Report: Texas ex Thomas plans to sell his Seattle home
With the beginning of Seahawks’ training camp, the Earl Thomas rumor mill is beginning to pick up steam.
Most eye-catching was a report out of Dallas on Tuesday from NBC Sports Radio host Newy Scruggs stating Thomas “plans” to sell his home in Seattle and he recently told the Oakland Raiders owner to “come get him” — the same phrase Thomas used during his infamous encounter with Cowboys’ coach Jason Garrett last December.
Scruggs also wrote: “I’m told Earl Thomas will not report to the Seahawks. He is done with Seattle. Plans to sell his house in Seattle. He will ONLY report if he gets a new deal.”
Thomas might want to play for Oakland but that doesn’t necessarily mean the Raiders are interested in him. It’s not that any team wouldn’t want Thomas if they could make it work, but at the moment this isn’t a rumor of trade talks, just a note that Thomas would be fine if Oakland somehow also got involved.
Oakland has just $2.2 million in cap room for 2018, so the Raiders would have to do some finagling to add Thomas and his $10.4 million cap hit for 2018. But the Raiders also have more than $114 million in cap space for 2019 so they could do some maneuvering to make it work should it be necessary.
But for now, Thomas remains the property of the Seahawks, even if apparently increasingly begrudgingly.
Thomas wrote via Twitter in June he did not plan to take part in any activities with the Seahawks until his contract situation was settled.
“I want to remain a Seahawk for the rest of my career but I also believe that based on my production over the last eight years that I’ve earned the right to have this taken care of as soon as possible,” Thomas wrote in June. “I want to have certainty in regards to the upcoming years of my career.”
Training camp started Thursday, and Thomas’ contract situation remained the same: He has one year left with a base salary of $8.5 million, with no indication there have been any substantive contract talks between Thomas and the Seahawks.
Thomas is thought to want more than $13 million a year to remain with the Seahawks, which would make him the highest-paid safety in the NFL.
Seattle apparently doesn’t want to grant a significant long-term extension to Thomas, who will turn 30 before the 2019 season.
So for now, the stalemate continues. The Seahawks appear willing to wait and see if Thomas truly holds out, as he did during mandatory minicamp in June.
Thomas was subject to fines of up to $84,435 for skipping minicamp.
The Seahawks appear willing to see if Thomas will risk that much money despite knowing that the rules mean he has to return at some point this season.
Thomas has not said anything publicly since his Twitter announcement in June other than a few other social media posts, specifically a message on Instagram last week in which he wrote: “Always been the underdog ain’t nothing new. Extend . if you don’t want me let’s make a trade happen I understand it’s a bizz.”
Tuesday’s leak via a Dallas media member that Thomas would be willing to play for the Raiders might be Thomas’ Texas-based representatives implying Thomas could be happy in locales other than just Dallas, which he has acknowledged was his favorite team while growing up in Orange, Texas.