Matt Flynn Sweepstakes

Can't wait for the jokers to come out of the woodwork and say the Ravens should make a run at Flynn. Shadow? Some of the others? C'mon, I want to hear the pretzel logic to justify this...

But seriously, in all the hoopla of yesterday with the Ravens securing the #2 seed, Flynn just secured his family's financial future. Come free agency, his grand kids will never have to work a day in their lives.

For review, Flynn was drafted in the seventh round of the 2008 draft. He has now played in three games where he was the main guy, and not just coming in for a play or two here or there. Two were good, one was a stinker. Granted three games is a small sample, but you know NFL GM's will ignore that and just look at this: even with the game he laid an egg, his averages across the three games: 65% competitions, 300 yards, 3 TD's 1 Int and a gaudy 108.1 rating.

If you combine Fynn's other scraps, which total 12 of 25, for 113 and 1 pick which is on par with his lousy game. This brings his stats down to a more "mortal" career of 82 of 132 (62%), 1015 yards, 9 TD's, 5 Int's, and two fumbles lost for a career rating of 92.8. A rough extrapolation for a full season would be ~4000+ yards, 36 TD's and 20 picks -not too shabby. Those are Matt Ryan-esque numbers (for 2011), which would put Flynn as a top-10 QB. I think his agent is already picking out colors for his Bugatti Veyron...

Andrew Luck-schmuck; the real sweepstakes will be for Flynn-! So, who is seriously in the running for Flynn? Two teams jump out immediately: Seattle and Washington. I see Cleveland and Miami as potential dark horses coming up on the outside. Everybody knows that Tavaris is just a care-taker until Seattle decides upon its QB of the future. And he is a proven veteran backup who can win a game for you every now and then. And DC is even more obvious given their screwed-up QB situation and I am sure the two Shanny's love what Flynn brings to the table. Plus I do not think Danny could resist the shiny new toy that Flynn would be.

Cleveland is a bit of an enigma. I have no idea what the coaching staff is doing on the sidelines, so I default to Holmgren. He likes his big-armed QB's (what GM doesn't?). Holmgren may have seen enough of McCoy to come to the realization that McCoy is not the long term solution. And even though there is a reasonable debate that Wallace actually gives Cleveland the best chance to win at the moment, he seems more like Tavaris Jackson mentioned above. As an outsider, I find it difficult to read Holgren. He seems to be attempting to build Cleveland from within via the draft. Is he the type of GM to roll the dice with a high profile FA QB? I don't know...

Miami I have zippy insight because of all the turmoil. Fired the HC and may yet get a permanent coach to replace the current interim. The GM may yet be replaced also. I could see a new GM coming in, wanting to make a splash and put his mark on the organization by making a big FA acquisition such as Flynn.

Some folks may suggest San Francisco. I doubt that because I think Jim Harbaugh is creating his own recipe for success. In many ways he is following the Ravens step-by-step: run first and a stout defense. He may look to bolster the O-line rather than QB. And if he does decide to acquire a QB, I believe it would be via the draft and make him into the QB he wants him to be.

The X-factor is Denver. Elway has publically stated that Tebow is not the QB of the future and I believe NFL defenses are now hip to his shtick. Would they, could they make a play for Flynn? Cloudy at this time.

If I had to pick one organization, I would say the Redskins. They are not going to get Luck. They have the sixth pick and RG3 may fall to them, although many think Cleveland would nab him one spot in front of the Redskins. My gut tells me that Holmgren would rather draft a QB and try to build him up while I get the feeling Shanahan does not want to start over with a rookie. I really think there will be several long drawn out discussions between Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan about whether to go after Flynn, or try to draft RG3 by moving up in the draft. I think Flynn fits better with what Shanahan is trying to do in terms of winning sooner rather than later, and Flynn has a base upon which Shanahan can build upon -no need to go through rookie growing pains which I do not believe Shanahan has the patience for. My inside track I give to Snyder, who has never been shy about making a big splash in the FA market. And Flynn may be too hard to resist.