Looking ahead to Free Agency

[Joemailman]

Good heavens. Why would you want to get rid of a good coach when you can promote him from within??

What I mean is, if Philbin wants Clements as his OC, and Clements wants to leave, make him give us a pick for Flynn instead of getting him for nothing through FA. Ih we don't lose Clements this year, we'll probably lose him next year anyway.

[Pugger]

If McCarthy wants to keep Clements he isn't going anywhere as long as he is under contract. The only way any of our assistants can leave is if they are offered a HCing job like Philbin.

[mraynrand]

tagging Flynn and getting that to work is a pipe dream IMO
Only way we do that is if TT works out a deal ahead of time

The Pats worked it with Matt Cassell and got a #34 pick by packaging him With Vrabel.

[Brando19]

Maybe we could package Flynn and Hawk and get the Dolphins first round pick.

[Bretsky]

The Pats worked it with Matt Cassell and got a #34 pick by packaging him With Vrabel.

He was proven for a full year

[mmmdk]

Maybe we could package Flynn and Hawk and get the Dolphins first round pick.

Not a bad idea - I'm all for it!

[ThunderDan]

He was proven for a full year

Isn't that crazy? You have guys that prove themselves and get traded for less than guys that haven't done anything. I'm thinking of you BF. We gave up a 1 to draft BF and he had done nothing yet.

All it takes is one personnel guy in one organization to covet Flynn, and bing maybe we get something more than we should.

[mraynrand]

All it takes is one personnel guy in one organization to covet Flynn, and bing maybe we get something more than we should.

exactly. It doesn't matter to me whether Flynn is successful or not, just whether we can swindle some team for the absolute maximum possible. Like Roy Williams from Detroit to Dallas.

[Iron Mike]

exactly. It doesn't matter to me whether Flynn is successful or not, just whether we can swindle some team for the absolute maximum possible. Like Herschel Walker from Dallas to Minnesota.

Fixed.

[Patler]

In my opinion, there are big differences between the Patriots situation with Cassell/Brady and the Packer with Flynn/Rodgers.

Cassell had a resume that included a full year of work, with the ups and downs of a season, having to playing week after week with the physical beating that includes, adapting to different defenses and game plans, games before hostile crowds, adapting to having your own team injuries, performing with the mental strain and boredom of a long season, etc. Flynn's single starts in two seasons were impressive performances, but say little about how he will handle a full season of work.

I think the bigger factor however is this: The Patriots arguably still had a need for Cassell at the time of the tag and trade. Brady's injury was significant and he had had some severe complications with infections etc. At the time, it was not clear if he would be ready for the season or not, or how his injury might respond once he took the field. Keeping Cassell for a year was not out of the question as a contingency to Brady's recovery. On the other hand, teams this year will know that GB has no interest at all in keeping Flynn for a year at $15 million. Cassell had value to the Patriots beyond that of a backup to a healthy QB, and there was a legitimate feeling that they might be willing to keep him for a while, perhaps into the season. Not much reason for the Packers to do that with Flynn.

[jdrats]

If McCarthy wants to keep Clements he isn't going anywhere as long as he is under contract. The only way any of our assistants can leave is if they are offered a HCing job like Philbin.

I think a team can hire assistants away from any other team but the move has to be something the NFL considers a promotion. So, if they want Clements as an OC, that would be a promotion, and they are free to do it.

[Bretsky]

I think a team can hire assistants away from any other team but the move has to be something the NFL considers a promotion. So, if they want Clements as an OC, that would be a promotion, and they are free to do it.

Pretty sure that is not the case. I'm not 100%, but I remember reading Green Bay denied the Chicago Bears permission to interview Tom Clements as an offensive coordinator a few years ago.

[Patler]

Pretty sure that is not the case. I'm not 100%, but I remember reading Green Bay denied the Chicago Bears permission to interview Tom Clements as an offensive coordinator a few years ago.

Yup, that is exactly what happened. The NFL no longer looks a coordinator jobs differently (which to me makes no sense) but they do for the mostly ceremonial title of "Assistant Head Coach."

The thing to remember is that most assistant coaches sign 2 year contracts. When their contract is up, they can go anywhere they want to. Most will not leave for a lateral position, because the old-boys network could make them pay for that later in their careers. On the other hand, leaving to be a coordinator is more readily accepted by the "network", or so it has been said.

[mraynrand]

Patler, all you write is true, but one thing you forgot is that if it's Miami, then these guys know each other very well. You could even say it's more like the situation with Rodgers when Favre left - where Stubby and TT knew what they had on hand. Flynn outplayed Rodgers in January, and Philbin loves the guy - how much we don't exactly know. For all we know, he loves him like a son - and not to be cruel or coarse, that could really mean something more than a pure football player trade, given the circumstances. There could be some major intangibles involved - there may be leverages that we don't know about.

One point about the Cassell deal - just because he was potentially more valuable to New England, doesn't make him more valuable to K.C. It might make him more expensive, but K.C. still had to be willing to pay the price. Same with Miami/Flynn. If they like Flynn enough, they'll pay what they think he is worth, unless they take the chance Green Bay will leave him on the curb, and no one will pick him up first.... That's pretty risky if they want him....

[falco]

Right, but one has to imagine that if we let him go to the curb, he'll have motivation to head to MIA, and MIA might be willing to overspend a bit since they'll have personnel that know him a bit more intimately (as opposed to just watching him start 2 games).