seattle’s starter since 2018, is coming off neck surgery. Alex Collins, who first replaced Carson in the starting lineup before he was overtaken by Penny late in the season, is a free agent.
NFL Network first reported Seattle’s deal with Penny.
After being viewed as a first-round bust for most of his four NFL seasons, Penny finished the 2021 season with one of the most prolific rushing stretches in Seahawks history.
With Carson on injured reserve, Penny led the NFL with 671 rushing yards — 208 yards more than anyone else — over the final five games. In doing so, Penny joined Shaun Alexander as the only players in team history with 130 rushing yards in three consecutive games. In addition, he ran for a career-best 190 yards in the season finale.
He scored six rushing touchdowns over those final five games — one more than he scored over his first 32 regular-season games.
To that point, Penny’s career had been marred by a long list of injuries, including a torn ACL in December 2019 — just as he was starting to break out — that sidelined him for much of 2020. He also missed five games after injuring a calf in the 2021 opener and another game in November because of a pulled hamstring.
All told, the 26-year-old Penny has missed 30 of a possible 69 games, including playoffs, because of injury.
Penny, who has spent much of his first four seasons playing behind Carson after being selected with the 27th overall pick in 2018, had had flashes of production when healthy. In the seven games in which Penny has gotten at least 12 carries, he has topped 100 rushing yards in six of them, scoring nine rushing TDs.