So Earl Thomas doesn’t feel the need to show up for organized team activities. And the Seahawks, it seems, don’t plan to give him a contract extension that would make him the highest-paid safety in the league.
So who should fans and teammates be upset with right now?
That’s easy — nobody.
There’s a sect of people out there who think missing voluntary workouts indicates a lack of dedication. They think any opportunity for a player to join one’s teammates should be viewed as sacrosanct.
Missing OTAs causes locker-room tension and disappointment among fans, right? Meh, not really.
Marshawn Lynch used to skip OTAs yet remained a beloved teammate and elite running back. Michael Bennett missed the last couple as well, yet was still seen as a leader on the defensive side of the ball.
Bennett eventually lost fans due to non-football-related actions, but Lynch will be forever iconic in Seattle. CenturyLink Field could hit quadruple decibels if Beast Mode ever raises the 12th Man flag.
Still, when the season is five months away, there are those who scoff at the idea of a man with an eight-figure annual salary working out on his own. If there are reps to be had with teammates — especially with a relatively new secondary that Thomas could help mold — why isn’t he out there?
It’s a fair question, but so is Thomas’ decision. He doesn’t have to be there, so he is choosing not to.
Thomas’ discontent at his current contract situation has been publicly documented. He has told ESPN that he feels disrespected by the organization, and infamously told Cowboys coach Jason Garrett to “come get me,” after last December’s win in Dallas.
In the final year of his four-year, $40 million deal, it’s likely that Thomas wants a contract that will yield him more than the $13 million a year safety Eric Berry is making with the Chiefs. And given how they appeared open to trading Thomas over the offseason, you can rest assured the Seahawks don’t want to pay a soon-to-be 30-year-old that kind of dough.
Thomas may not be handling this perfectly by skipping OTAs, but it’s not an unprecedented or egregious action. Plus, given how he has always been such an off-the-wall, almost isolated teammate, he doesn’t risk losing status as a leader, because it wasn’t that high to begin with.
Should his holding out bleed over to minicamp — which isn’t voluntary — then fans have justifiable reason to be concerned. But aside from ego protection, that wouldn’t do Thomas much good.
The truth is, Thomas doesn’t have a whole lot of leverage here. With all the talent the Seahawks lost since last year, he is hardly the final piece to a potential Super Bowl champion.
And considering the Seahawks’ recent luck with third contracts, paying Thomas best-safety-in-the-league money would be risky at best and downright stupid at worst.
Lynch retired in the midst of his third contract with the Seahawks after an injury-riddled 2015. Bennett was traded to Philadelphia before even making it to his third contract.
Thomas isn’t a drop-back quarterback whose arm can carry him to another seven productive years. He’s an aging safety who becomes decreasingly valuable with every tenth of a second that comes off his 40 time.
Should the Seahawks choose not to extend him, there’s a chance he’ll haunt them on another team. But the Seahawks have already felt the haunt of ill-advised extensions before.
The best thing Thomas can do is show up to minicamp and approach the upcoming season as he always does. He’s a near peerless worker with a borderline obsession with game film, and that’s unlikely to change.
If he puts together another future Hall-of-Fame like season, he’ll eventually get his money while adding W’s to the Seahawks’ record. If he holds out due to discontent, he’ll only cost himself dollars the way Kam Chancellor did before him.
Clearly, Thomas is still valued by his teammates. Linebacker Bobby Wagner, the man who briefly beefed with Earl over Twitter last year, shouted out his support for him at the end of a radio interview Monday.
This is all just business. Nobody should be upset.
Not yet, at least.
