SnakeLH2006
03-13-2012, 02:32 AM
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/packers-dont-alter-business-practices-k14hlb6-142420345.html
It was a busy day around the National Football League on Monday as teams prepared for the first day of the league year and the much-anticipated beginning of free agency.
At 3 p.m. Tuesday, all teams will have to be in compliance with the league's $120.6 million salary cap and any player with at least four years in the league whose contract has expired and hasn't received a franchise tag is free to negotiate with all 32 teams.
On the same day that Washington and Dallas were punished for brazen attempts to manipulate the salary cap, Peyton Manning fever spread to at least two other teams and players began getting released because of their high cap numbers, the Green Bay Packers approached Tuesday like any other day this off-season.
The Packers went into Monday comfortably under the salary cap by $5.35 million and retired for the night $6.94 million under after the NFL divvied up $44.8 million of cap space it took away from Washington ($36 million) and Dallas ($10 million) for using the uncapped season of 2010 to front-load contracts and gain an unfair advantage over the other teams in the future.
The Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints also were found to have committed the same act, but in a much lesser fashion, and their only punishment was to be left out of the $1.6 million.
Getting the extra cap space certainly is a boon for general manager Ted Thompson, but it's not going to affect his ability to re-sign center Scott Wells or cornerback Jarrett Bush, believed to be his top two priorities in free agency.
The Packers and Wells have done such a good job of keeping negotiations secret that it's hard to know whether they have bridged at all a huge gap they faced as late as the middle of February. Typically, the Packers get deals done with their free-agents-to-be right under the gun, so it may take until Tuesday afternoon for Wells' fate to be known.
The Packers may be digging in with the Wells negotiations because the market is thick with veteran centers, a number of whom will be cheaper than the Packers veteran.
On Monday, the St. Louis Rams released Jason Brown, who joins free agents Chris Myers (Houston), Dan Koppen (New England), Samson Satele (Oakland), Matt Birk (Baltimore), Jeff Saturday (Indianapolis) and Nick Hardwick (San Diego) on the open market. Tampa Bay's Jeff Famine will be available also if reports are true that he'll be released Tuesday.
But no one knows the Packers' offense like Wells, and coach Mike McCarthy has viewed him as the top performer on the offensive line each of the last two seasons. Wells, who turned 31 in January, is stubborn and won't settle for less than what he thinks the market bears. So it may be a case of him seeing what's available before it's determined whether he returns to the Packers at their price or signs somewhere else at his price.
Thompson has plenty of cap space to sign a center, whether it's Wells or someone else. Though there has been plenty of banter about potential cuts and renegotiations, Thompson really doesn't need to do anything right away.
Some maneuvers he can make to gain cap space when necessary are:
Release left tackle Chad Clifton or restructure his $5.59 million salary.
Release wide receiver Donald Driver or restructure his $5 million salary.
Restructure cornerback Charles Woodson's $4 million roster bonus due in April.
Restructure or extend quarterback Aaron Rodgers' contract, which has three years left at $29.25 million total.
Since none of those moves have to be made immediately - unless Thompson does a 180 from his abhorrence of free agency and pursues someone of high value - he can slow down and see how things fall in free agency.
In the case of Bush, it's likely to come down to the wire. Bush has talked about wanting to test the market, so he may not settle for whatever - if anything - the Packers have put on the table. A couple of weeks ago, there were no substantial talks.
The player whom Thompson definitely will not re-sign is backup quarterback Matt Flynn, who doesn't want to be a caddy anymore and should land a starting opportunity within the first week of free agency. Until Manning signs with someone, the quarterback market is up in the air.
Denver and Tennessee appear to be taking a shot just at Manning, but Miami and Arizona - two other teams in the Manning sweepstakes - probably have interest in Flynn and may kick the tires. Another team that might be involved is Cleveland.
Unless Flynn can get two teams bidding against each other, he won't get the money many people are predicting.
The Packers' other free agents are running back Ryan Grant, nose tackle Howard Green, cornerback Pat Lee and linebacker Erik Walden.
Grant's agent said last week that his client will test the market, but the Packers have told him they would like him back. Before he re-signs, Grant will see what the market looks like. One possible landing spot is the New York Giants, his former team who cut running back Brandon Jacobs.
The rest of the free agents aren't priorities and Thompson will have plenty of time to decide whether he wants to bring them back.
The Packers do not have any restricted or exclusive-rights free agents so they do not have to make qualifying offers that would count against the cap to others whose contracts are set to expire.
PACKERS UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
TE Jermichael Finley: He signed Feb. 22 for two years, $14 million, ($4.5 million in bonuses). This was huge for the sake of QB Aaron Rodgers and the offense. No one stresses a defense like the big tight end. Ewwww.
QB Matt Flynn: Until Peyton Manning signs somewhere, his status is up in the air. Look for Miami and Cleveland to be his main pursuers. We'll get a 3rd.
C Scott Wells: Little is known about how far the two sides have come. If Wells leaves, center becomes a priority in free agency or the draft. Emo shorties don't get luv...see Brando.
CB Jarrett Bush: The special teams ace has flown under the radar leading up to free agency. He's more important to the Packers than people think because he's a physical guy who can help out in the secondary. Snake luvs some trim..just not Jarrett's.
RB Ryan Grant: The Packers want him back and he's OK returning. But the Packers may lowball him and don't be surprised if the New York Giants consider him to replace Brandon Jacobs. On the cheap..why not?
DE Howard Green: If he's re-signed, it probably would be after the draft. He faded last year, and with at least one defensive lineman expected to be drafted early there's probably not much reason to bring him back. Too fat to dance yo.
CB Pat Lee: Will test the market as a special teams performer and backup corner. If Bush leaves, re-signing Lee might become more of a priority because he's a good gunner on punt coverage. Cut the cord.
LB Erik Walden: There's no reason not to bring him back. Some teams won't touch him because of the domestic incident, but the Packers know him and feel he'll play better with more of a settled personal life. Beating women saves cap space? ;-0
Tom Silverstein
It was a busy day around the National Football League on Monday as teams prepared for the first day of the league year and the much-anticipated beginning of free agency.
At 3 p.m. Tuesday, all teams will have to be in compliance with the league's $120.6 million salary cap and any player with at least four years in the league whose contract has expired and hasn't received a franchise tag is free to negotiate with all 32 teams.
On the same day that Washington and Dallas were punished for brazen attempts to manipulate the salary cap, Peyton Manning fever spread to at least two other teams and players began getting released because of their high cap numbers, the Green Bay Packers approached Tuesday like any other day this off-season.
The Packers went into Monday comfortably under the salary cap by $5.35 million and retired for the night $6.94 million under after the NFL divvied up $44.8 million of cap space it took away from Washington ($36 million) and Dallas ($10 million) for using the uncapped season of 2010 to front-load contracts and gain an unfair advantage over the other teams in the future.
The Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints also were found to have committed the same act, but in a much lesser fashion, and their only punishment was to be left out of the $1.6 million.
Getting the extra cap space certainly is a boon for general manager Ted Thompson, but it's not going to affect his ability to re-sign center Scott Wells or cornerback Jarrett Bush, believed to be his top two priorities in free agency.
The Packers and Wells have done such a good job of keeping negotiations secret that it's hard to know whether they have bridged at all a huge gap they faced as late as the middle of February. Typically, the Packers get deals done with their free-agents-to-be right under the gun, so it may take until Tuesday afternoon for Wells' fate to be known.
The Packers may be digging in with the Wells negotiations because the market is thick with veteran centers, a number of whom will be cheaper than the Packers veteran.
On Monday, the St. Louis Rams released Jason Brown, who joins free agents Chris Myers (Houston), Dan Koppen (New England), Samson Satele (Oakland), Matt Birk (Baltimore), Jeff Saturday (Indianapolis) and Nick Hardwick (San Diego) on the open market. Tampa Bay's Jeff Famine will be available also if reports are true that he'll be released Tuesday.
But no one knows the Packers' offense like Wells, and coach Mike McCarthy has viewed him as the top performer on the offensive line each of the last two seasons. Wells, who turned 31 in January, is stubborn and won't settle for less than what he thinks the market bears. So it may be a case of him seeing what's available before it's determined whether he returns to the Packers at their price or signs somewhere else at his price.
Thompson has plenty of cap space to sign a center, whether it's Wells or someone else. Though there has been plenty of banter about potential cuts and renegotiations, Thompson really doesn't need to do anything right away.
Some maneuvers he can make to gain cap space when necessary are:
Release left tackle Chad Clifton or restructure his $5.59 million salary.
Release wide receiver Donald Driver or restructure his $5 million salary.
Restructure cornerback Charles Woodson's $4 million roster bonus due in April.
Restructure or extend quarterback Aaron Rodgers' contract, which has three years left at $29.25 million total.
Since none of those moves have to be made immediately - unless Thompson does a 180 from his abhorrence of free agency and pursues someone of high value - he can slow down and see how things fall in free agency.
In the case of Bush, it's likely to come down to the wire. Bush has talked about wanting to test the market, so he may not settle for whatever - if anything - the Packers have put on the table. A couple of weeks ago, there were no substantial talks.
The player whom Thompson definitely will not re-sign is backup quarterback Matt Flynn, who doesn't want to be a caddy anymore and should land a starting opportunity within the first week of free agency. Until Manning signs with someone, the quarterback market is up in the air.
Denver and Tennessee appear to be taking a shot just at Manning, but Miami and Arizona - two other teams in the Manning sweepstakes - probably have interest in Flynn and may kick the tires. Another team that might be involved is Cleveland.
Unless Flynn can get two teams bidding against each other, he won't get the money many people are predicting.
The Packers' other free agents are running back Ryan Grant, nose tackle Howard Green, cornerback Pat Lee and linebacker Erik Walden.
Grant's agent said last week that his client will test the market, but the Packers have told him they would like him back. Before he re-signs, Grant will see what the market looks like. One possible landing spot is the New York Giants, his former team who cut running back Brandon Jacobs.
The rest of the free agents aren't priorities and Thompson will have plenty of time to decide whether he wants to bring them back.
The Packers do not have any restricted or exclusive-rights free agents so they do not have to make qualifying offers that would count against the cap to others whose contracts are set to expire.
PACKERS UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
TE Jermichael Finley: He signed Feb. 22 for two years, $14 million, ($4.5 million in bonuses). This was huge for the sake of QB Aaron Rodgers and the offense. No one stresses a defense like the big tight end. Ewwww.
QB Matt Flynn: Until Peyton Manning signs somewhere, his status is up in the air. Look for Miami and Cleveland to be his main pursuers. We'll get a 3rd.
C Scott Wells: Little is known about how far the two sides have come. If Wells leaves, center becomes a priority in free agency or the draft. Emo shorties don't get luv...see Brando.
CB Jarrett Bush: The special teams ace has flown under the radar leading up to free agency. He's more important to the Packers than people think because he's a physical guy who can help out in the secondary. Snake luvs some trim..just not Jarrett's.
RB Ryan Grant: The Packers want him back and he's OK returning. But the Packers may lowball him and don't be surprised if the New York Giants consider him to replace Brandon Jacobs. On the cheap..why not?
DE Howard Green: If he's re-signed, it probably would be after the draft. He faded last year, and with at least one defensive lineman expected to be drafted early there's probably not much reason to bring him back. Too fat to dance yo.
CB Pat Lee: Will test the market as a special teams performer and backup corner. If Bush leaves, re-signing Lee might become more of a priority because he's a good gunner on punt coverage. Cut the cord.
LB Erik Walden: There's no reason not to bring him back. Some teams won't touch him because of the domestic incident, but the Packers know him and feel he'll play better with more of a settled personal life. Beating women saves cap space? ;-0
Tom Silverstein