Matt Flynn's Choice of the Seahawks: Good or Bad Reflection on Seattle?

The Seattle Seahawks were able to secure the consolation prize in the Peyton Manning sweepstakes. Their signing of Matt Flynn in fact signals a turning point in the franchise, but detractors are claiming the decision won't work out for Pete Carroll.

Speculation prior to the start of free agency was that Flynn would secure a contract similar to Kevin Kolb's 2011 five-year deal worth up to $63 million. There has also been supposition that Flynn's performance in 2012 will follow Kolb's showing in his first year in Arizona.

Even though Seattle secured Flynn for much less than the original speculation, many analysts have given the Seahawks a poor grade for their contract with Flynn.

There is a current stigma on any unproven quarterback, largely tied to Kolb’s struggles in Arizona. However, it is hard to overlook the issues the Cardinals had with pass blocking and their lack of receiving options beyond Larry Fitzgerald. There is still a chance Kolb could turn his career around, but the outlook on a player shouldn't be tied to the performance of one other player.

While analogies to Kolb have been plentiful, Flynn has shown enough in his limited appearances to question why he shouldn’t be compared to a different Matt…be it Hasselbeck or Schaub. Both of those players took over as a starter with limited experience and have posted impressive careers. Hasselbeck did it in Seattle, while Schaub had starting experience in Atlanta prior to taking over for the Houston Texans.

Flynn has shown solid decision-making and great accuracy in his performances, along with the ability to throw on the run. He lacks elite arm strength, but can still hit the intermediate out-routes that many college quarterbacks struggle with in the NFL.

Perhaps NFL franchises were a bit leery of offering an unproven quarterback a huge contract following Kolb’s initial season as a Cardinal. Flynn agreed to a three-year contract that will pay him $19.5 million, $10 million of which is guaranteed. There is an additional $5 million in escalators based on his level of play, with an additional $2 million in difficult-to-obtain incentives.

If Flynn isn’t able to demonstrate franchise quarterback skills, the biggest issue for Seattle is that they might not make a move in the 2012 NFL Draft to secure a potential franchise quarterback. They can move-on from Flynn after the 2012 or 2013 season with little impact to their cap-comfortable payroll.

In all, this appears to be a great move by the Seahawks' front office. They secured the No. 2 free agent quarterback at a favorable contract, potentially filling the biggest need that kept the team from being a true competitor last season.

However, analyst grades for Flynn have been lacking. Seattle was given a “C” grade by one source, complaining about the $26.5 million contract. Perhaps there was a strong misunderstanding of the contract that precipitated that analysis.

A more common complaint with the Flynn signing is that Seattle overpaid for a player when his former offensive coordinator had no interest in signing him. Joe Philbin worked with Flynn for four seasons in Green Bay and is now the head coach for the Miami Dolphins. Most prognosticators had Flynn signing with him.

Walter Football gave the signing a “B,” stating: “The Dolphins were out of the Peyton Manning sweepstakes, yet they didn't make much of an effort to acquire Flynn. Why didn't Philbin want to sign his former quarterback? This wreaks of Charlie Weis and the Chiefs passing on Jimmy Clausen twice in the 2010 NFL Draft. We all saw how that worked out.”

I countered the argument with speculation that the Dolphins had in-fact made a hard push to sign Flynn. Instead of choosing to play in Miami, Flynn made his decision based on the direction and potential of the franchise. This was based, in part, on reports of comments made by owner Stephen Ross.

“If my coach said I want Matt Flynn as our starting quarterback next year he would be here, but I couldn't pay Matt Flynn $8 million to come here. If I end up getting him, it's a gamble … and I'm still drafting a quarterback. I'm still looking for another option."

These comments are troubling and have the feel of an owner backpedaling to save face. How can one simultaneously assert he would have signed a player for his coach while claiming he didn’t because the asking price was too high?

Further, it wouldn’t have taken $8 million a year to sign Flynn. His base pay is a little north of $6 million per season, and if Flynn plays well enough to make more than $8 million per season, I’m sure the Dolphins would have been all too happy to have him on their payroll.

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Philbin provided a bit of clarification on what actually transpired:

I think we made an aggressive push. We got him in here relatively quickly. Again, we had a great meeting. Matt and I had some conversations, a number of conversations prior to his arrival to Miami. We had some subsequent ones after. He’d probably be able to give you better answer as to why he chose to go elsewhere. All I know is when we were together the visit was excellent. I thought he got along very well with our offensive staff. He and I obviously have a relationship together.

Again, you need to ask Matt Flynn why he’s in Seattle. There’s a myriad factors that go into why people make decisions about their own future, which is their prerogative. And clubs have their own prerogative as to how they are going to decide to move forward. And so again, it always takes two people to get a marriage and so I wish him well. He’s a great young man. But he’s better to ask why he’s in Seattle.

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It seems fairly clear that Philbin wanted Flynn and was surprised by the quarterback’s decision. There is a valid reason for the decision, and it wasn’t financial in nature.

I listened to a radio interview with Flynn that gives even more credence to Flynn choosing Seattle over Miami for non-financial reasons. Flynn discussed why he would choose a franchise that is so geographically removed from his home in Louisiana. Further, he will likely encounter a tougher road to taking the starting role than had he choose to join Philbin in Miami.

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I am close with Joe, I think a lot of him. I think he's gonna do a great job in Miami. I think he's gonna be a really successful head coach in the league. So when it came down to it, I just felt like it was a better situation for me - I felt it's a program that's really on the rise, doing the right thing, is being led by the right type of people. And you look at it, I think it's the second youngest team in the NFL, and so there's a lot of talent everywhere and I think it's a team that in the very near future has a chance to be special.

Matt Flynn on the radio with Kevin Calabro and Jim Moore on 710 ESPN.

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Seattle does appear to be a team on the rise. They lost nine games in 2011, but they were within one score in the fourth quarter in eight of those games. They had the ball inside five minutes with the chance to tie or take the lead in six of those contests. They were successful in exactly zero of those games.

I’m a firm believer that good teams win close games and am not about to assume those close losses equate to wins next season. Seattle wasn’t good enough in 2011 to pull out those games, attributable to one defensive letdown, two special teams collapses, and the offense’s inability to generate a game-winning drive.

Seattle had three first-year starters in the secondary last season. The fourth was second-year free safety Earl Thomas. Still, three of the four made the Pro Bowl. This unit will be more cohesive in 2012 and the expected addition of an edge rusher could make the defense an elite unit.

On offense, the team was limited by a slow start with the offensive line and mediocre play at the quarterback position. It is too early to say either of those factors will improve, but the 2011 starters showed marked improvement by mid-season from the first two games (10 sacks allowed, 95 total rushing yards).

If Flynn is able to provide better play from under center, the Seahawks have the ability to be a 10-win team. His play will likely dictate the direction of his new franchise and provide the only important commentary on the Seahawks' decision and ability to sign him.

Until Flynn is able to take the field in Seahawk Blue, his decision is a positive reflection of the future and direction the Seahawks are headed. For that alone, the Seahawks deserve an “A” for their ability to convince Flynn to join the club for non-financial reasons.