Seahawks Earl Thomas contract dispute may be his own fault

Seahawks safety Earl Thomas wrote about his contract dispute with Seattle on the Players Tribune. What he said was interesting but also a bit wrong.

12s all know what is happening. Earl Thomas, possible future Hall of Famer at free safety, is holding out for an extension. Is he deserving of one? Probably. Is he addressing the situation incorrectly? Yes.

Here’s the thing. Thomas is a great player. Since his rookie season in Seattle he has made the team better. There can be no doubt that having Thomas playing centerfield allows the Seahawks to do a lot of different things defensively they would not normally be able to do.

But here’s the other bit. Any defense coached by Pete Carroll – and really, the head coach in Seattle is the defensive coach too – is going to have a good secondary. I am not saying there are players currently on Seattle’s roster, or nearly any NFL roster, that can take the place of Thomas. He is a great player.

But Seattle would be able to overcome somewhat his absence. Thomas is not as important as a quarterback. There is no mistaking Thomas for Russell Wilson, for instance. Thomas, in the scheme of Seattle’s defense, is probably more replaceable than linebacker Bobby Wagner. Should Wagner make as much as Thomas when we weigh value? Probably.

But in Thomas’s lengthy (and I do mean lengthy) bon mot on the Players Tribune, Thomas talks about why he feels the need to hold out as long as possible in 2018. Thomas talks about the short-term careers of most NFL players. He is right. Many players have a short window in their lives to set themselves up for their futures.

And yes, NFL players have special physical skills that allow them to make more money than the average person. Much more than the average person actually. And don’t blame the players for that. The average person happily hands over their cash to pay these physical freaks if you really think about it in terms of ticket prices and going to a game and watching games on DirectTV, etc., etc.. The fact that many professional athletes make way more than the most of the rest of us isn’t their fault; it is ours.

But in Thomas’s case, the Seahawks have given him money. John Schneider said in essence to Thomas in their last contract negotiation, if you sign on this line Seattle will pay you over $10 million a season in 2017 and 2018 and nearly that much in 2016. That is a lot of money.

Seattle wasn’t skimping on Thomas; The team was paying more than market value at the time of Thomas’s last contract negotiation. So when Thomas writes…

"That kind of shook me — but it was also a good lesson of how, at any given time, a team can refuse to honor your contract and get rid of you. So no matter how much you like a team or you care about the game, you have to look out for yourself when it comes to the business end of things."

…then Thomas is wrong. Seattle isn’t refusing to honor a contract with Thomas. Thomas is refusing to honor the contract. The Seahawks at the time worked out a fair deal with their free safety and now the free safety is refusing to honor the deal, not the team. That’s the important part to remember.

Schneider has also not said that Seattle won’t extend Thomas. Given the option, the team probably would. And at more money than Thomas already makes. But Thomas isn’t giving the Seahawks a real chance, so the fault with Thomas holding out isn’t on Seattle. The fault lies with Thomas.