seedhawk":37jmeib0 said:
If we cut Flynn, it will not be about money or cap. It will be because we either found someone else who is a better fit for us, or because we reach the decision that Flynn is just not right for the Hawks.
Look at our roster and count how many guys we have in their first 4 years. Only those in their 4th year have contracts under the old CBA. Using Wilsons contract as an example, (3rd round Qb), his third year will pay him about 700K. If that is "average", and you have 40 guys on your team in their first 4 years, thats about 30M, leaving 90M to spread out on vets. 30 in the first 4 it goes down to 20M leaving 100M for vets. Welcome to life in the new NFL.
Actually, it could be about all three.
It will definitely be about money/cap, and we may find a journeyman or rookie that we feel fits the offense better and for less money.
The thing is, sure, if you look at our current cap situation and don't consider the future at all, we're in pretty good shape. But we've got a lot of amazing, key guys who are so much more important to the team than the backup QB, and we're going to need to start preparing to pay these guys as they come off their rookie deals.
Given that we can roll cap room over to following seasons, maximizing your cap room in order to keep your crucial players from leaving in FA by signing them to long-term deals prior to them hitting FA is hugely important. Far more important than whether we have Matt Flynn or (for example) Tarvaris Jackson at backup.
Yes, the Seahawks are very lucky that they don't have a ton of money tied up in the QB position, but it's primarily due to Wilson being the biggest bargain in the league at starting QB. But just because we don't HAVE to release Flynn doesn't mean we shouldn't try to maximize the value we're getting at all positions on the team. If we can get a guy that gives us the peace of mind at backup QB that Flynn does for closer to the vet minimum, then we should take it and let Flynn seek a starting gig elsewhere.
In the end, I wouldn't be surprised to see the team approach Flynn about reworking his contract to something more cap friendly in order to grease the wheels for a trade, or in the absence of that, to keep him around while giving the team more flexibility to sign guys like Thomas, Chancellor, Sherman, Browner, Okung, etc. to deals that will keep them far away from FA.