NFL Notes: Earl Thomas, Kickoffs, Draft

Earl Thomas

John Clayton offered his take on the Earl Thomas situation and where he believes things stand as of now.

Regarding Seahawk GM John Schneider‘s comments that won’t hold out, Clayton explained that this really doesn’t guarantee he’ll be in attendance for training camp or change the fact that he’s available for trade.

“If you look at the big picture it’s like is he on the market? Yes. Is he a great player? Yes. Can they get value that would satisfy Seattle? Questionable,” Clayton said, via the Dallas Morning News. “This was his function. His son has Autism and so this is a big charity that [Schneider] has every year and he speaks to the media. That caught everyone by surprise because the last time he was available was back at the owners meetings, and no talks were going with Earl. There were still the thought that Earl was going to holdout. So it was news when he came out and said that according to representative of Earl Thomas that he wasn’t going to holdout into the season. That doesn’t preclude the possibility of a training camp holdout, but also what that does do is it sends messages to a team like Dallas that he’s going to be there for the season and it won’t be a contract issue. But I’m sure Dallas knows that anyway, because if Thomas can make it back into the state of Texas he’s going to give any benefit to Dallas.”

While the Seahawks are reportedly looking for a first-round pick for Thomas, Clayton believes they would accept a lower package of draft picks for him.

“I think they can be talked into something less,” Clayton said. “I went through all the rosters, and it was really kind of weird because 27 teams were in pretty good shape at the free safety position. That included Dallas which was pretty good with Byron Jones, but now they’re moving him to cornerback so that opened up one spot he could go to. One spot is Arizona but they’re not going to trade him within the division. So really it’s Dallas probably or nothing as far as a trade. So knowing that Dallas would probably prefer to get a wide receiver in the first round now that Dez Bryant is gone, they draft one spot behind Seattle, I think it’s more likely it would be a No. 2, but then what’s added to the No. 2 would probably be the determination if they would be satisfied or not.”

Clayton specifically mentioned a package that consists of second- and fourth-round picks in 2018 and another pick next year for Thomas.

Kickoffs

Kevin Seifert of ESPN reports that the NFL is finalizing plans for a summit to continue player safety including the future of kickoffs at the upcoming owners meeting on May 1-2 in New York.

According to Seifert, there’s no indication that the NFL could eliminate kickoffs for the 2018 season. However, it’s clearly something being seriously considered by the league as part of their recent focus on player safety.

Packers president previously mentioned that they could due away with the play altogether if the concussion data from 2018 doesn’t come back better.

“If you don’t make changes to make it safer, we’re going to do away with it. It’s that serious. It’s by far the most dangerous play in the game,” Murphy said.

Draft

• Tony Pauline reports that Bucknell DT Abdullah Anderson worked out for the Seahawks, Dolphins and Titans and visited with the Lions.
• The Titans, Vikings, Jaguars and Texans are considered the “front-runners” for Southern Utah LB Mike Needham, according to Pauline.
• Texas A&M Commerce CB Yusef Sterling-Lowe has received “a lot of interest” from the Raiders and 49ers during the pre-draft process.
• Pauline says that the Raiders, Cardinals and Dolphins have shown a lot of interest in Portland State CB Chris Seisay.