You know how people say, well, we can't devote resources to the defense, because we're allocating our money to Rodgers' contract and weapons for him?

Well I checked whether that's actually true, and it isn't. The Packers actually spend around the top 5 for defense.

So the next question is whether they're getting value (i.e. a good defense). You would think that spending around the top 5, we'd be getting a top 5 defense in return, right? Well we know that's not true.

Below is a list of the Packers' weighted defensive DVOA rankings, along with defensive spending rankings (active roster cap) by year:

2016: 23; 6
2015: 14; 5
2014: 18; 4
2013: 29; 6

So for example, for 2016, the Packers spent the 6th most in the NFL on defense, and only achieved a 23 ranking defensively. Every year, we've gotten terrible, terrible value.

How have other teams done?

Here's a list of the top defensive spending teams (in rank order; active roster cap) by year, and their DVOA ranking:

2016:

Bengals; 16
Bucs; 4
Giants; 2
Broncos; 1
Seahawks; 9
Packers; 23
Jaguars; 13
Jets; 19
Titans; 27

2015:

Jets; 6
Colts; 10
Seahawks; 3
Texans; 4
Packers; 14
Bengals; 9
Browns; 23
Chiefs; 2
Cardinals; 7
Broncos; 1

2014:

Bengals; 17
Bucs; 15
Bills; 2
Packers; 18
Browns; 8
Lions; 7
Steelers; 27
Ravens; 12
Seahawks; 1
Dolphins; 25

2013:

Bengals; 6
Chiefs; 14
Vikings; 26
Ravens; 8
Bucs; 12
Packers; 29
Colts; 19
Browns; 27
Bills; 5
49ers; 11

My takeaways:

- The Packers have gotten poor value every year; this is true of no other team.
- The majority of teams getting poor value replaced their coach soon after (2013 Browns, 2013 Bucs, 2013 Vikings, 2014 Dolphins, 2014 Steelers; 2014 Bucs; 2015 Browns; none in 2016).
- The Packers are a complete outlier in this analysis, having gotten poor value every year and retaining their coaches despite this.
- Someone is asleep at the wheel - either TT is handing out bad contracts, and/or Capers is not getting expected value out of his players/defense.