Earl Thomas says he's skipping minicamp and OTAs because he wants a new contract

Don't expect to see star safety Earl Thomas at the Seattle Seahawks facility anytime soon. Thomas released a statement Sunday via his Twitter account in which he made it very clear that he won't be reporting unless and until he gets a contract extension.

"I will not be attending the upcoming minicamp or any team activities until my contract situation is resolved," Thomas wrote. "I want everyone especially the 12s to know that 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. I want to have certainty in regards to the upcoming years of my career. I'm going to continue to work my craft and put in work so that I can add to the team and give us the best chance to win. I hope my teammates understand where I'm coming from. I believe this is the right thing to do."

Thomas, still the best safety in football, is headed into the final season of a four-year, $40 million contract that will pay him $8.5 million in base salary and see him count for $10.4 million against the cap. There are currently five safeties (Eric Berry, Reshad Jones, Kam Chancellor, LaMarcus Joyner, and Harrison Smith) who have a greater average annual value on their current contracts, and four (Joyner, Berry, Malcolm Jenkins, and Jimmie Ward) who will collect a larger base salary than Thomas in 2018.

Thomas is headed into his age-29 season and is coming off yet another Pro Bowl campaign. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl in every seasons since 2011 with the exception of 2016, when he was injured and unavailable to play in the game. He's also been named an All-Pro five times during that span, including last year, when he made the second team. In other words, he still appears to be at the top of his game.

He's correct that his performance over the last eight years has been good enough that he deserves a new deal. The question is whether the Seahawks want to give him one, and how much that deal will be worth if they do. There has been speculation all offseason that Thomas might wind up elsewhere (the popular landing spot has been Dallas, because Thomas is from Texas, played for the Longhorns in college, and last season told Cowboys coach Jason Garrett to "come get me" if he ever becomes available), but he made clear in his statement that he wants to stay in Seattle. We'll have to wait and see how this all plays out, but for now, we should expect Thomas to sit out any activities until he gets paid.

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