Seattle's Hutchinson gets transition tag

[MrPhil]

FYI -

Seattle saves on cap while navigating holdoutsBy John Clayton
ESPN.com


The Seattle Seahawks saved a little less than $600,000 of cap room by making Pro Bowl left guard Steve Hutchinson a transition player instead of a franchise player, but they may have an extra month or so of uncertainty.


Steve Hutchinson
Offensive Guard
Seattle Seahawks

Profile


In a little bit of a surprise, the Seahawks didn't franchise Hutchinson. Part of the reason was the three holdouts they endured with Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones. The Seahawks franchised him three times but he held out until the start of the regular season.

Franchise players have guaranteed contracts but there are normally limited negotiations. Teams have until March 17 to get a long-term deal without the team losing the franchise tag, but normally, few deals get done. By transitioning him, he's allowed to negotiate with any other team; the Seahawks have the right to match any offer; and the one-year tender isn't guaranteed.

The transition tender is $6.391 million as opposed to the franchise number of $6.983 million.

Hutchinson's agent, Tom Condon, can try to come back with an offer that might be hard for the Seahawks to match. Hutchinson was thought to be one of the best free agents hitting the market.

The Seahawks will continue negotiating with him, but Hutchinson expects to make more than $6 million a year. The only guard to have earned such a lucrative pact was Dallas' Larry Allen.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

 

[Hostile]

Not shocking at all. Sean Alexander was the only other player they might consider putting the tag on, but RBs are more expensive to tag than OGs.

 

[Rush 2112]

What's the draft pick compensation for a transition guy if any?

 

[MichaelWinicki]

We really didn't have a shot with him.

 

[ravidubey]

What's the draft pick compensation for a transition guy if any?

I thought it was a 1st round pick, PLUS the tagging team gets a chance to match any deal that gets signed first. So if anyone signs Hutchinson, all they will have done is negotiated a deal for the Seahawks because Seattle will match and be done with it. That right to match is almost as big a deterrent as the 1st round pick.

The entire notion of "transition" tags and franchise tags have been misused and abused. Trans tags were supposed to go away, presumably early during the advent of free agency (ergo Erik Williams and I think Michael Irvin getting transition tags slapped on them early in the 1990's). The franchise tag was supposed to designate a single player one time and then not be used again for four years. Instead teams are using the tag, then pulling the tag and signing a deal so they can use the tag again the next year. Totally whacked.

 

[Rush 2112]

I did a quick google and nfl.com says no compensation.

 

[Alexander]

The only guard to have earned such a lucrative pact was Dallas' Larry Allen.

And we are still paying for that.

 

[AbeBeta]

And we are still paying for that.

How old was Larry when we did that deal? 31 - 7 year vet

How old is Hutchinson? 28 - 5 year vet.

Hard to use LA to argue against Hutch here.

 

[aikemirv]

http://www.nflpa.org/Members/main.asp?subPage=CBA+Complete#art20


Section 3. Transition Player Designations:

(a) Each Club shall be permitted to designate two Unrestricted Free Agents as Transition Players by February 25, 1993; one Unrestricted Free Agent as a Transition Player between February 1 and February 15, 1994; and one Unrestricted Free Agent as a Transition Player between February 1 and February 15 in the Final League Year, with the period ending at 4:00p.m. New York time. In addition, in each League Year during the term of this Agreement, each Club shall be permitted to designate one Unrestricted Free Agent or Restricted Free Agent as a Transition Player in lieu of designating a Franchise Player, if such Franchise Player designation is available to such Club, in addition to the Transition Player designations permitted by the immediately preceding sentence, during the same designation period as the Franchise Player designation period.

*Extension Agreement 2/25/98

(b) Any Club that designates a Transition Player shall receive the Rights of First Refusal specified in this Article notwithstanding the number of his Accrued Seasons. Any Transition Player shall be completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with any Club during the period from the first day of the League Year following the expiration of his last player contract to July 15, and any Club shall be completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with such player, without penalty or restriction, including, but not limited to, Draft Choice Compensation between Clubs of any kind, subject only to the Prior Club’s Right of First Refusal described in this Article.

Section 4. Required Tender for Transition Players:

(a) Any Club that designates a Transition Player shall be deemed on the first day of the League Year following the expiration of the player’s last contract to have automatically tendered the player a one year NFL Player Contract for the average of the ten largest Prior Year Salaries for players at the position at which he played the most games during the prior League Year, or 120% of his Prior Year Salary, whichever is greater. The tender may be withdrawn at any time, but if such tender is withdrawn, the player immediately becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent and thereafter is completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with any Club, and any Club shall be completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with such player, without any penalty or restriction, including, but not limited to, Draft Choice Compensation between Clubs or First Refusal Rights of any kind, or any signing period.

** See Page 70 - Article XX, Section 2(g) for Side Letter 6/23/93, Sec. 5 re: Calculation of Minimum Tender to Franchise and Transition Players.

Page 72

(b) For the 1993 League Year, any Club that designated a Transition Player who has not signed a Player Contract by 4:00 p.m. New York time on June 14, and which has not withdrawn its required tender, shall tender such player a one year NFL Player Contract for (i) the average of the ten largest Salaries in Player Contracts signed for the 1993 League Year as of May 6, 1993 for players at the position at which he played the most games during the prior League Year, or (ii) the amount of the required tender pursuant to subsection (a) above, whichever is greater. This tender may be withdrawn at any time, but if such tender is withdrawn, the player immediately becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent and thereafter is completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with any Club, and any Club shall be completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with any such player, without any penalty or restriction, including, but not limited to, Draft Choice Compensation between Clubs or First Refusal Rights of any kind, or any signing period.

(c) The calculation of any ten largest Salaries pursuant to this Article shall not include: (i) any Player Contract amount resulting from an acceptance of a tender pursuant to subsection (b)(i) above, without any increase in Salary above the tender; or (ii) any Player Contract amount resulting from a renegotiation of an existing Player Contract between the time of the designation and any applicable later date; provided, however, that Player Contract amounts in existence prior to such renegotiations shall be used if otherwise appropriate.

Section 5. Right of First Refusal for Transition Players: Any player designated as a Transition Player shall, at the expiration of his prior year Player Contract, be permitted to negotiate a Player Contract with any Club. When the Transition Player negotiates such an offer with a New Club, which the player desires to accept, he shall give to the Prior Club a completed Offer Sheet, signed by the player and the New Club, which shall contain the Principal Terms (as defined in Article XIX (Veteran Free Agency)) of the New Club’s offer. The Prior Club, within seven days from the date it receives the Offer Sheet, may exercise or not exercise its Right of First Refusal, which shall have the legal consequences set forth in Sections 3(b)‑(h), 4 and 6 of Article XIX (Veteran Free Agency) above, except that no Draft Choice Compensation shall be made with respect to such player, and, for the purposes of those provisions, the player and each Club shall otherwise have the same rights and obligations as for a Restricted Free Agent set forth in those provisions, notwithstanding the number of his Accrued Seasons.

 

[DLCassidy]

I thought it was a 1st round pick, PLUS the tagging team gets a chance to match any deal that gets signed first. So if anyone signs Hutchinson, all they will have done is negotiated a deal for the Seahawks because Seattle will match and be done with it. That right to match is almost as big a deterrent as the 1st round pick.

No, there is no compensation on the transition tag. All the tag gives Seattle is the right to match an offer. I think we should make an offer. There are a number of creative things you can do to make your offer difficult to match. If we look at Hutch as LA's replacement we may have very little increased cap expenditure this year and a savings vs LA's deal next year. Do we have a shot? You never know unless you try.

 

[superpunk]

This is a huge mistake by Seattle. Teams can overbid, alot like the Skins did before with Jets players. It's a big gamble, considering how hot Hutch is gonna be. And, if they lose him, they get nothing. I don't understand it at all.

 

[DLCassidy]

This is a huge mistake by Seattle. Teams can overbid, alot like the Skins did before with Jets players. It's a big gamble, considering how hot Hutch is gonna be. And, if they lose him, they get nothing. I don't understand it at all.

Totally agree. The only thing they gain by going with the transition tag vs. the franchise tag is around 600k of cap space. That's not much of a savings to risk losing the player for nothing.

 

[ravidubey]

This is a huge mistake by Seattle. Teams can overbid, alot like the Skins did before with Jets players. It's a big gamble, considering how hot Hutch is gonna be. And, if they lose him, they get nothing. I don't understand it at all.

Thanks for all the clarifications. What signing teams have tried to do in the past is guarantee enough money so that the cap number is higher than the original team can reasonably match. If you're 2 mill under the cap and a team signs one of your transition players for a 1st year cap number of 5 mill, you're kind of screwed unless you can convince your guy to take a better deal with a better cap number, but by then you have very little time to be creative.