Earl Thomas Resigned by Hawks

[Rvnight18]

Mike Garafolo ‏@MikeGarafolo 6m

As @RapSheet said, four years, $40 million with $27m+ gtd for Thomas. That's in NEW $ in addition to the $4.725m he's owed this year.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

That's a lot of coin, but his elite range is what allows their D to do what it does. I'll be interested to see what happens with Sherman, now.

 

[Rvnight18]

That's a lot of coin, but his elite range is what allows their D to do what it does. I'll be interested to see what happens with Sherman, now.

Exactly. The kid covers ground... a lot of ground. It will be interesting to see how much coin that secondary eats up

 

[Crimsoncrew]

The 24-year-old Thomas was a lynchpin to the Seattle Seahawks' Super Bowl championship. His size, speed, hitting ability and nose for the football make him one of the NFL's most indispensible defensive backs.

Huh? The guy is a hair over 5'10" and right around 200 pounds. His size is adequate, but really only that. He's frankly on the shorter side, and his 31 1/4" arms aren't helping him all that much. It's his speed and instincts that make him special.

 

[Chamoanlad]

ET is worth it and I hope they do keep giving their guys top dollars (Sherm, Wilson, etc). Having a bunch of really talented guys on different teams stay for the long term, creates a great rivalry. Part of what made our rivalry with the Cards have so much animosity in the past.

I'm interested to see what Sherm gets though. Does he want more money then what Revis is at now (12mill) or does he want to be the highest paid CB ever (16mill)?

 

[maniax]

The question to ask is who is more easily replaceable, Sherman or Earl Thomas.
I am not sure. History says it's the safety that is more replaceable.

 

[purguy12]

Damn, Hawks are in trouble between him, Sherman and Wilson you are talking about a lot of money. They will have the highest paid Safety and CB.

 

[purguy12]

sherman has to get 12-14 mill per year. Atleast

 

[Crimsoncrew]

The question to ask is who is more easily replaceable, Sherman or Earl Thomas.
I am not sure. History says it's the safety that is more replaceable.

I don't think that's true of the Hawks, though. They have had success plugging a variety of different CBs in. Thomas' range his absolutely huge for them. It allows their corners to press, and frees up Chancellor to play in the box. I don't think Thomas' importance can be understated. Without him, they'd likely have to change their entire system. I'm sure they'd still be aggressive, but they would struggle to shut teams down the way they did last year.

 

[Chamoanlad]

Damn, Hawks are in trouble between him, Sherman and Wilson you are talking about a lot of money. They will have the highest paid Safety and CB.

Not really. They saved quite a bit with letting Bryant, Tate, and Clemons go this year. They also got the big help from the salary cap going up so much this year and it looking to go up quite a bit in future years. They can afford big contracts to Wilson, Sherman, and Thomas just like we could give big contracts to Kap, Aldon, and Iupati or Crab while still giving big money to Willis, Bow, and Davis.

It's the second tier really good guys that both teams lose out on. Just like we lost Tarrel Brown, the Hawks will probably lose Maxwell. We've lost our NT's a couple years in a row, they lost Red Bryant. The big name guys can be fit under the cap as long as it's not too ridiculous. If the Hawks pay 13-14 mill for Sherman then it hurts, but they'll be ok. Paying over 16mill could be a problem though if he wants to be paid more than Revis ever got.

 

[Dodub]

Seahawks are having a problem that is both every teams dream and nightmare. It's their dream because they have amassed tons of talent through the draft, so much so that they won you a Super Bowl. It's their nightmare because the players are too good and you can't pay everyone.

Wilson is looking at possibly $100 million while Sherman is looking at possibly the biggest contract we've seen for a defensive player.

 

[supreme_clientele81]

I think this signing is a good one for the Hawks. It will be intresing on what happens with Sherman and Chancellor. Will the egomaniac Sherman take less to stay with the Hawks? TBD

 

[Pattersonca65]

Seahawks are having a problem that is both every teams dream and nightmare. It's their dream because they have amassed tons of talent through the draft, so much so that they won you a Super Bowl. It's their nightmare because the players are too good and you can't pay everyone.

Wilson is looking at possibly $100 million while Sherman is looking at possibly the biggest contract we've seen for a defensive player.

Every talented team in the NFL has to go through this and the days of being deep on both sides of the ball are over. The Seahawks as the 49ers will have to do is fill in cheap talent in spots and teams will have their weaknesses. The NFL wants it thar way.

 

[purguy12]

Not really. They saved quite a bit with letting Bryant, Tate, and Clemons go this year. They also got the big help from the salary cap going up so much this year and it looking to go up quite a bit in future years. They can afford big contracts to Wilson, Sherman, and Thomas just like we could give big contracts to Kap, Aldon, and Iupati or Crab while still giving big money to Willis, Bow, and Davis.

It's the second tier really good guys that both teams lose out on. Just like we lost Tarrel Brown, the Hawks will probably lose Maxwell. We've lost our NT's a couple years in a row, they lost Red Bryant. The big name guys can be fit under the cap as long as it's not too ridiculous. If the Hawks pay 13-14 mill for Sherman then it hurts, but they'll be ok. Paying over 16mill could be a problem though if he wants to be paid more than Revis ever got.

Yes but none of them will be top dollar guy at their position.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Yes but none of them will be top dollar guy at their position.

Yes, but the top-paid FS makes a lot less than the top-paid...well, pretty much anyone else. Among the franchise tags, only TE is lower outside of STs. Guard and center may be in the ballpark. If I had to pick between #1 FS money for Earl Thomas or top-5 money WR money for Crabtree, I'd take Thomas.

 

[Texas Jefe]

He's an outstanding football player. Congrats to him and the Seahawks.

 

[Mariners_44]

After next year Lynch will have a $9mill cap hit in 2015, and all the while Christine Michael (the future starting RB) will be waiting to take over with two years left on his rookie contract. Lynch gets cut, his money goes to Russ/Sherm, and Michael takes over on the cheap. Maxwell will become a free agent next year if he demands a huge salary, and Tharold Simon (red shirted last year) will be put in his place still in his rookie contract. Not saying it'll be easy, but with the way Pete and John have amassed talent it'll be plug in play with the core in place. The Niners are built the same way, but it doesn't help when key pieces have off the field issues such as Aldon. Dudes a beast, but once figured to be one of the core guys may now have to be replaced; thats what Harbaugh does well though, finding talent to fit his system. As long as Pete and Harbs are still around it'll be these two at the top.

 

[supreme_clientele81]

After next year Lynch will have a $9mill cap hit in 2015, and all the while Christine Michael (the future starting RB) will be waiting to take over with two years left on his rookie contract. Lynch gets cut, his money goes to Russ/Sherm, and Michael takes over on the cheap. Maxwell will become a free agent next year if he demands a huge salary, and Tharold Simon (red shirted last year) will be put in his place still in his rookie contract. Not saying it'll be easy, but with the way Pete and John have amassed talent it'll be plug in play with the core in place. The Niners are built the same way, but it doesn't help when key pieces have off the field issues such as Aldon. Dudes a beast, but once figured to be one of the core guys may now have to be replaced; thats what Harbaugh does well though, finding talent to fit his system. As long as Pete and Harbs are still around it'll be these two at the top.

That's going to be a tough sell to your team age fan base if you cut Lynch. Especially if he plays well this year. We faced this with Gore 3 years ago. Good luck with that.

 

[RedneckNiner]

Earl Thomas was one of my biggest draft crushes when the Niners traded up I was praying it was for him instead it was Anthony Davis which isnt a bad thing. Earl Thomas and Eddie Lacy easily my two biggest draft crushes of the last decade...

 

[Crimsoncrew]

After next year Lynch will have a $9mill cap hit in 2015, and all the while Christine Michael (the future starting RB) will be waiting to take over with two years left on his rookie contract. Lynch gets cut, his money goes to Russ/Sherm, and Michael takes over on the cheap. Maxwell will become a free agent next year if he demands a huge salary, and Tharold Simon (red shirted last year) will be put in his place still in his rookie contract. Not saying it'll be easy, but with the way Pete and John have amassed talent it'll be plug in play with the core in place. The Niners are built the same way, but it doesn't help when key pieces have off the field issues such as Aldon. Dudes a beast, but once figured to be one of the core guys may now have to be replaced; thats what Harbaugh does well though, finding talent to fit his system. As long as Pete and Harbs are still around it'll be these two at the top.

Those are high expectations for a guy with 18 touches in three games, all garbage time. Michael has some talent, to be sure, but expecting him to seamlessly replace the most physical starting back in the NFL (I wouldn't qualify it, but Tolbert is probably slightly tougher to bring down) is asking a lot. A less physical back behind that OL and it's very unlikely the Hawks enjoy the success they did this past year. And as good as Schneider and Carroll have done adding defensive talent, their track record on offense is far shakier. Should be interesting to watch, but I have trouble seeing them cut bait entirely on Lynch after next season.