I was watching the playoffs Utah Vs Seattle and they said Seattle had the Right of 1st refusal and could match ANY contract offer to him They said this was because he was a second Rounder. Why is Mobley's contract different. They made it sound pretty standard. Rocket River ------------------
Essentially, they're wrong. They can match any offer for him up to $4.1 million. That is standard for all second round draft pick FAs this year. Mobley is no different -- or rather, Lewis' situation is no different from Mobley's. ------------------
For restricted free agents, their teams do indeed have the right to match any offer. But, they don't get an exception to exceed the cap to match the offer. So, what that means is that yes, Seattle has the right to match any offer for Lewis, but they've got to make it work cap wise. So, if a team offers Lewis a contract higher than the maximum amount that Seattle can pay him, then he's gone. All the restricted free agency does is prevent a player from going to another team for less money. ------------------
