Packers 2022 Free Agency Thread

[Joemailman]

2022 Unrestricted Free Agents (With 2021 cap hit)

Davante Adams 14,500,000
Kevin King 5,000,000
Robert Tonyan 3,384,000
Chandon Sullivan 2,133,000
De'Vondre Campbell 2,000,000
Lucas Patrick 1,487,500
Dennis Kelly 1,325,000
Tyler Lancaster 1,250,000
Corey Bojorquez 1,020,000
Oren Burks 887,889
Isaac Yiadom 830,817
Marquez Valdes-Scantling 669,388
__________________________________________________ __________________________

2022 Restricted Free Agents (With 2021 caphit)

Equanimeous St. Brown 850,000
Allen Lazard 675,000
Yosh Nijman 540,000
__________________________________________________ __________________________

2022 Exclusive Rights Free Agents (with 2021 cap hit)

Malik Taylor 780,000
Randy Ramsey 780,000
Krys Barnes 695,000
Henry Black 695,000
Dominique Dafney 695,000
Chauncey Rivers 660,000
__________________________________________________ __________________________

Other players with significant 2022 cap hit (with cap savings if cut before June 1)

Aaron Rodgers 46,144,157 (19,297,018)
Zadarius Smith 28,130,000 (15,750,000)
David Bakhtiari 22,768,000 (-3,536041)
Kenny Clark 20,650,000 (5,650,000)
Preston Smith 19,750,000 (12,500,000)
Jaire Alexander 13,294,000 (0)
Adrian Amos 11,982,000 (4,654,000)
Randall Cobb 9,641,666 (6,858,332)
Aaron Jones 9,000,000 (-750,000)
Billy Turner 8,971,250 (3,180,000)
Dean Lowry 7,922,000 (3,934,000)

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Douglas should also be on the list. He pretty much earned himself a nice contract for another team next year. The cap can always be cooked, but odds are, Packers won’t pay Douglas when they still have to pay J-Alex.

[Guiness]

Is Valdez-Scantling really just on the last year of his rookie contract? Seems like he's been around longer than that!

I wonder what kind of a payday Campbell is going to command

[Joemailman]

Is Valdez-Scantling really just on the last year of his rookie contract? Seems like he's been around longer than that!

I wonder what kind of a payday Campbell is going to command

Top 10 pay for ILB is in the 9-10 million range. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/average/inside-linebacker/

Alexander, MVS and St. Brown all came out of 2018 draft. Packers have 5th year option on Alexander because he was 1st round pick.

[smuggler]

Is Campbell just gone? I don't see how he can fairly be paid less than Joe Schobert or Blake Martinez... But I don't see it in the cards for the Packers to be the ones to pay him...

[smuggler]

Unrestricted Free Agents

Davante Adams 14,500,000
Robert Tonyan 3,384,000
De'Vondre Campbell 2,000,000
Corey Bojorquez 1,020,000
Marquez Valdes-Scantling 669,388

Exclusive Rights Free Agents

Krys Barnes

That's a lot of talent to see walk. Didn't even include Lazard, Patrick, or Nijman who are all contributing this season and the latter two are increasing their price tag with each week that goes by.

[run pMc]

Douglas should also be on the list. He pretty much earned himself a nice contract for another team next year. The cap can always be cooked, but odds are, Packers won’t pay Douglas when they still have to pay J-Alex.

Douglas is worth King's salary lol. Agree he's made some money this year.
GB has cooked the cap about as far as they can without shedding a lot of contracts... I assume King, Kelly, Lancaster, Burks, Yiadom won't be back, with Z, Preston and Cobb probably gone as well. It will be all about keeping Adams and squeezing as much out of Rodgers as possible. Rodgers is the 3rd oldest QB in the league, there aren't many older than 35 right now. He's under contract for one more year, but what a year that is on the cap.

If you're on the wrong side of 30 and you don't play QB you probably aren't getting a contract from Gute.

Keeping the ERFA's are no brainers, tendering the RFA's makes sense. Those are all cheap, developing guys... some who are significant contributors.

I'd think they will want MVS, Bojorquez, Tonyan back. They can probably get Sullivan and Patrick back on modest deals.
Campbell likely got himself a hefty payday elsewhere, but ILB market is weird so who knows.

[Freak Out]

Last Dance

[George Cumby]

Last Dance

The numbers are pretty grim.

[Joemailman]

The numbers are pretty grim.There's a lot they can do though. Take Rodgers. He has a cap hit of 46M next year. One way or the other that won't happen. If they trade him, they save 19M on the cap. If they give him a contract extension, they will knock the cap hit down with a low base salary. I don't think Z will be back. That saves 16M. Cobb will take a big pay cut or be cut. A guy like Amos may get an extension to lower his cap hit in 2022.

They will continue to push money into the next year with there being a salary cap increase in 2023. The cap is expected to be 208M in 2022, 230M in 2023 and 250M in 2024.

[George Cumby]

^Good stuff.

[texaspackerbacker]

There's a lot they can do though. Take Rodgers. He has a cap hit of 46M next year. One way or the other that won't happen. If they trade him, they save 19M on the cap. If they give him a contract extension, they will knock the cap hit down with a low base salary. I don't think Z will be back. That saves 16M. Cobb will take a big pay cut or be cut. A guy like Amos may get an extension to lower his cap hit in 2022.

They will continue to push money into the next year with there being a salary cap increase in 2023. The cap is expected to be 208M in 2022, 230M in 2023 and 250M in 2024.

Absolutely! The panic of some in here is just plain stupid. Everybody worth bringing back will be brought back.

[SudsMcBucky]

Absolutely! The panic of some in here is just plain stupid. Everybody worth bringing back will be brought back.

Nope. ARod is worth bringing back (obviously), but he will not. I really believe he and the front office had a deal before the season began that he would come back for 1 more year if they moved him at the end of it. Unfortunately, the front office fucked up and Rodgers will be gone. Enjoy this year while it's still here.

[Joemailman]

Nope. ARod is worth bringing back (obviously), but he will not. I really believe he and the front office had a deal before the season began that he would come back for 1 more year if they moved him at the end of it. Unfortunately, the front office fucked up and Rodgers will be gone. Enjoy this year while it's still here.

I don't think it's all decided. I think they agreed to trade Rodgers after this year if he wants to leave. But since they renegotiated his contract, Packers have made some moves that Rodgers approved of. Signing Cobb, Mercilus, Douglas. And 2 of the teams Rodgers reportedly would have liked to go to, Denver and Las Vegas, could be undergoing coaching changes after this year. Would Rodgers want to go to a team and have to start over with a new coach at age 39? Now if Rams or 49ers got involved, that could be a factor. If the Packers win the Super Bowl I think Rodgers signs an extension to finish his career in Green Bay.

[call_me_ishmael]

Packers will resign Adams - if he wants to be back and presumably if Aaron is back. The rest of those FAs can go. They will for sure resign the dudes that will make about what they make now like the punter, Sullivan if they want, etc. They can't afford Campbell but they will likely get a nice compensatory pick for a dude they found on the street, nice little win there.

[smuggler]

In order for Rodgers to get traded, he'd have to luck into a Tam Brady situation, which does not appear to be on the horizon. Why would Rodgers leave if his best chances are with the Packers?

Granted, there are teams, as illustrated by the 538 model, where Rodgers increases their chances of winning a SB (including Tampa Bay), but most of those teams have young QBs that probably aren't considering a short term upgrade with a long term downside.

[George Cumby]

And given that Love doesn't appear up to the task, management may continue to further efforts to keep 12 happy.

[smuggler]

Rodgers would both potentially be an upgrade and upgrade his own personal SB chances in:

Pittsburgh: cap strapped and trending down, the team would love to trade but Rodgers doesn't benefit
New England: they have the same problem with receivers that Green Bay has had, in fact much worse, and the have a decent QB with three years left on his rookie deal, I don't think it makes sense on either side
New Orleans: perhaps the best trade partner, especially considering Gute has made deals with them before, but they are also strapped for cash and Michael Thomas is a basket case
Washington: ownership is terrible, but otherwise the team is solid, and I wouldn't mind Heineke in a Packer uni. Still, it seems like at BEST a lateral move for Rodgers
Baltimore: good destination for A-Rod, but they have a good QB already who is much younger and it would be a PR nightmare for Baltimore to make this trade
Denver: good destination, but they've already started disassembling for a rebuild that probably precludes them from the Rodgers sweepstakes
Buffalo: good roster, good team, but Allen is perhaps the best talent at QB aside from Mahomes in the league, so what would be the motivation for the Bills?
Cincy: ascending roster with talented skill position players, but why would the Bengals move on from Burrow so quickly? Would the whole team really be an upgrade for Rodgers? This division is tough!
Cleveland: stacked roster even without OBJ, and definitely needy for an upgrade at QB, but does Cleveland really seem like a Rodgers kinda town?
Tampa: would be an upgrade for the Bucs, but would be incredibly unpopular with fans and teammates unless Brady retires

[George Cumby]

Good arguments for him to stay put.

What about LA? Are they contractually married to Stafford?

[Joemailman]

Good arguments for him to stay put.

What about LA? Are they contractually married to Stafford?

No. Stafford received no signing bonus. He has a 10M roster bonus due 3/21. Rams can cut him or trade him before that date and he counts nothing on their cap. I think they're the most attractive spot for Rodgers outside of Green Bay.

[texaspackerbacker]

Rodgers obviously isn't going anyplace. If he did, the Houston Texans would be a more likely place than any of the others mentioned, but it ain't gonna happen there or anywhere else.

Adams will be re-signed - assuming Rodgers stays. As I said, literally everybody worth keeping on that list will be back. The most likely exception is Z. Smith because the massive savings by dumping him outweigh the benefit he brings.

[Joemailman]

Rodgers obviously isn't going anyplace. If he did, the Houston Texans would be a more likely place than any of the others mentioned, but it ain't gonna happen there or anywhere else.

Adams will be re-signed - assuming Rodgers stays. As I said, literally everybody worth keeping on that list will be back. The most likely exception is Z. Smith because the massive savings by dumping him outweigh the benefit he brings.

There is no way Rodgers would agree to go to a train wreck of an organization like Houston.

[smuggler]

No. Stafford received no signing bonus. He has a 10M roster bonus due 3/21. Rams can cut him or trade him before that date and he counts nothing on their cap. I think they're the most attractive spot for Rodgers outside of Green Bay.

That team is not built to compete in 2022 and beyond. Why would Rodgers go to them when the team is about to explode? Perhaps the better question is: Why would the Packers deal to them? They have nothing in terms of draft capital to send in return.

Why the fuck would Rodgers want to go to the Texans, tex? Their coaching situation is horrible and their team is not in a good position to compete for a championship next year.

[George Cumby]

Shaping up to be a 'Better the Devil You Know' for Rodgers.

[King Friday]

I generally agree with the assessment that Rodgers doesn't have a lot of options where he is going to walk in to a new team and immediately have a markedly better chance to win than he does in Green Bay. This is all about Rodgers and Adams. If Adams wants to break the bank, then the Packers will be going into a reset. If Adams is willing to stay at a slight discount because Rodgers will stay and rework his contact, the Packers will have room to keep the most important guys and still have a roster capable of winning a title.

Hell, look at what we are doing this year with several nobodies that we had no clue about 4 months ago. Gute has really found a lot of overlooked gems in the last year...need to keep that rolling.

[call_me_ishmael]

Rodgers would both potentially be an upgrade and upgrade his own personal SB chances in:

Pittsburgh: cap strapped and trending down, the team would love to trade but Rodgers doesn't benefit
New England: they have the same problem with receivers that Green Bay has had, in fact much worse, and the have a decent QB with three years left on his rookie deal, I don't think it makes sense on either side
New Orleans: perhaps the best trade partner, especially considering Gute has made deals with them before, but they are also strapped for cash and Michael Thomas is a basket case
Washington: ownership is terrible, but otherwise the team is solid, and I wouldn't mind Heineke in a Packer uni. Still, it seems like at BEST a lateral move for Rodgers
Baltimore: good destination for A-Rod, but they have a good QB already who is much younger and it would be a PR nightmare for Baltimore to make this trade
Denver: good destination, but they've already started disassembling for a rebuild that probably precludes them from the Rodgers sweepstakes
Buffalo: good roster, good team, but Allen is perhaps the best talent at QB aside from Mahomes in the league, so what would be the motivation for the Bills?
Cincy: ascending roster with talented skill position players, but why would the Bengals move on from Burrow so quickly? Would the whole team really be an upgrade for Rodgers? This division is tough!
Cleveland: stacked roster even without OBJ, and definitely needy for an upgrade at QB, but does Cleveland really seem like a Rodgers kinda town?
Tampa: would be an upgrade for the Bucs, but would be incredibly unpopular with fans and teammates unless Brady retires

In what way do you think Denver has disassembled beyond trading Von Miler? I genuinely don't know.

I would say Cleveland looks like a really nice fit. Lots of talent. John Dorsey affect of a great roster.

Here's a crazy idea - what about the Rams? They send back Stafford. This only makes sense in the event Rodgers is demanding a trade.

New Orleans looks like a very talented and deep team. Rodgers would like that I'm sure.

Miami could be a good fit but the owner is trash.

Pittsburgh makes a ton of sense.

[King Friday]

Pittsburgh's roster is not that good anymore. They would not be an upgrade to Green Bay...at best a neutral move where Rodgers still has to spend a lot of effort learning a new system and players.

The Rams have to be facing a difficult cap situation in the years ahead as well. They can't possibly keep all the talent on their roster moving forward unless they are all going to take significant discounts.

Denver and Cleveland are probably the most likely...as I think Rodgers views having a great defense as necessary to be a title contender. The Packers resurgence on defense this year has probably been the largest thing that will give him pause to leave Green Bay. He has a great defense here. He also has a great offense that he is extremely comfortable in. Leaving that for what is going to be an unknown wherever he goes is a huge risk at this point in his career. Just look at Stafford. Everyone thought he would be the missing piece in LA...and it is possible he will still make that happen...but it looks less and less likely each week.

[texaspackerbacker]

That team is not built to compete in 2022 and beyond. Why would Rodgers go to them when the team is about to explode? Perhaps the better question is: Why would the Packers deal to them? They have nothing in terms of draft capital to send in return.

Why the fuck would Rodgers want to go to the Texans, tex? Their coaching situation is horrible and their team is not in a good position to compete for a championship next year.

I really don't think that he would - I say again, he ain't going anywhere, but for the sake of argument, it would feed his ego big time if he could take supposedly the worst team and make them a winner. Besides, here, there, or anywhere, there's no reason to expect that next year is all there is for him.

[run pMc]

I don't think Rams can really trade for Rodgers -- what would they trade? Would have to be players; they've traded away basically their entire 2022 draft picks, and they gave up their 2023 R1 for Stafford too. Maybe they could send Aaron Donald back? Does that help your cap?
I could maybe see PIT -- they have some good players, that team would be a LOT better swapping out Ben R. for Rodgers. Ben has lost his legs and his arm is a shell of what it was in terms of velocity and accuracy. CLE would be interesting, partly because of all the stuff around Baker and that is a team with pieces Rodgers could play with. Stefanski's not a terrible coach and they have picks/players they could swap. Baker, JOK, and a R1 for Rodgers? LOL Agree Denver is another place, maybe Miami. Tua and Waddle for Rodgers? Houston is going to want to move Watson, so that muddies things as well.
I could see SF, especially if Shanahan loses patience with Lance. Not sure what they have for picks after sending 3 first rounders to MIA to pick him.

Agree the best solution is to extend Rodgers a couple of years. Love won't be happy, but he isn't ready yet either. Rodgers turns 38 on Thursday; I think he has 2, maybe 3 good seasons left after this one tbh. QBs who both survive and thrive in the league past 40 are very rare. Favre's last year was not pretty. Hell, look at Warren Moon, Vinny Testaverde, or the stats of any other QB not named Brady after 40.

GB has cooked their cap and it will go up significantly over the next few years (assuming no more pandemics or major global economic crises) which will help if they can push more money out into the future... sooner or later they will have to eat some of that and let good players go though.
Z will be the first domino. He's a really good player, but a 29 year old edge defender with a back injury has to concern the FO...especially one that costs $20M.

[Guiness]

That team is not built to compete in 2022 and beyond. Why would Rodgers go to them when the team is about to explode? Perhaps the better question is: Why would the Packers deal to them? They have nothing in terms of draft capital to send in return.

Why the fuck would Rodgers want to go to the Texans, tex? Their coaching situation is horrible and their team is not in a good position to compete for a championship next year.

The Rams would be more than willing to trade their first round choice in *checks notes* 2024.

[texaspackerbacker]

We've covered this ground before. Things are different for QBs nowadays - rules, etc. in their favor, conditioning, etc. There is no reason whatsoever to think Rodgers can't play with equal or better effectiveness than Brady to the same age. He certainly seems like a better athlete, and the greatest of all the great things about Rodgers is mental - care to avoid throwing interceptions and diagnosing and beating defenses, both of which are things that won't get worse with age.

It's beyond weird to talk about Rodgers not playing after this year or the next or even 3 or 4 or 5 or maybe a good deal more - unless he just decides he wants to do something else, which I very much doubt he would even though he likely could do a lot of things.

[SudsMcBucky]

I don't think it's all decided. I think they agreed to trade Rodgers after this year if he wants to leave. But since they renegotiated his contract, Packers have made some moves that Rodgers approved of. Signing Cobb, Mercilus, Douglas. And 2 of the teams Rodgers reportedly would have liked to go to, Denver and Las Vegas, could be undergoing coaching changes after this year. Would Rodgers want to go to a team and have to start over with a new coach at age 39? Now if Rams or 49ers got involved, that could be a factor. If the Packers win the Super Bowl I think Rodgers signs an extension to finish his career in Green Bay.

Now ARod is blaming someone on the coaching staff for the leak of his broken toe to the media. Everything this guy has said since the end of last season is screaming "I am done with the Pack after this season."

[wthigoot]

Rodgers would both potentially be an upgrade and upgrade his own personal SB chances in:

Pittsburgh: cap strapped and trending down, the team would love to trade but Rodgers doesn't benefit
New England: they have the same problem with receivers that Green Bay has had, in fact much worse, and the have a decent QB with three years left on his rookie deal, I don't think it makes sense on either side
New Orleans: perhaps the best trade partner, especially considering Gute has made deals with them before, but they are also strapped for cash and Michael Thomas is a basket case
Washington: ownership is terrible, but otherwise the team is solid, and I wouldn't mind Heineke in a Packer uni. Still, it seems like at BEST a lateral move for Rodgers
Baltimore: good destination for A-Rod, but they have a good QB already who is much younger and it would be a PR nightmare for Baltimore to make this trade
Denver: good destination, but they've already started disassembling for a rebuild that probably precludes them from the Rodgers sweepstakes
Buffalo: good roster, good team, but Allen is perhaps the best talent at QB aside from Mahomes in the league, so what would be the motivation for the Bills?
Cincy: ascending roster with talented skill position players, but why would the Bengals move on from Burrow so quickly? Would the whole team really be an upgrade for Rodgers? This division is tough!
Cleveland: stacked roster even without OBJ, and definitely needy for an upgrade at QB, but does Cleveland really seem like a Rodgers kinda town?
Tampa: would be an upgrade for the Bucs, but would be incredibly unpopular with fans and teammates unless Brady retires

Guessing that Rodgers and the Packers will find a way for him to stay at least one year (probably more).

If a trade happened, I think it would be Denver or OakLAVegas.

Denver is close enough to competing to make a good offer and Rodgers might like it there.

I think Chucky would have been all in on getting Rodgers and would have been willing to give up a lot. Not sure if that is still the case with all the changes in mgmt, coach, and players. If it happened now, I could see Carr going to a third team, and Packers would get picks and players from both of the other teams.

[Bretsky]

Now ARod is blaming someone on the coaching staff for the leak of his broken toe to the media. Everything this guy has said since the end of last season is screaming "I am done with the Pack after this season."

HERE ARE SOME RECORDING FROM THE INTERVIEW...lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9tOqxsz6k4

[Joemailman]

Now ARod is blaming someone on the coaching staff for the leak of his broken toe to the media. Everything this guy has said since the end of last season is screaming "I am done with the Pack after this season."

Reading the tea leaves with Rodgers can be difficult. A lot of people who tried to do so were convinced he wouldn't play for the Packers this year.

[HarveyWallbangers]

He’ll be back for one more year. Book it!

[Fritz]

He’ll be back for one more year. Book it!

If Rodgers wants a landing spot with a near sure-fire contender, he's got fewer and fewer choices. Cleveland, if they're willing to ditch Baker Mayfield, and maybe Denver, though it's hard to see them as a real contender.

But a team would have to give up at least two number ones and a few higher-round picks, like seconds and thirds. Or maybe a player who would upgrade a position for the Pack, like a defensive lineman.

I don't think we can say much about Love - his performance against the Chiefs was not good, but then again he's pretty much a rookie. So it's hard to say.

[call_me_ishmael]

He’ll be back for one more year. Book it!

Unlikely for a single year. Why would he do that with no new contract that extends beyong this year when he can ask to be traded and get multiple years guaranteed? Nobody would do that IMO. He will either be with GB multiple years or gone IMO.