One way or the other, Flynn's getting paid this offseason. (US PRESSWIRE)

By Ryan Wilson

After what Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn did to the Lions Sunday -- 31 of 44 for 480 yards and a team record six touchdowns -- we joked on the Pick-6 Podcast (embedded below for your listening pleasure) that the performance would mean the Redskins would be first in line to throw a ton of dough in Flynn's general direction.


We stress "joked."

Then on Tuesday we saw this tweet from ESPN 980's Chris Russell: "Heard Matt Flynn's great performance Sunday generated a lot of buzz & positive chatter amongst the big names of the #Redskins organization."

Of course he did.

Look, Flynn had a mind-blowing afternoon against Detroit, and he also played well during a 2010 start against the Patriots. And in that sense, he's already more accomplished than Kevin Kolb was before he was anointed "the next franchise quarterback" last offseason. The Cardinals gave up a second-round pick and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and signed Kolb to a $63 million extension. In return they got nine starts, nine touchdowns, eight interceptions, a 57.7 completion percentage and a ton of questions.

The takeaway: don't devote a non-trivial portion of your salary cap to someone who plays the most important position on the field based on a handful of snaps. Somehow, that wasn't entirely clear to everyone.

The Canton Repository's Steve Doerschuk writes that the Browns could also be interested in Flynn. Doerschuk doesn't cite a source but writes that "There is no question Mike Holmgren would rush soon-to-be-free agent Matt Flynn hard. The only question is how much the Browns president likes the [Flynn]."

Is Flynn an upgrade over Colt McCoy, who Holmgren selected in the third round of the 2010 draft? Sure. Is he so much better than McCoy that the Browns should pay him starter's money to find out? Almost certainly not.

But as CBSSports.com's Will Brinson pointed out in Monday's Sorting the Sunday Pile, Flynn made himself some coin with Sunday's effort. "That's going to translate well when he becomes an unrestricted free agent and potentially becomes the most desirable quarterback on the market. There are lots of teams that need a quarterback and Flynn will be on everyone's radar just as much as Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck. If someone falls in love with him, he might get Kevin Kolb money."

To paraphrase Chris Rock, we're not saying it's right … but we understand.

But if Flynn's in line for a big payday, the Packers might want to get their cut, too. Yes, Flynn's set to be an unrestricted free agent in a few months, but there's a chance Green Bay could franchise him. No, seriously.

Because there may be little time (or opportunity) to trade Flynn before the start of free agency in March, the Packers' might get the biggest return on their investment by franchising him. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Silverstein explains:

In exchange for being tagged, Flynn would receive a one-year deal worth the average of the last five franchise tag numbers at his position. Last year, the franchise number for quarterbacks was around $14 million, and it's likely to be higher this year.

So once the Packers tag Flynn, that $14 million counts against their salary cap. Flynn would automatically become the highest-paid player on the team in terms of annual salary.

NFL teams are prohibited from trading franchise players. In fact, the rules say you may not franchise a player with the intent to sign him to a contract and then trade him. However, this rule has been broken before and the NFL tends to look the other way.

Silverstein adds that the move isn't without risk for the Packers. Putting aside the illegality of a tag and trade, there's also the issue of having a $14 million backup on your roster if other teams aren't sufficiently interested in trading for him. Which means that team president Ted Thompson would have to work with Flynn's agent "behind the scenes to find a trading partner and then negotiate a deal suitable to Flynn."

Silverstein was told by a "prominent agent who has represented a franchise player" that Green Bay could be in line for a first-round pick at minimum for Flynn, and maybe a first- and third-rounder.

That sounds, well, extreme, especially since Hue Jackson already traded for Carson Palmer. Then again, Redskins owner Dan Snyder isn't afraid to mortgage the future for the possibility of success now. 

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