2012 NFL Free Agents: QB Matt Flynn to Get Kevin Kolb Money?

While he's quickly turned into a backup plan for Peyton Manning, it's still good to be Green Bay Packers free-agent quarterback Matt Flynn. 

According to Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, Flynn may still be looking at a contract that resembles what Kevin Kolb received last summer from the Arizona Cardinals.

An NFL executive whose team may sign Flynn in free agency explained the situation to Cole.

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Unless I’m way off, Flynn is going to get a contract that looks a lot like [Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin] Kolb’s. That’s the price of doing business in this league.

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The Cardinals traded a second-round pick in 2012 and Pro Bowl cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to the Philadelphia Eagles for Kolb after the lockout lifted, and then gave him a five-year, $63.5 million contract extension that contained $22 million in guarantees.

The Packers decided against franchise-tagging Flynn by Monday's deadline, so no trade will be needed to acquire Flynn. He'll be an unrestricted free agent—free to sign with any team—by next Tuesday, March 13. 

Still, $60 million-plus is a lot of money to throw at a guy with just two professional starts. And teams obviously have the performance of Kolb in his first year in Arizona to compare Flynn to, which could damper any momentum that says Flynn will receive as much in total contractual value and guaranteed money as Kolb did last summer. 

In nine games with the Cardinals in 2011, Kolb threw for 1,955 yards and nine touchdowns. Arizona went just 3-6 during those nine games. Backup quarterback John Skelton went 5-2 as the starter.   

Kolb started seven games for the Eagles as an injury fill-in before the Cardinals made the move last summer. Flynn was also granted the opportunity to showcase his skill set because of injury.

After Aaron Rodgers suffered his second concussion of the 2010 season against the Detroit Lions, Flynn started the next week and nearly led the Packers past the Patriots in a nationally televised road game. He threw for three scores and one interception in a 31-27 loss.

The Packers then rested Rodgers to conclude the 2011 season, which allowed Flynn to throw for a franchise record 480 yards and six touchdowns in a narrow win over the Lions.

It's obviously a very small sample size, but NFL people started falling in love with the potential of Flynn as a starter in the league next season.

An NFC personnel executive broke down the comparison between Flynn and Kolb.

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Kolb has a better arm and better feet that Flynn, but Flynn has better instincts and feel for the game.

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But despite the perceived price tag for Flynn, there's plenty of worry too. 

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I think he’s going to be the type of guy who plays six games, the other teams get him on tape and then they figure him out.

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Manning can only satisfy one team's need at the quarterback position. Same goes for Robert Griffin III. With more than two NFL teams in the market for a quarterback Flynn will get paid to be someone's starter in 2012.

The only question remaining is how much will "Team X" pay for Flynn? Kolb money is still lurking for Flynn.