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We got him! Hope he didn't break the bank! http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... h-new-deal

The Seattle Seahawks have locked up star safety Earl Thomas to a blockbuster long-term extension, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport broke the news Monday, per a source informed of the situation.

The new deal will make Thomas the highest-paid safety in the NFL, Rapoport adds.

Thomas, 24, was the team's first-round pick in 2010, and he's started all 16 games each season since being drafted.

Thomas was a key member of the team's Super Bowl winning season, coming in third place for NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.

More details to come.

The comments section again doesn't dissapoint. There goes the ability for Seattle to re sign anyone else? LMFAO. These guys are PRAYING Seattle can't keep Sherman or Wilson, LOL. Stinks of desperation.....tough choices are coming ( Okung,Avril etc) but there is PLENTY of money to sign them if they want to do it.

I worry more about not being able to resign our LB's... I think they are way underrated. Next year will be the tipping point in the Cap.

If it goes up another 10m, like this year, we should be OK. If not, we will lose some key players.

js

LB is the most replaceable position, as it has been shown with K.J. Wright and Malcom Smith just stepping in and performing well with good coaching. As long as they keep Wagner I'm happy. And this once again underscores why I love this front office being the polar opposite of the Ruskell years. Being able to resign their own BEFORE they are eligible for free agency. Next up Sherman.

Fantastic news! That's one down, two to go.

first report that I saw $$$ said 40m for 4 years. That doesn't seem to be breaking the bank. Wasn't he to get 7.5m this year?

js

1 down 2 to go!

You are deluding youself if you don't think the Richard Sherman Corporation knew a deal with Earl was pending.

And it suggests to me that the new Sherman deal will get done before the draft ... they are not gonna leave a national media magnet like Sherman blowin' in the wind.

And the money going to Earl is not going to compromise the total $$$ in the Sherman deal ... although it could affect the terms.

Sherman might end up with another $500K per year after they went over the script.

And there could be a HUGE cap jump next year.

zoom

A paragraph from PFT:
(cut and paste because I have the technical ability to do that)

"PFT has confirmed Ian Rapoport of NFL Network’s report that Earl Thomas agreed to a four-year, $40 million extension — a five-year, $44.75 million deal with his 2014 salary included — with the Seahawks on Monday. Rapoport also reported that $27.775 million of that $40 million is guaranteed. Saints safety Jairus Byrd and Chiefs safety Eric Berry are next on the list when it comes to base salaries and Byrd got a bit less guaranteed money when he signed with New Orleans."

Thanks for the numbers North. I wouldn't say that is breaking the bank. It will look/feel that way when they do extend Sherman just given what he is currently being paid, RW as well.

It hurts to pay a safety $10m per year but if anyone deserves it it's Earl.

So im guessing this contract essentially guarantees 3 years and he would have to suck to not see the 4th.

This is practically a guaranteed contract.

Bird Droppings wrote:You are deluding youself if you don't think the Richard Sherman Corporation knew a deal with Earl was pending.

And it suggests to me that the new Sherman deal will get done before the draft ... they are not gonna leave a national media magnet like Sherman blowin' in the wind.

And the money going to Earl is not going to compromise the total $$$ in the Sherman deal ... although it could affect the terms.

Sherman might end up with another $500K per year after they went over the script.

And there could be a HUGE cap jump next year.

zoom

I say that's about $3M/per shy. Expect $13.5M a year for Sherm at least.

Anything over $12m/year would make him the highest paid corner, and I think that is what he is really after.

ChalkBob ...

I wasn't referring to $500k over Earl's salary.

I was referring to an additional $500 on where he already was with the Hawks, which is definitely north of $10 with $13 likely.

zoom

How are going to sign Suh unless everyone takes a discount????.........

Sounds like it's assumed that Sherm's going to get more than ET?

I didn't think that was the case (don't corners make less than safties?), but I may have been thinking of something else.

Just please *please* tell me they stay hungry after the big pay days...

Cool thing if true, is that Earls cap number will probably actually go down for this season ( at least according to Clayton) which gives the Sea Hawks MORE money not less to double up on long term contracts this off season....the money will have to be paid of course, but the hit, and the way they STRUCTURE these contracts is the MOST important aspect of retaining your own players...

Also smart by Thomas structuring a shorter term deal ( which puts him at 28/29 when contract is done) allowing him to "hit the jackpot" again if he maintains his high level of play over the next four years.

"Also smart by Thomas structuring a shorter term deal ( which puts him at 28/29 when contract is done) allowing him to "hit the jackpot" again if he maintains his high level of play over the next four years."

Excellent point, HC!

Great news.

GO SEAHAWKS!!! WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

SalmonBB wrote:"Also smart by Thomas structuring a shorter term deal ( which puts him at 28/29 when contract is done) allowing him to "hit the jackpot" again if he maintains his high level of play over the next four years."

Excellent point!

Great news.

GO SEAHAWKS!!! WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

I agree with that, too. Not that I think it will ever happen to Earl, but players have been known to hit their peaks early, like Lofa. 4 years is about right.

Not that he will ever have to worry about money after this contract, but even a contract at 28 or 29 could be a huge one, too.

This is a 4 year extension, meaning we have ET locked up for 5 more years. What is not to LOVE about that? I really love the way this guy plays and prepares and really thought that he should have been DMVP last season. I believe he was not selected because of the overall strength/dominance of our # 1 ranked defense.

Congrats, Earl. You played your way into this contract. Congrats too, fellow 12s....Dude is a winner.

He and Sherman definitely siphoned votes from eachother, I'm betting that unless there is an injury or one of them has a bad year they'll continue to do so. Kuechley winning that award was kind of a joke actually. He was at best the 6th best defensive player this year. My personal top 5 (if I remove my hometown bias):

1. Watt
2. Sherman
3. Thomas
4. Quinn
5. Bowman

Kuechly is a hell of a player, but he is a product of the PR machine at this point. He honestly didn't deserve the rookie defensive player of the year, much less the Defensive Player of the Year this past season. Tackles are great and all, and he gets a lot, but IMPACT plays are FAR more important, the league WANTS an Urlacher, he fits the bill, he gets pushed. Hell IMO, he isn't even the best MLB much less the best defensive player. He may not even crack my top five MLB's to be honest, and the idea that. 20 Tackles in ONE game earns a player the MVP is silly.

I think Bowman deserved it much more so than Kuechly, as he was a far more impressive LB. Watt had another dominating year on a team with poor results so that often negatively impacts the votes - Cortez Kennedy a long time ago was one exception.

ET plays such an important role in this Defense that it's hard to argue he isn't the most important Defensive player on this team. Sherman can debate it, but what Earl brings not many other teams have, and his play lets the CBs play the way they do. By no means do I intend to diminish Sherm's play, but what they each bring works well together and ET's play helps the other side - in this case Maxwell, play how he is coached.

My top 5 is close to kalibane:

t1: Thomas and Watt
3: Sherman
4: Quinn
5: Bowman

If we're talking DMVP, then Thomas wins just because of the fact that our entire scheme relies on him, more than the Texans' scheme relies on Watt. Thinking in terms of DPOY, then I can't pick between Watt and ET without bias.

Kuechly is certainly in my top 3 MLB. It's not like he's racking up those stops on a defense full of scrubs. The fact that he's getting those numbers on a good D says a lot about his ability.

I'd take Sherman over Watt, and I say that not as a homer that favors my team's players, rather I regard a shutdown corner as more valuable than a DL in today's game.

Building the core and developing the rest will be the key to long term success. In a few years hopefully these contracts will look cheaper.

I'm quite interested to see how they averaged out his four year extension on his five year contract. I'm wondering if they backloaded the final year a bit as a renegotiate year. Over the total of 5 years he gets a hair less than 9 Mil a year on average, so it will be interesting to see what they worked out.

ET just makes everybody else in the secondary better, and locking him up is great news. Born leader, too. Lock up Sherman and RW, and we got ourselves a nice group of cornerstone pieces to build on for years to come.

Our F.O. has just been fantastic on making this all happen.