Free agency starts this coming week, with the legal tampering period beginning on Monday, and then the true start of free agency getting under way Wednesday with the start of the new league year at 4 pm New York time.

The Seattle Seahawks have multiple players who are set to be free agents, including defensive mainstays in Earl Thomas and K.J. Wright, along with some newer names like Justin Coleman and D.J. Fluker. In addition, J.R. Sweezy will have the opportunity to leave the Hawks as a free agent for a second time in three years, but it seems doubtful that he’ll be able to replicate the type of contract he earned from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the first time around.

So, what better way to enjoy free agency than to take a shot at seeing how close we can predict what players will earn on the market. Specifically, I’ve chosen a roster of 23 players comprised of a full offensive squad, a full defensive squad and a kicker (long snappers and punters are only necessary so that kickers have someone to hang out with on the sideline and talk to in team meetings) that we can take a stab at guessing their value.

Without beating around the bush, the way the competition works is as follows: Entrants guess the average per year (APY) and length of contract each free agent in the competition signs and points are awarded based on how close each guess is.

For the APY guesses, the maximum available value per guess is 10, with 1 point deducted for each $1M away from the actual value, up to a maximum of 10 points deducted. So, say that an entrant guesses K Jason Myers signs a 3 year, $15M (APY of $5M) contract and then Myers signs a 4 year, $16M (APY of $4M) contract. That entrant would lose one point for being off by a year and a point for being off by $1M. Thus, that guess would earn 4 points for the contract length and 9 points for the APY for a total of 13 points.

For simplicity in the sake of grading, all contract values will be rounded to the nearest million dollars. A 3-year, $10M contract (APY of $3.33M) will be rounded down to $3M. Standard rounding rules apply, such that anything that is greater than or equal to five tenths (0.5) will be rounded up, with anything at 49 hundredths or less (0.49) rounding down.

The entry form this year is comprised of drop down boxes, which makes it extremely easy to enter and grade, as all the input goes directly into a google sheet. There are three short questions at the bottom which will be used as tiebreakers.

Due to the ease with which this year’s version should be able to be graded, I will hopefully be able to give more regular updates compared to years past, but that will depend upon multiple variables, including how busy I am over the coming weeks (hint: I’m slated to be completely smashed, but who actually knows). I’ve tried to include as many Seahawks and former Seahawks as I could, so you’ll see names like Jason Myers, Golden Tate, Sheldon Richardson, Pierre Desir, Earl Thomas, D.J. Fluker and K.J. Wright.

In any case, the deadline for completing your entry will be 4 pm New York time on Tuesday, however, any entries which come in after a contract is reported about on any platform (Twitter, NFL.com, ESPN.com, etc) will be excluded from consideration for any participant whose entry is submitted after the contract is reported. That means it’s best to get your entry in Saturday or Sunday, as rumors could start showing up as soon as Monday.

If there are any questions, ask away in the comments section and I will do my best to get them answered in a timely fashion. Thus, without wasting any more time,

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE GOOGLE FORM TO ENTER THE 2019 FIELD GULLS GM ARMCHAIR CHALLENGE

Don’t delay, it only takes a few minutes to participate.