Per Seattle times.. It looks like he was slated to start in 2017 until his ACL injury. The article says he wants to be a starter in the league so I don't think he's being signed as depth. If Seattle was ready to go with him as a starter in 2017 he must have shown upside. I trust Pete Carroll's judgement better than anyone in the Jets front office the last 20 years. He was a back up in 18 and 19 because Seattle traded for Duane Brown. Brown still has 2 years remaining on his contract so it's the right time for Fant to move on. Maybe JD knows what he's doing after all. Fant made the Seahawks in 2016 as an undrafted free agent out of Western Kentucky, where he played primarily basketball until switching to football late in his career. A combination of injuries and ineffectiveness by other players meant Fant started 10 games at left tackle as a rookie in 2016. Ticketed for a permanent starting role in 2017, he then suffered an ACL injury in the preseason that knocked him out for the year. A trade for Duane Brown midway through the 2017 season then helped relegate Fant to a reserve and complementary role his final two seasons in Seattle. But he forged a significant place in the offense in 2018 when he was often used as a sixth offensive lineman/tight end. The official’s announcement that “No. 74 is eligible” became a regular — and for many fans, much-anticipated — occurrence during games. Fant was rarely used as a receiver, catching just one pass — against Minnesota in 2018 for 9 yards — and targeted for one other in 2019. But it was fun all the same. Fant also started three games at left tackle in place of Brown in 2019 during the regular season and another against the Eagles in the playoffs. And Fant made clear after the season that he was hoping to get a chance to become a fulltime starter at left tackle in the NFL as he entered free agency. “I got to show I’m a left tackle in this league,” Fant said in January. “I feel like I’m a starter in this league. I got to showcase that in a couple games.”
Miraculously in before "George Cant." Also, four pages and not a single sarcastic "Fant-astic" remark? Am I in the right place?
I hate to break it to you but the answer is that whatever you begged for is not a factor, nor should it be, to the people making the decisions. "Awesome" is nothing more than an opinion and yours should not be considered in the decision making process. We'll just have to see if Douglas is right or you are.
This is why I hate free agency. In what fucked-up world does a player like this deserve $10m per season?
Free Agency is a trap based on scarcity of talent and abundance of resources competing for the talent. This is particularly true in the NFL where the best players are not free to move most of the time, being locked down by long-term contracts backed up by the franchise tag which gives the teams involved all of the control for large parts of the star talents career. One of the true scumbag owners of all time, Charlie Finley, told the world this was the case before the first professional free agent hit the market in the 70's. He was particularly sensitive to the phenomenon given that he was about to lose a bunch of very good players who could not stand to deal with him. He understood that the only way to keep salaries down was to let all the players go every year, not just a few who by their scarcity were going to drive salaries through the roof for everybody. His point was that if the 10th and 20th best 3rd basemen went free in a given year they'd wind up being paid like the 5th and the 10th because everybody who had the bottom 5 would see the first guy as a gift from heaven and the second as better than what they had. They'd all compete to drive both salaries up. The next year two more 3rd basemen would go free and salaries would rise again. It was going to be an endless cycle that drove salaries through the roof. NFL free agency is a bit more constrained because of the cap and the franchise tag but it raises mid-career veteran salaries across the board if the vet can make it to the market uninjured and with some decent film in the can of his latest work.
Probably better to overpay for a middle-of-the-road guy who might blossom and has a relatively high floor. Than to overpay a fake star like Trumaine Jackson.
awesome.... now I know why my thought was.... "REALLY... THIS GUY?" (not that really knew who the hell he was in the first place) championship!
not a lot of guaranteed money don't know much about him but the kind of under the radar move i was hoping for. It's guys like these that outperform their contract (key to success in capped league) rather than marquise guys who are priced to perfection
I’m doing a little research on this guy, and it’s quite an intriguing story. Basically, here are a few bullet points. -Transitioned to football late in his college career from basketball. -Played only one season, as a TE. Entered his pro day as an LT gaining 25+ lbs -Made the transition to NFL Left Tackle and made the Seahawks as an undrafted rookie, claiming a starting job as a rookie due to injury. -Did enough to earn starting LT in his second year, until season ended by a preseason ACL. -Seahawks were forced to trade for Duane Brown as a result of the injury. -Fant has been used as a hybrid extra OT on many plays on both sides of the line, becoming a fan favorite in his 3rd and 4th years (2018-2019.) -This guy has only played footy all for 5 years, 4 of which have been in the NFL. He can clearly learn new positions very well. I can’t say I’m hyped but I do want to go see how the Seahawks used him.
