It is also possible that no one is even calling.

Multiple teams being interested and one team KNOWING that is a powerful wildcard in play here.

However, no one has mentioned the fact that if you tag Flynn, that means he’s entitled to $14 million this season. Whoever trades for Flynn will have to get him to agree to a deal that is going to better than that $14 million. You can accomplish that with around an $8 to $10 million base and decent signing bonus that gets spread out over a long-term contract. The point is that if you just allow Flynn to go to free agency, you may or may not have to pay him so much, depending on the market.

Also keep in mind that the Kevin Kolb trade has pretty much turned into a disaster for the Cardinals. The track record for signing QBs after a couple good games is NOT good. Matt Cassell hasn’t exactly been a franchise QB either. KC is considering pursuing Peyton Manning.

In short, it could happen, and it would be nice if it did. But if I was the GM of one of these teams, there is no way I would offer anything until after the March 5th deadline has passed and the Packers have made a move either way. If another team wants to pay more by contacting the Packers beforehand, that is their funeral.

On the other hand, I’ve always said that a franchise QB is the one thing that is worth overpaying for. If you don’t have one, you gotta get one, no matter how you do it.

There is no winning a Championship without one.

What you’re saying makes sense if there’s only one team that would be interested in Flynn — but there appear to be multiple teams in need of a good QB. It would be best for all of those teams if none of them contacted the Packers, but if just one team breaks rank and talks, all the others lose out on the chance at a franchise QB. It’s the prisoners’ dilemma.

Also, Flynn being tagged is good for other teams in certain ways. First, the tag is a one-year contract. If Flynn starts slowly next year (like many players do when they switch teams) or bombs, whoever gets him could sign him to a favorable long-term contract or walk away without long-term obligations. As a free agent, he’d certainly receive a significant multi-year contract.

Second, to a team with an abundance of picks (here’s looking at you, Cleveland) a trade might appear favorable to competing in free agency. Look at it this way: If you have an excess of one resource (picks) and a fixed amount of another (cap space), wouldn’t you prefer using the excess to get what you want? To Cleveland, for instance, a second-round pick is far less valuable than a large multi-year contract.

Overall, I think that the significant number of QB-needy teams make it worthwhile to tag Flynn even if there’s no trade deal in place (having one in place might violate tampering rules anyway, and with Finley signed and Wells, Clifton, and Driver gone/restructured/resigned I believe there’s enough cap room for the tag). If you’re a team with a hole at QB, the only players who are anywhere near safe bets are Luck, Griffin, and Flynn (Manning may very well never play again; he’s certainly not a safe bet). Assuming the Colts draft Luck, you now can choose between A) trading into the high first round to get Griffin, B) trading a pick or two for Flynn, or C) rolling the dice with a different, probably inferior QB. Because it’ll take less to get Flynn than Griffin, and because Flynn’s played well in the NFL already, I think plenty of teams will be interested. All it takes is one to make a deal.

The Packers don’t have the cap space to keep Flynn on their roster with the tag. Everyone knows this. Therefore, why would you contact the Packers about trading for him? If Flynn gets tagged, his value goes down because the Packers have zero leverage; they have to trade him. So, if you want the guy, you’d wait until after the Packers tag him to make a deal.

Contacting the Packers before they’ve tagged him increases the Packers’ leverage. If the Packers don’t like what you are offering, they can always just let him go to free agency and take their chances with the compensatory pick. The Packers no longer have that option once he’s been tagged.

So, if you are Mike Holmgren, you let the Packers make the first move. If the Packers release Flynn, you take your shot in free agency. It might cost you more, but it won’t cost you any draft picks. If the Packers tag Flynn, then you call and offer like a 4th round pick. The Packers will have no choice but to take that unless they get a better offer from somewhere else.

The only way I can see someone negotiating with TT right now is if some team were deathly afraid of Flynn going to free agency. Otherwise, I don’t see it.