Ever since his record-shattering game against the Lions at the end of the 2011 season, Matt Flynn has been a hot topic. He isn’t getting quite as much press as RG3 (who is, other than Jeremy Lin?), but he’s still one of the key pieces in what will be one of the wildest offseasons in NFL history.
Today we learned that the Green Bay Packers have let Flynn become an unrestricted free agent by not using the franchise tag on him as many had speculated. It was the right call. Flynn will get plenty of attention as a free agent, but as a signed player with a one-year contract in the neighborhood of $14 million, the path to obtaining Flynn would end up being much tougher for many teams.
If you watch the video above, you’ll see that some of Flynn’s eye-pooping stats from that game were created by the great Packer playmakers. One of his six touchdowns resulted from a simple screen pass that went for around 80 yards. Yet you’ll also see some great passes from Flynn as well. Is he a risk with only two pro starts under his belt? Of course he is. Is he potentially a system quarterback? Sure. But he learned that offense from the best, and he seems to have all the intangibles, so a West Coast Offense team like Cleveland could plug him in right away.
Who knows where he’ll end up, but he and Peyton Manning will have a huge impact on the future of a lot of teams, as their signings will also impact the market for Robert Griffin III, which will then impact where the rest of the college quarterbacks go in the draft. Betting NFL games will be very interesting at the beginning of next season, as we’ll have quite a few new quarterbacks, along with veterans like Manning offering up plenty of questions as you browse the lines and check on your sportsbook reviews.
It all probably starts with the Miami Dolphins. This might be the perfect fit for Matt Flynn as they now have his former offensive coordinator, Joe Philbin, as the new head coach. Yet their owner seems intent on becoming the next Daniel Snyder, so rumors are circulating about Miami going after Peyton Manning. And then of course we have the real Mr. Snyder to account for as the Redskins are rumored to be hot for RG3.
Who knows how all of this plays out, but with Flynn becoming a free agent and Manning sure to follow, it’s way too soon to guess what will happen in the draft.
