Word on the street is that Matt Hasselbeck, in my opinion the most likely free agent QB, is looking for a multi-year deal for significant money. John Clayton was recently on a radio show in Seattle (link) and claimed that Hasselbeck turned down the single year, $7 million contract.
Logic dictates to me that this means that Hasselbeck is going to want something in the range of upwards of 12 million, probably something like 2/14 million.
Bullfeathers Matt. Bull. Feathers. This team had better not pony up that kind of scratch for a guy who's unlikely to make it through a full season any time soon. I do wonder how much of this deal would be guaranteed money, but at the same time, if any performance-related incentives show up that reward him for mediocre performance, or even slightly better than mediocre performance, I might vomit.
It's not that 14 million is that monstrous of a deal, but it's significant enough to make me second-guess like crazy. Spending it elsewhere (like a new contract for the league's best back perhaps??) would be wise. It's also not that I don't think Hasselbeck has anything left either. I think he'll leave some team out there feeling pretty satisfied after a year under center (assuming he makes it through one), but as I've stated time and time again, what Matt Hasselbeck will give us and what Rusty Smith will give us in 2011 won't be different enough to splurge on the former.
Of course, Rusty can't mentor a young Jake Locker, obviously Hasselbeck can, but isn't that kind of what an offensive coordinator or a QB coach is for? I don't know why Kerry Collins can't mentor Jake just as well as Matt can seeing as most of it will be mental.
If we're building for the future, let's go ahead and build for the future. Signing over the hill veterans is not a viable path to success, patiently waiting, to a certain extent, is.