After Packers quarterback Matt Flynn threw for a franchise-record 480 yards on January 1 against the Lions, speculation emerged that the Packers would use the franchise tag in order to get value for the 2008 seventh-round pick by trading him to a new team.
That apparently won’t happen, which means that Flynn will have a chance to play for another team, as the starter.
Flynn knows it. And he’s looking forward to it.
“I’m a confident person, but the element of the unknown makes you wish March 13 was tomorrow,” Flynn said this week, via SI.com. “I’ve loved being a Packer, and it’s not 100 percent sure I’m leaving Green Bay, but as a competitor and football player, that’s what you play the game for -- to be a starter in the league. Hopefully some teams will be interested in me and I can find a good opportunity. I want to lead a team and I’m excited about it. But I can’t talk to teams now. I don’t know if I’m on their radar. It’s going to be a long month leading up to that time -- waiting and wondering.”
(Memo to Cliff Avril: That’s the right way to avoid any tampering talk.)
It would be hard to fathom that new Miami coach and former Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin hasn’t given at least a hint to Flynn that he’ll be in like Flint if Philbin is running a team in 2012. And it technically wouldn’t have been tampering if Philbin had let Flynn know before getting an offer to coach the Dolphins that Philbin wants Flynn to be his quarterback.
Whether it’s the Dolphins or another team, Flynn has done something that none of the incoming rookie class of 2012 has done. Flynn has shown, twice, that he can perform at a high level as a starting quarterback in the NFL. As a result, signing him to a contract is a safer proposition than drafting any of the quarterbacks who are available in April.