If you had to pick only one to re-sign Thomas or Sherman?

[VancitySeahawk]

Lets pretend for whatever reason the front office has re-signed all of our guys except for Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman. Lets also pretend that there is only room for us to sign one of the two. If it came down to this, who would you rather re-sign?

 

[iigakusei]

Tough choice....but would be Thomas.

 

[12th_Bob]

Thomas, can't get a free safety of that caliber without tanking hard for the draft (still a lottery if you end up with a stud like Thomas) and forget about free agency.

Although, Sherman is pretty much either #1 or at least no worse than #2 CB in the league either.

 

[RolandDeschain]

Ugh! Thomas, he helps other members of the defense more than Sherman does...But man...I don't want to lose Sherman.

I don't even want this choice to ever come up. Ever.

 

[seahawk 17]

Thomas hands down. He's the QB of the defense. Constantly blows up plays before they start even though he's 12-15 yards off the line.

 

[bestfightstory]

Wow. These results are shocking to me. And I voted Earl.

 

[Hawknballs]

Thomas because his range is what makes Kam work. Without Thomas, Kam has to be come a standard strong safety. But he's not one. And we already signed Kam

 

[tooshort]

I'd prefer them both to be lifetime Hawks, but I can easily say ET (especially with the 4-6 million per year gap between the probable asking prices).

If it's "pick one to re-sign at $10 mil per" the waters become quite a bit muddier.

 

[SeaTown81]

Thomas all the way. He's more important to the defense overall. Safeties tend to have longer careers as top performers than cb's do. And he'll be much cheaper to sign.

Pretty surprised at how one sided the poll is so far. I'm impressed.

 

[Happy]

Earl is what makes the legion of boom greater than the sum of it's parts.

 

[RolandDeschain]

While I did vote for Earl, Earl himself ALSO benefits from knowing it's very unlikely that either corner will get burned. It allows Earl more freedom, too; kind of a mutually increasing benefit between the corners and Thomas.

Just thought I'd throw that out there. You wouldn't see Earl crashing into the line of scrimmage as often or as quickly if we had two average corners.

 

[Hawknballs]

It is hard because they are unique talents but Thomas' ability to cover the field makes him irreplaceable. He does things that other safeties simply are not physically and mentally able to do.

Sherman does some great things but they aren't unique to him, he just does them frequently and consistently. Another CB is going to be a drop off but they will on occassion be able to do the things sherman does.

There are no safeties that can do what thomas does.

 

[HawkFan72]

Earl Thomas.

I hate to say it, but CB is a system position for Carroll. He can plug anyone in there who fits his system and they will do well. For example, look at all the no-name CBs who played for him at USC and look how many CBs have suddenly found success playing for us.

Did anyone notice a significant drop-off when Browner was out? No, because all the guys on the team fit Carroll's system and they can perform at a high level in it.

Sherman is our best CB, and there would be somewhat of a drop-off if he were gone just because he fits Carroll's system so PERFECTLY, but it would not be devastating.

Thomas, however, plays a very critical position in Carroll's defense and would be harder to replace. It's why Carroll went after a safety in the 1st round of his first draft (remember there were rumors that he wanted Eric Berry with his first pick, but he was gone before we took Okung) and why he has never drafted a CB before round 4.

 

[SeaTown81]

Earl Thomas.

I hate to say it, but CB is a system position for Carroll. He can plug anyone in there who fits his system and they will do well. For example, look at all the no-name CBs who played for him at USC and look how many CBs have suddenly found success playing for us.

Did anyone notice a significant drop-off when Browner was out? No, because all the guys on the team fit Carroll's system and they can perform at a high level in it.

Sherman is our best CB, and there would be somewhat of a drop-off if he were gone just because he fits Carroll's system so PERFECTLY, but it would not be devastating.

Thomas, however, plays a very critical position in Carroll's defense and would be harder to replace. It's why Carroll went after a safety in the 1st round of his first draft (remember there were rumors that he wanted Eric Berry with his first pick, but he was gone before we took Okung) and why he has never drafted a CB before round 4.

Great point. Well said.

 

[tdlabrie]

Thomas hands down. He's the QB of the defense. Constantly blows up plays before they start even though he's 12-15 yards off the line.

This.

 

[RolandDeschain]

Interesting point of view, HawkFan72. Can you explain how being exceptional at man coverage is a "system position"? It seems to me like it's kind of the opposite. A lot of corners can't play man very well, or better than above average.

 

[Seahawks Guy]

Earl Thomas.

I hate to say it, but CB is a system position for Carroll. He can plug anyone in there who fits his system and they will do well. For example, look at all the no-name CBs who played for him at USC and look how many CBs have suddenly found success playing for us.

Did anyone notice a significant drop-off when Browner was out? No, because all the guys on the team fit Carroll's system and they can perform at a high level in it.

Sherman is our best CB, and there would be somewhat of a drop-off if he were gone just because he fits Carroll's system so PERFECTLY, but it would not be devastating.

Thomas, however, plays a very critical position in Carroll's defense and would be harder to replace. It's why Carroll went after a safety in the 1st round of his first draft (remember there were rumors that he wanted Eric Berry with his first pick, but he was gone before we took Okung) and why he has never drafted a CB before round 4.

I've thought about this too. And I've said before that I think if Browner or any other piece of our secondary plays for another team, their level of play will drop off. Our coaches do a phenomenal job.

 

[White Knight]

Thomas is the straw that stirs the drink on our defense. Great safety play is much less replaceable than great corner play.

 

[-The Glove-]

Earl Thomas no doubt. I love Sherman but PC has hit on CB's more frequently than a legit single-high free safety. He cleans up so much in the back field, I don't see how he could be replaced

 

[Largent80]

I love me some worm Sherm, but Thomas is a gem.