Flynn's Value

[Scott Campbell]

I think he's worth more to us than anyone else.

[swede]

I think he's worth more to us than anyone else.

Exactly. I wouldn't expect teams to offer anything close to what a dependable back-up is worth to us.

[Brandon494]

One more than Jimmy Clausen has in 11 games, and 4 less INTs.

What does Jimmy Clausen have to do with anything?

[Freak Out]

Exactly. I wouldn't expect teams to offer anything close to what a dependable back-up is worth to us.

I think all this trade talk is crazy....Rodgers does have an injury history after all and Flynn has shown that he can do the job if asked.

[Smidgeon]

I think all this trade talk is crazy....Rodgers does have an injury history after all and Flynn has shown that he can do the job if asked.

I was just speculating on the hope that Green Bay can develop QBs and trade them for better value than what it cost to get them. I'm not sure I want him traded. I'm just curious what his consensus value could be in a trade.

On a different note, I suddenly am not hearing any "We need to bring in a veteran backup" calls from anyone anymore.

[Brando19]

Was that ever confirmed? I thought that was just a rumor.

I remember the guys on the Fox Pregame (Bradshaw, Howie Long, etc.) talking about it, but no...I'm not sure it was confirmed.

[packrulz]

If the Packers don't make the playoffs I think M3 should start Flynn to see what he has there and showcase him a bit. If he plays well I bet a team would offer a 2nd round pick for him, but if they offer a 3rd rounder I think TT should take it.
Green Bay Packers have a decision to make about backup quarterback Matt Flynn
BY PETE DOUGHERTY • PDOUGHER@GREENBAYPRESSGAZETTE.COM • DECEMBER 21, 2010
This offseason somebody in the NFL is going to call the Green Bay Packers about Matt Flynn.



Flynn’s first NFL start last week at New England went well enough that a team looking for a starting quarterback will see a better prospect in the Packers’ third-year backup than whoever is on hand or likely to come in the draft. Someone will think Flynn at least has a chance.

Then Packers General Manager Ted Thompson will have to decide the cost. At what point is it worth sacrificing Aaron Rodgers’ backup for a final year, assuming the next collective bargaining agreement returns the minimum service for free agency to four years? Is a fourth-rounder enough? A third?

This isn’t saying Flynn is a bona fide, long-term NFL starter. Scouts need to see a quarterback play at least four games, maybe up to eight, to make that call, and even then they can get it wrong. But if a team needs a quarterback, it will pay for a look. Just last spring, Seattle traded a third-round pick plus moved back 20 spots in a flip-flop of second-rounders to acquire Charlie Whitehurst from San Diego. He’d never thrown a pass in a regular-season game, but based on preseason games the Seahawks thought he at least might challenge battered and aging Matt Hasselbeck for their starting job, so they took the shot.

And yes, Flynn showed some things in the Packers’ 31-27 loss at New England that at least give him a chance. The NFL game definitely is not too big for him. He’s poised. He’s mobile. He’s smart.

What’s still in question is his arm. By NFL standards, it’s average at best for a starter, and it’s hard to judge his accuracy at this point as well. He also has small hands for the position, 9 inches as measured from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the pinkie with fingers spread. That makes it harder to get the extra torque on a throw that bigger hands would allow and leaves him more susceptible to fumbling on sacks.

But it’s almost a given that somebody, especially a team that liked Flynn coming out of college, will think he’s worth a look, either to compete against the current starter, or as a possible fallback if it doesn’t draft a quarterback in the first couple of rounds.

In the last decade, the Packers have made two such trades, sending Hasselbeck to Seattle and Aaron Brooks to New Orleans. Hasselbeck played in one Super Bowl and three Pro Bowls for the Seahawks, and now at age 35 has broken down; Brooks looked promising early but regressed and washed out of the NFL after Mike McCarthy left as offensive coordinator.

At comparable stages in their careers, Flynn doesn’t have their size or arm talent – Hasselbeck (6-feet-4) had good NFL strength and touch, and Brooks (6-4) had exceptional power in his whippet-like arm.

Temperamentally, Flynn and Hasselbeck appear similarly competitive and calm. Flynn looks like a much better leader than Brooks, who also was prone to staggeringly bad decisions with the ball.

Hasselbeck and Brooks went to teams with first-hand knowledge of them. McCarthy was Brooks’ quarterbacks coach in 1999 before going to New Orleans as offensive coordinator and convincing the Saints to trade for the Packers’ third-stringer in 2000. Mike Holmgren had coached Hasselbeck in the quarterback’s rookie year with the Packers, 1998, before trading for him in 2001.

For Hasselbeck, the Packers received the equivalent of a late first-round pick – they swapped first-rounders with Seattle, moving up from No. 17 overall to No. 10 – plus a third-rounder. (Those picks turned into Jamal Reynolds and Torrance Marshall. Ouch).

They in essence traded Brooks for a third-round pick, which they later traded as part of a bigger draft-day deal.

Teams that definitely will be looking for a new starting quarterback next season are Seattle, Carolina, Minnesota and Arizona. San Francisco, Buffalo, Washington and Miami probably will as well. Somebody in that group will be intrigued by Flynn and wonder if he can become a legit NFL starter with more playing time. Seattle is the most obvious possibility because its general manager, John Schneider, was in the Packers’ front office for Flynn’s first two years. That doesn’t mean he thinks Flynn is a starter, but he has the inside information to make such a call. In fact, if Schneider doesn’t make a play, other teams might wonder why.

The question is, what will a team pay for a look? One NFL scout this week predicted a fourth-rounder at most unless Flynn plays more this year.

In turn, the Packers will have to decide at what price to sell.

Flynn showed he’s valuable in case Rodgers has to miss a couple games, or more, next season. That could keep the Packers in a playoff race.

On the other hand, he might never see the field. If they keep him, and the next CBA returns free agency eligibility to four years, Flynn probably will leave in 2012 for a chance at least to compete for a starting job. If that happens, the Packers would get a compensatory draft pick, based mostly on his contract and playing time. Hard to know what that would be. Probably a late-rounder, though that’s just a guess.

The Packers also would have to decide if they could adequately replace him. Can Graham Harrell become a legit No. 2? Can they can find a good backup in free agency or the draft? They took all this time to develop Flynn, and now that he gives them a chance to win if Rodgers can’t play, is it really worth moving on?

Pete Dougherty covers the Packers for the Green Bay Press-Gazette