Twitter: Earl out here teasing us

[Rayman70]

Earl has played this all wrong and Seattle has the upper hand here. They would probably rather him sit out the season than join our secondary.

Not so sure about that. I tend to think Seattle overplayed their hand. They are asking way too much in return. That entire secondary has been pretty much jettisoned in Seattle. Kam Chancellor has one foot out the door due to his neck injury. That would just leave Earl Thomas..THATS IT. I don't think he wants to be part of that experiment with all new players that are unproven. Dallas on the other hand is on the upswing in the secondary. He would be a very nice piece to the puzzle here. Seattles' only leverage is they do have him under contract for another year...so that's kinda a big deal. But I think it behooves all parties involved to **** or get off the pot like NOW. Some sort of finality needs to be hashed out. Either trade him now,or work out an extension for him and he stays. I don't see Seattle letting this linger much longer,thus becoming a looming issue to the team. Common sense says something will get done soon.

 

[Alexander]

Not so sure about that. I tend to think Seattle overplayed their hand. They are asking way too much in return. That entire secondary has been pretty much jettisoned in Seattle. Kam Chancellor has one foot out the door due to his neck injury. That would just leave Earl Thomas..THATS IT. I don't think he wants to be part of that experiment with all new players that are unproven. Dallas on the other hand is on the upswing in the secondary. He would be a very nice piece to the puzzle here. Seattles' only leverage is they do have him under contract for another year...so that's kinda a big deal. But I think it behooves all parties involved to **** or get off the pot like NOW. Some sort of finality needs to be hashed out. Either trade him now,or work out an extension for him and he stays. I don't see Seattle letting this linger much longer,thus becoming a looming issue to the team. Common sense says something will get done soon.

They probably already got off the pot in April and wiped, but nobody wants to believe that.

 

[atlantacowboy]

I'm curious as to how you think he should have played this?

And from my vantage point, it's been the Seahawks themselves who have played this all wrong.

He quite simply played checkers when he should have been playing poker. Openly and publicly declaring where you would like to play next season doesn't work in the NFL. He's under contract and Seattle has little incentive to give in to his wishes. The fact they know where he wants to go just increases their leverage. They can sit back and look at the Dallas cowboys with Earl in our secondary and determine whether such a move poses a risk to their own success in the conference. They could easily conclude that their chances of winning are better with earl in street clothes than on the dallas cowboys. So, whats their incentive to ask for less than a substantial draft pick/s? He should have just shut his mouth.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

Earl Thomas can say all he wants now, but if Seattle doesn't want to move him he's suiting up for them in Week 1. He has 8.5 million reasons he won't hold out into the season. Seattle still holds all the cards. It's possible they don't think they are completely rebuilding and can compete and ET makes them better, so they shouldn't just give him away - and they won't.

 

[atlantacowboy]

Not so sure about that. I tend to think Seattle overplayed their hand. They are asking way too much in return. That entire secondary has been pretty much jettisoned in Seattle. Kam Chancellor has one foot out the door due to his neck injury. That would just leave Earl Thomas..THATS IT. I don't think he wants to be part of that experiment with all new players that are unproven. Dallas on the other hand is on the upswing in the secondary. He would be a very nice piece to the puzzle here. Seattles' only leverage is they do have him under contract for another year...so that's kinda a big deal. But I think it behooves all parties involved to **** or get off the pot like NOW. Some sort of finality needs to be hashed out. Either trade him now,or work out an extension for him and he stays. I don't see Seattle letting this linger much longer,thus becoming a looming issue to the team. Common sense says something will get done soon.

They are asking for a kings ransom considering his age/salary and they are doing so b/c they have no other incentive to let him play in Dallas. In fact, As I stated above, since they know where Earl wants to go, they may decide that him in Dallas poses a big risk to their own conference chances. They probably figure it is better to play without Earl, keep him in street clothes, and save his salary than for him to be playing in Dallas. They don't have him either way. Worst case, he sits out. So, while they are weaker in the secondary in such case, they aren't weaker PLUS having strengthened a conference rival for an inconsequential draft pick. That tradeoff only makes sense if it strengthens their own position. If Earl wanted to play for the NYJ, he would probably already be in NY for a mid round pick at most.

IMO, he should have just expressed his displeasure in Seattle and tried to get an outright release rather than trying to engineer a trade to Dallas. He's got no leverage and will probably end up caving and playing in Seattle for another year.

 

[Stash]

He quite simply played checkers when he should have been playing poker. Openly and publicly declaring where you would like to play next season doesn't work in the NFL. He's under contract and Seattle has little incentive to give in to his wishes. The fact they know where he wants to go just increases their leverage. They can sit back and look at the Dallas cowboys with Earl in our secondary and determine whether such a move poses a risk to their own success in the conference. They could easily conclude that their chances of winning are better with earl in street clothes than on the dallas cowboys. So, whats their incentive to ask for less than a substantial draft pick/s? He should have just shut his mouth.

Do you think that Seattle is going to have "success" in 2018? With or without Earl Thomas?

 

[Stash]

Earl Thomas can say all he wants now, but if Seattle doesn't want to move him he's suiting up for them in Week 1. He has 8.5 million reasons he won't hold out into the season. Seattle still holds all the cards. It's possible they don't think they are completely rebuilding and can compete and ET makes them better, so they shouldn't just give him away - and they won't.

If they "don't think they are completely rebuilding", they're even bigger idiots than I've already given them credit for. The Seahawks are going nowhere. They'll be lucky to finish even second in their own division and have no shot at the playoffs this year - with or without Earl Thomas. They've lost a ton of talent, and it's questionable if any of the coaching changes they've made are for better or worse.

2018 is a transitional year for that team at best, and keeping Earl Thomas for another year while winning nothing makes little sense. Trading him gets them another long term building block for 2019 and not a maybe comp pick for 2020. It also saves them $8.5 million of cap space.

 

[PUSHfold]

I’d give a 3rd, the likelihood of us getting a player in the 3rd next year that’s as good or better than him is 50/50.

50/50? Are you ******** me? He's one of the best safeties to EVER play the game...More like 1 in 10000 chance we'll find someone like him in the 3rd round. He is STILL the best safety in the game.

 

[gimmesix]

People forget that when Thomas leaves in free agency, the hawks will get a 3rd rd draft pick (compensatory ).

So whatever a team offers in a trade has to be more than that. Otherwise even he sits and leaves they get a 3rd

I think our offer will ultimately be more than a third. We offered a third on draft day because draft picks have more value during the draft.

I don't think Dallas wants to offer a second, though, so I think there will be some moving parts involved. It could be a third-round pick and a player or a third and sixth or a second with Seattle giving back something like a fifth (which would be my least favorite).

As I've said in other threads, I don't expect movement on this until near the end of camp (when Dallas better understands its commodities), but Thomas holding out could up the timetable.

Unlike some, I don't think money is a real issue. Dallas can make Thomas the highest-paid safety and set up his contract similar to others, where his hits won't really be that big his first couple of years and if he's playing at a high level they can restructure. Essentially that would allow them to push big money down the road until cutting him costs at least similar to keeping him. (Other contracts signed after his will be structured in a way that they can be restructured to absorb any dead money.)

 

[atlantacowboy]

Do you think that Seattle is going to have "success" in 2018? With or without Earl Thomas?

I think Seattle would be a better team with him. They are wiling to pay him a lot of money this year to play. The next best option for Seattle would be to acquire a premium draft pick for him which nobody is offering. The 3rd best option is for Earl to sit out and they don't have to pay him. The worst option for them is to trade him to a conference rival for peanuts thus weakening their own franchise while strengthening the Dallas Cowboys.

 

[Idgit]

I sure hope not...12+ million per year for a 29 year old declining safety... I wouldn't pay 12 million for any safety playing in the NFL today.
I hope the Cowboy FO is not listening to all the hype and keyboards on this website.

He’s a hell of a declining Safety. And we don’t actually know its $12MM a year.

 

[OmerV]

I don’t get why some think to think this is impossible. It’s unlikely, but it’s definitely a possibility.

There was a point I thought that, but we are getting so late in the year and so close to training camp and preseason I believe if either side were going to budge they would have done it by now. Maybe an injury in TC or preseason could move things if either the Cowboys lose a safety of the Seahawks lose a player at a position the Cowboys might help them fill in a trade. Of course, aside from the teams, it may also be that Thomas would have to budge on his contract expectations.

 

[Stash]

I think Seattle would be a better team with him.

Sure they will. He might help them get to 8-8 rather than 6-10. But even that "better team" isn't winning anything in 2018. You know it. I know it. And they know it. They won't even come close to the Rams in their own division.

They are wiling to pay him a lot of money this year to play.

Like everyone wants to mention, he's under contract. Their choices are either to pay him, trade him, or cut him.

The next best option for Seattle would be to acquire a premium draft pick for him which nobody is offering.

Is a 3rd round pick "premium"?

The 3rd best option is for Earl to sit out and they don't have to pay him.

Or he sits out all but the six games required for him to earn his freedom in 2019.

The worst option for them is to trade him to a conference rival for peanuts thus weakening their own franchise while strengthening the Dallas Cowboys.

These Seahawks aren't "rivals" to anyone this year. They're not winning anything.

And I'd say the "worst option" is to continue down this road, forcing a disgruntled player to stay there while paying him $8.5 million, while you win nothing, and then watch him leave in 2019 and getting far less in return (if anything at all) in 2020.

 

[Stash]

There was a point I thought that, but we are getting so late in the year and so close to training camp and preseason I believe if either side were going to budge they would have done it by now. Maybe an injury in TC or preseason could move things if either the Cowboys lose a safety of the Seahawks lose a player at a position the Cowboys might help them fill in a trade. Of course, aside from the teams, it may also be that Thomas would have to budge on his contract expectations.

This is the part that I have the most trouble dealing with, mainly because I don't know what the demands are. But if this is just Thomas playing the game looking for somebody - anybody - to pay him over $12 million a year, then he can stay in Seattle.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

I don’t get why some think to think this is impossible. It’s unlikely, but it’s definitely a possibility.

It was extremely unlikely...maybe even impossible when it was circulated that he would NOT miss mini camp or training camp. Once he skipped mini camp it changed to this.

If he actually skips training camp, then there's a pretty decent chance.

 

[3rd_n_inches]

Part of me wants to see the progress made with the players we have now and the other part wants to see ET as a Cowboy.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

Thomas has a limited number of paychecks left in his career and he knows this - which is why he's holding out. But he won't miss game checks, because he won't be able to make up that money on the back end

 

[glimmerman]

I believe it’s a Roy Williams factor. JJ gave all that up for Roy and he didn’t pan out at all. If this was a safety in his mid 20’s maybe it would be more incentive. This is likely ET last big contract and soon like it or not he will start to fade. Who knows when, he may have 5 top level years left. It’s a gamble and ET wants lots of money and seahags want a 2nd round pick. To much. He can Instagram and tweet all he wants. Lower your price if you really want to finish your career a Cowboy. You have already made 47 milliOn dollars.

 

[Stash]

Part of me wants to see the progress made with the players we have now and the other part wants to see ET as a Cowboy.

Same here. I'd love to have the guy on our team, but I'd also like to see what Xavier Woods can be.

And I'm also not interested in giving up a 2nd round pick and then setting the market for highest paid safety. If that's a condition of this deal, I say no thanks!

 

[Stash]

Thomas has a limited number of paychecks left in his career and he knows this - which is why he's holding out. But he won't miss game checks, because he won't be able to make up that money on the back end

I think you're right about that. He might threaten, but I don't think he'll risk losing $500,000 a week in game checks.