Earl Thomas is one of the most accomplished safeties of his era but is entering his ninth season and has voiced concerns about an uncertain future in Seattle. And the Seahawks are open to negotiations.
While Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports wrote the team could possibly land multiple Day 2 picks for the soon-to-be 29-year-old safety, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reports the Seahawks would try to land a first-round pick plus an additional mid-round selection in Thomas talks.
Seattle trading arguably its best player and a future Hall of Fame candidate would signal a rebuild, at least to some degree, would be commencing. The team is shopping Michael Bennett as well, and the futures of Super Bowl cornerstones Kam Chancellor and Cliff Avril are in doubt. Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright are essentially the only members of that defensive nucleus whose names have not been associated with uncertainty thus far this offseason.
Thomas is seeking a new contract, one that won’t be cheap. Eric Berry‘s $13MM-AAV deal could be in sight for the league’s former highest-paid safety. The former Texas Longhorn is on the Seahawks’ books at $10.4MM this season.
No active safety has more than Thomas’ three first-team All-Pro distinctions, and with his age-30 season not set to commence until 2019, he stands to have plenty more good years left. He backed off the possibly not-so-serious retirement talk that occurred while he was out after breaking his leg in 2016 and started 14 games last season.
Condotta lists the Texans, Raiders and Steelers as some possible suitors. Oakland GM Reggie McKenzie is a close friend of John Schneider, and the Raiders need safety help alongside Karl Joseph after Reggie Nelson‘s contract expired. They don’t have a ton of salary cap space and may be eyeing top-market corner Trumaine Johnson with much of it. The Steelers are in dire need of coverage help and may be ready to jettison their most experienced safety, Mike Mitchell, to create cap space. But the Le’Veon Bell situation and a lack of cap space clouds Pittsburgh’s spending outlook. The Texans have a need at safety, more cap space than both teams, and they made a deal with the Seahawks in October.
Thomas, though, connected himself to the Cowboys after the Seahawks’ December in win Dallas. He’d surely welcome a trip to his home state, but the Cowboys don’t have a friendly cap situation either. They are set to use their franchise tag on Demarcus Lawrence, which would be worth $16.2MM of their space. OverTheCap has Dallas as holding $17.4MM in space going into the weekend.
he’ll be with the PATRIOT’S
They’ll never part with those picks and they have enough guys on the wrong side of 30.
What would the Pats do with Devin McCourty?
They’ll part with their first for the right player, but if Seattle insists on a first they could do better than the 31st overall which is practically a 2nd.
A 1st and a mid round selection? Doubt that’s happening
A conditional 3rd for 2019 and a 3rd for this year is what I would expect.
DON’T DO IT SEAHAWKS…. he’s a HOFer and well liked amongst Seahawk fans
And he also ran up to Jason Garrett after the Seahawks-Cowboys game asking Garrett to try to get him on the Cowboys. He doesn’t want to be there no matter how much Seahawks fans love him
If the cowboys were smart they would let Lawrence walk and use the money they had designated for him on both Thomas and Bennett.. The cowboys have built enough depth along the D-line to handle Lawrence’s exit
Not factual at all. Pass rush has plagued their defense forever and once they finally find a guy, you want to let him go?
They are going to tag him and let him prove it again next year before signing him to $17M+ AAV
Letting Dez go would make more sense
Dallas cowboys. Is where he’s belongs
A 4th and a 5th is all they will get. He is almost 30 and wants real big money maybe 15 mil a year.
I’d trust drinking Mexican Tap Water before I trusted what Jason La Canfora writes. A gossip columnist who is routinely wrong and leans on “his sources” …which is likely gas station bathroom graffiti.
No one is giving a first round pick for someone who’s a free agent next year and will cost them a lot of money. I doubt you’ll get a single 2nd round pick either let alone multiple.
The Cowboys don’t have the cap for him. And to me he’s only worth a 3rd and a 5th.