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Seahawks to match most of offer sheet


Randall
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'HAWKS WILL MATCH MOST OF OFFER SHEET

 

A league source tells us that the Seattle Seahawks plan to match the seven-year, $49 million offer sheet signed by guard Steve Hutchinson. On Sunday, the Vikings and Hutchinson reached agreement on the deal, which includes a cap number of more than $13 million in 2006 and a poison pill provision that will make the full contract guaranteed if Hutchinson is not the highest paid member of the team's offensive line.

 

The Seahawks, however, will not match this provision, which would result automatically in a full guarantee of the Hutchinson deal, due to the long-term contract signed a year ago by left tackle Walter Jones. Instead, the Seahawks will take the position that the guarantee is not a "Principal Term" of the offer, and that the term need not be matched in order to permit the Seahawks to retain their 2006 transition player.

 

Under the relevant provisions of the CBA, a provision guaranteeing the contract appears to be a "Principal Term." The Seahawks, however, might be able to argue that, as a procedural matter, a guarantee provision only is a "Principal Term" if the guarantee is reflected by a modification or addition to the offer sheet made by the player. Indeed, Article XIX, Section 3(e)(ii) seems to indicate that a guarantee becomes a "Principal Term" only if the player asks for the guarantee, and if the new team agrees.

 

The battle could, in the end, elevate form over substance, with the Seahawks arguing that the Vikings proposed the guarantee in order to defeat Seattle's ability to match the offer, and the Vikings arguing that it wasn't their idea and that Hutchinson and his agent asked for the guarantee.

 

Regardless, there most likely will be a battle, similar to the legal brouhaha that unfolded three years ago between the Redskins and the Jets regarding the rights to Chad Morton. In that case, the Jets failed to match one of the provisions of the offer sheet. Arbitrator Richard Bloch found that the unmatched provision was a "Principal Term," which meant that the Jets had not matched the offer, which meant that the Redskins received the rights to Morton.

 

This time around, the Seahawks are willing to take their chances as to the question of whether the guarantee is a "Principal Term." If they prevail, the Seahawks keep Hutchinson, without the guarantee. If the Seahawks lose, the Vikings will be awarded Hutchinson, with the potential guarantee in place (but with the guarantee meaningless since Hutchinson will be the highest paid offensive lineman on the team). Per Article XIX, Section 4 of the CBA, the arbitrator will be required to resolve the dispute within 10 days after the grievance is filed.

 

The Seahawks will receive no compensation for Hutchinson, if they fail to match the offer sheet.

 

Our initial impression? If the terms of the CBA are applied literally, and if there is sufficient evidence that Hutchinson asked for the guarantee, the Seahawks will lose. But if the arbitrator looks beneath the surface, he or she will realize that the guarantee has little or no chance of being activated if Hutchinson lands in Minnesota, especially if the reports that it applies only in 2006 are accurate. Under that scenario, the arbitrator could be inclined to find that the Seahawks had matched all of the "Principal Terms" that had any realistic bearing on his status with the Vikings.

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IMO the Vikings just lost Hutchinson. I want the dude to be a Viking in the worst way, but if I were an arbitrator I would not be inclined to rule in favor of the Vikings on this one. :D

 

 

edit to add:

Plus now we'll have to tie our hands for another 10 days filing a grievance which means we'll end up getting stuck with a ton of money to spend and nobody to spend it on. :D

Edited by Savage Beatings
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Could be a play by the Seahawks to get something out of the Vikings.

 

Seattle:  We want something for Hutch

Vikes:  Then you should have franchised him, go jump off a cliff

Seattle:  Ok, lets stretch this out another 10 days then

 

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Very well could be something along the lines of Seattle bluffing in order to get something in return. One thing they could be looking for....Nate Burleson has expressed the desire to play in Seattle. He's a restricted FA, the Vikes would get a 3rd round pick from any team that signed him and they decline to match that offer. Could be the Hawks want to bargain their way to being able to sign Burleson, without having to give up that 3rd round pick.

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This is from Profootballtalk.com is it not?  So at best this is a strong rumor right now.

 

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Yes it is. Rotoworld>profootball talk

 

Could be a play by the Seahawks to get something out of the Vikings.

 

Seattle:  We want something for Hutch

Vikes:  Then you should have franchised him, go jump off a cliff

Seattle:  Ok, lets stretch this out another 10 days then

 

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This is what happens when the Vikings get tricky. What's ext, clauses that say if the team matches the CEO has to go sky diving over Bosnia?

Edited by Randall
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Yes it is. Rotoworld>profootball talk

This is what happens when the Vikings  get tricky. What's ext, clauses that say if the team matches the CEO has to go sky diving over Bosnia?

 

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:D

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So let me get this straight. The second the Seahawks match the offer, they have to hand Hutch 50 million??? F it. If Hutch wants to put some BS crap in his contract to prohibit Seattle from matching, get him outta here. Who does he think he is?? He's a Left F'ing Guard. The biggest reason he's so dominant compared to other left guards in the league is that teams don't care about their Left F'ing Guard!!

 

Later Hutch, enjoy the glory of blocking for Brad Johnson and their new big stud Chester Taylor. We'll just slide in Pork Chop or Chris Spencer. This offense ain't gonna miss a beat anytime soon

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So let me get this straight.  The second the Seahawks match the offer, they have to hand Hutch 50 million???  F it.  If Hutch wants to put some BS crap in his contract to prohibit Seattle from matching, get him outta here.  Who does he think he is??  He's a Left F'ing Guard.  The biggest reason he's so dominant compared to other left guards in the league is that teams don't care about their Left F'ing Guard!! 

 

Later Hutch, enjoy the glory of blocking for Brad Johnson and their new big stud Chester Taylor.  We'll just slide in Pork Chop or Chris Spencer.  This offense ain't gonna miss a beat anytime soon

 

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You've misunderstood. They aren't matching that term, under a theory that it is not a principal term. If they are wrong, he'll be awarded to the Vikes. If they are right, they can keep him in accordance with the other terms they matched.

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You've misunderstood. They aren't matching that term, under a theory that it is not a principal term. If they are wrong, he'll be awarded to the Vikes. If they are right, they can keep him in accordance with the other terms they matched.

 

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I fully understand. However, I'm sure Hutch thought the Seahawks would have to pay the 50 million if they decided to match the offer. He could not have known that it would go to court and it could be determined that the Seahawks didn't have to agree to that particular stipulation. I was just demonstrating how much of a jerk Hutch is for putting this in his contract offer.

Edited by Seahawks21
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I fully understand.  However, I'm sure Hutch thought the Seahawks would have to pay the 50 million if they decided to match the offer.  He could not have known that it would go to court and it could be determined that the Seahawks didn't have to agree to that particular stipulation. I was just demonstrating how much of a jerk Hutch is for putting this in his contract offer.

 

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Yup, Seahawks negotiate in good faith, let him go out on the market to determine his value, and he and his agent stick it to them.

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I don't know why Seahawks fans are bitter about this. It's really not in Hutchinson's best interest to ask for that term to be included in the contract. That provision certainly appears to be in place for no other reason than to preclude Seattle from matching. If that's the case, it's the Vikings who probably floated the idea, not the player. Hutchinson probably agreed, simply because he'd end up with more money, but I doubt it was his idea. If it was, that would mean he really wanted out of Seattle, which I have no reason to believe.

 

Also, please stop with the "oh, that's just from profootballtalk.com -- it's just a rumor." Yes, people, the page is called "The Daily Rumor Mill", so you're not a genius for alerting us that its content is mostly rumor-oriented. Usually, as in this case, the information is prefaced by "according to a league source" or "per a source within the organization". They don't just make the stuff up. If it's 100% speculation, Florio (the editor) announces it as such.

 

EDIT: One more thing: if you're posting something from PFT, than please label it as a PFT piece. For some reason, people posting here at The Huddle cite other websites, but have been routinely copying PFT's content and pasting it without a source. That's just unethical.

Edited by Swiss Cheezhead
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I don't know why Seahawks fans are bitter about this. It's really not in Hutchinson's best interest to ask for that term to be included in the contract. That provision certainly appears to be in place for no other reason than to preclude Seattle from matching. If that's the case, it's the Vikings who probably floated the idea, not the player. Hutchinson probably agreed, simply because he'd end up with more money, but I doubt it was his idea.

 

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Good point. Hadn't thought of that. Maybe MN thought if they put that clause in the contract that SEA wouldn't match because they have to pamper Walter Jones for his entire career you are saying? Interesting......

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I don't know why Seahawks fans are bitter about this. It's really not in Hutchinson's best interest to ask for that term to be included in the contract. That provision certainly appears to be in place for no other reason than to preclude Seattle from matching. If that's the case, it's the Vikings who probably floated the idea, not the player. Hutchinson probably agreed, simply because he'd end up with more money, but I doubt it was his idea. If it was, that would mean he really wanted out of Seattle, which I have no reason to believe.

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Not only that, but there has even been some speculation on sports radio here in Seattle that the clause was not just floated but required by the Vikings for them to make the offer, as they weren't willing to just inflate Hutch's value in the marketplace & lose him to Seattle anyway.

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Good point.  Hadn't thought of that.  Maybe MN thought if they put that clause in the contract that SEA wouldn't match because they have to pamper Walter Jones for his entire career you are saying?  Interesting......

 

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Well of course. That makes it just a little bit slimy.

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Could go to arbitration.

 

After conducting a shopping spree on the first day of free agency, the Vikings appear to be in a holding pattern while they await Seattle's decision on guard Steve Hutchinson's offer sheet.

The Seahawks are pondering the terms of a seven-year, $49 million offer, leaving the Vikings to absorb Hutchinson's $13 million salary cap hit -- about 40 percent of their $31 million cap surplus.

 

Even after gaining another $2.3 million in cap space after trading quarterback Daunte Culpepper, the Vikings have about one-third of their cap space remaining -- or about $12 million -- after re-signing receiver Koren Robinson and acquiring running back Chester Taylor, kicker Ryan Longwell and linebacker Ben Leb

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