Clayton doubts Titans appeal to Matt Hasselbeck
Jul 11, 2011, 5:11 PM | Updated: 5:37 pm
710Sports.com staff
ESPN’s John Clayton doesn’t expect to see Matt Hasselbeck wearing a Titans or Vikings jersey next season.
With the Titans in need of a veteran quarterback to help ease rookie Jake Locker’s transition into the NFL, and Kerry Collins no longer an option after his retirement last week, there has been plenty of speculation that Hasselbeck would be high on Tennessee’s wishlist.
 Matt Hasselbeck |
Clayton doesn’t doubt that, but thinks it’s unlikely that the situation in Tennessee would appeal to Hasselbeck. Ditto for Minnesota, where the Vikings are also breaking in a rookie quarterback.
“Look at it from Matt Hasselbeck’s position,” Clayton said. “One, he wants to stay here. Why would he sign a two-year deal at say 10-or-$12 million to go to Tennessee knowing it’s just a matter of time — if Jake Locker picks things up — [Locker] is going to start? Why would he go to Minnesota to be a nursemaid to Christian Ponder?
“Here, depending on what you think about Charlie Whitehurst — I think there are a lot of thoughts that it’s not going to work out — [Hasselbeck] is only worried about next year’s quarterback, and you don’t know who the next year’s quarterback is.
“There’s more future here for him then going on a two-year deal when you already know who the designated replacement is.”
Hasselbeck has made it clear than he wants at least a two-year deal, and reportedly rejected a one-year contract offer from the Seahawks before the lockout. Clayton thinks that if the Titans were to offer Hasselbeck something similar to the two-year deal they gave Collins in 2009, the Seahawks would step up their offer.
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