Andrew Brandt leaves Packers' front office

[GrnBay007]

Re: Andrew Brandt leaves Packers' front office

Wow. Brandt was a very good capologist. It seemed to me he'd get the better of the players in most contracts. That's a sweeping statement but he was very solid.

That really a word?

I say they hire PATLER as their capologist!!

[MJZiggy]

Re: Andrew Brandt leaves Packers' front office

Sources: Brandt leaves Packers' front office

By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com

Andrew Brandt no longer is the Packers' vice president of player finance, NFL sources said today.


One source said it was Brandt's decision to leave the organization, but the Packers have not made any official announcement.

An official announcement is expected this week, perhaps as soon as this afternoon.

Brandt, 47, who joined the organization in 1999, had been responsible for negotiating contracts and managing the salary cap. His contract was to expire at the end of April, after the NFL draft.

Brandt was keenly interested in succeeding Bob Harlan as the Packers' president -- a position that went to Mark Murphy -- and was disappointed when he wasn't a finalist.

Wow. Brandt was a very good capologist. It seemed to me he'd get the better of the players in most contracts. That's a sweeping statement but he was very solid.

That really a word?

Apparently...http://espn.go.com/nfl/preview00/s/0...pologists.html

[woodbuck27]

Re: Andrew Brandt leaves Packers' front office

Wow. Brandt was a very good capologist. It seemed to me he'd get the better of the players in most contracts. That's a sweeping statement but he was very solid.

That really a word?

I say they hire PATLER as their capologist!!

Does he (Patler) have a clear escape clause fr. PackerRats?

[Patler]

Re: Andrew Brandt leaves Packers' front office

Wow. Brandt was a very good capologist. It seemed to me he'd get the better of the players in most contracts. That's a sweeping statement but he was very solid.

That really a word?

I say they hire PATLER as their capologist!!

That would be fun, however!

I think this was to be expected. Brandt was not in line to get the top job. If Murphy stays to retirement, Wied is the likely up and coming replacement. If Brandt has loftier ambitions than where he is now, he has to leave. I would expect the Packers presumed as much when they passed him over. It happens all the time in corporate America.

I agree with all those who have said he is good at what he does, but most teams have good ones now. Ten years ago most teams did not have "specialists" in the cap. The Packers were actually one of the first to recognize the importance of allowing someone to spend the time dealing only with player contracts.

There could be a "lag" in player dealings, maybe even a screw-up here or there in the near future when someone new moves in. There are a lot of details involved with that many player contracts, and the historical perspective and knowledge Brandt has will be lost. I think the important thing is to find someone who already has relationships with player agents. Developing those take time, and negotiations are based on trust.

Hasn't Wied done some the player contracts in recent years? I know the Packers have two involved, and I think Wied is the second. This could be a natural promotion for him, to assume added responsibilities.

[Patler]

Had this happened closer to April 1, it might have made the basis for a good story...........

[BF4MVP]

I had a feeling that this would happen. Brandt is an asshole, I say good riddance to him. Yes, I have my personal reasons for thinking that.

The guy was not very friendly towards the general public. Interacting with fans was a big "must" for the sucessor of Harlan.

Doesn't TT have the final say over contracts anyhow?

He may well have been an asshole..Hell, I don't know one way or the other..But he was a salary cap genius..I think it's a big loss.

[swede]

I had a feeling that this would happen. Brandt is an asshole, I say good riddance to him. Yes, I have my personal reasons for thinking that.

The guy was not very friendly towards the general public. Interacting with fans was a big "must" for the sucessor of Harlan.

Doesn't TT have the final say over contracts anyhow?

He may well have been an asshole..Hell, I don't know one way or the other..But he was a salary cap genius..I think it's a big loss.

Even the geniuses have their troubles. How about Antonio Freeman counting against the cap twice the year he was let go and brought back again?

[Patler]

I had a feeling that this would happen. Brandt is an asshole, I say good riddance to him. Yes, I have my personal reasons for thinking that.

The guy was not very friendly towards the general public. Interacting with fans was a big "must" for the sucessor of Harlan.

Doesn't TT have the final say over contracts anyhow?

He may well have been an asshole..Hell, I don't know one way or the other..But he was a salary cap genius..I think it's a big loss.

Many, many teams think they now have a salary cap "genius". All it really takes is for the organization to make the commitment to allow an individual to spend the time required to become well-versed in the details. Those that don't make the commitment of time make mistakes.

I will give Brandt (or whoever had the idea) credit for the latest clever approach, giving weekly bonuses based on being on the active roster. for players with injury histories at was a very creative approach.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I will give Brandt (or whoever had the idea) credit for the latest clever approach, giving weekly bonuses based on being on the active roster. for players with injury histories at was a very creative approach.

Wasn't Rastak talking about how the Vikings were already doing a lot of these things that Brandt did? I don't know whether it is a big loss or not. Like people have said, once a couple of teams had a cap guru who started finding all the loopholes, they weren't a lot of secrets left. Most teams are now exploiting these loopholes.

[GrnBay007]

Re: Andrew Brandt leaves Packers' front office

Wow. Brandt was a very good capologist. It seemed to me he'd get the better of the players in most contracts. That's a sweeping statement but he was very solid.

That really a word?

I say they hire PATLER as their capologist!!

That would be fun, however!

Just wait till I have you manage my money when I win that big old lottery!! :P

[RashanGary]

Re: Andrew Brandt leaves Packers' front office

Wow. Brandt was a very good capologist. It seemed to me he'd get the better of the players in most contracts. That's a sweeping statement but he was very solid.

Yeah, he was certainly good at what he did. However, talent evaluation is far more important than fitting pieces under the cap. Getting the better of player contracts is more about identifying talent early and knowing when to re-up someone.

All it takes is a couple Jamal Reynolds...and it doesn't matter who your cap guru is. Things won't be pretty.

I completely agree, Leaper. He's replacable.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

The REAL QUESTION is why TT didn't have a capable backup ready to go.

This is just another example of TT screwing the PACK.

[Patler]

I will give Brandt (or whoever had the idea) credit for the latest clever approach, giving weekly bonuses based on being on the active roster. for players with injury histories at was a very creative approach.

Wasn't Rastak talking about how the Vikings were already doing a lot of these things that Brandt did? I don't know whether it is a big loss or not. Like people have said, once a couple of teams had a cap guru who started finding all the loopholes, they weren't a lot of secrets left. Most teams are now exploiting these loopholes.

The Vikings and Eagles were big into the "likely to be earned" bonus thing for several years before the Packers had any excess cap dollars to bounce forward a season. Other teams were too.

When Woodson signed with the weekly roster bonus clause, several articles discussed it as a new wrinkle. I don't know if the Packers were first or not, but I know of no one else that had before then. I have not heard of many anywhere since, other than in GB.

[GBRulz]

Yup, it's official. Ya can't really blame the guy. I mean, it's not much different than you or I leaving a job because the room for advancement is very limited.

http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080128/PKR01/80128176/1989

Seeking new challenges, Brandt leaves Packers

By Pete Dougherty and Rob Demovsky
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com

The Green Bay Packers will have to replace a key member of their football operations after the resignation today of Andrew Brandt, their shrewd and respected salary-cap manager for the last nine years.


Brandt, whose title was vice president of player finance, decided to leave the team because he found he’d hit a dead end in the organization with his failed bid for the team’s presidency late last year.

As salary-cap manager, Brandt worked directly under General Manager Ted Thompson and had advanced as far as he could on the football side of the organization.

Though Brandt was a serious candidate for the team’s president and CEO position, he fell short in the eyes of the team’s search committee because he had a niche football job that didn’t provide administrative experience overseeing a large staff.

So after meeting with Thompson and informing him of his decision on Friday, Brandt officially resigned today, effective immediately.

“It just seems like the right time,” Brandt said today. “I’ve enjoyed this place for nine years, through three coaches, three general managers, countless players. I have nothing but the fondest memories, but everyone in life needs to take a chance and look for opportunities and move to new challenges. The season ended, there’s enough time before free agency, the cap allows for a lot of flexibility, everything seems in place. So it all adds up to a good time to make a change.”

Brandt, whose contract was to expire at the end of April, leaves the Packers’ salary cap in enviable shape. He’s structured contracts so that the Packers have gone into the last two offseasons with more cap room than they could use, which has allowed them to start a cycle of pay-as-you-go contracts that can keep them out of cap trouble perhaps in perpetuity.

This year alone, through the use of salary-cap manipulations such as dummy incentives, Brandt pushed a little more than $10 million of 2007 salary-cap room into 2008, so the team has somewhere between $25 million and $30 million in cap room going into the offseason.

The Packers also are in excellent shape with their free agents. This offseason, they have only one free agent of note, defensive tackle Corey Williams; next offseason they’ll also have only one free agent of note, right tackle Mark Tauscher.

Thompson today was attending a college all-star game for NFL prospects in El Paso, Texas, and was unavailable for comment, though he said in a statement released by the team that he has people to handle the cap until he hires a new cap manager.

Brandt’s assistant, Melanie Marohl, remains in place, and high-ranking scouts John Schneider and Reggie McKenzie have experience handling low-level contracts.

It’s unclear where Thompson will look for his new cap manager – Brandt was a player agent before former GM Ron Wolf hired him to handle the Packers’ negotiations in 1999 – but he likely will want someone in place before the start of the new league year in early March.

“We want to thank Andrew for his contributions the last nine years,” Thompson said in the written statement. “We appreciate his fine work in the area of contract negotiations and salary-cap management. He will be missed. The Green Bay Packers wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”

Much of Brandt’s legacy will be keeping the Packers in solid salary-cap shape under Wolf and former coach-GM Mike Sherman, who were more aggressive in free agency than Thompson, and then getting them into optimal cap health after Thompson became GM in 2005. Thompson and Brandt had similar philosophies regarding the risks of overspending in free agency and willingness to let their free agents go if there were young replacements on the roster.

Brandt also kept the Packers in sound cap health despite the heavy cap load of quarterback Brett Favre. Unlike other teams with elite quarterbacks, such as Denver (John Elway), Dallas (Troy Aikman), San Francisco (Steve Young), Miami (Dan Marino) and Tennessee (Steve McNair), Brandt never over-mortgaged future caps with huge signing bonuses when signing Favre to big contract extensions.

That pay-as-you-go route with Favre means that whenever the quarterback retires, the Packers will gain substantial cap room by wiping his huge salaries off their books, rather than taking on the kind of costly signing-bonus accelerations those other teams suffered when their franchise quarterbacks retired.

Brandt’s abrupt departure was a surprise to many in the organization, but he said it was not because of any disagreement or problem with Thompson or new president and CEO Mark Murphy.

“I think the world of those guys,” Brandt said. “I worked extremely well with Ted. We shared a lot of philosophical ideas about players and contracts. The football side of the organization is in great hands with Ted. As for Mark, I think I’m the only one in the organization that knew him before he came, and he’ll be a great leader for this franchise. He fits the role, and I wish him nothing but the best, too.”

Brandt always has had diverse interests – he was a tennis player in college at Stanford, is a jazz pianist and competes in triathlons – and it appears he got restless in a job he’d held for nine years with no room for advancement.

He made a hard push for the presidency when the team opened a search last fall for Bob Harlan’s successor but he said he’s not leaving because the team’s search and executive committees bypassed him for Murphy.

Brandt said he is interested in jobs in several fields, including working for another NFL team that had more room for advancement. He also might work in another professional sport, or try teaching at the college level – he taught sports law and sports business at Georgetown and American University.

“I was honored to be considered and interviewed several times for the (president and CEO) position,” Brandt said. “I put myself forward, warts and all, and they made a decision. I was disappointed, but life moves on. That’s not a big factor in this decision.”

[the_idle_threat]

Brandt also kept the Packers in sound cap health despite the heavy cap load of quarterback Brett Favre. Unlike other teams with elite quarterbacks, such as Denver (John Elway), Dallas (Troy Aikman), San Francisco (Steve Young), Miami (Dan Marino) and Tennessee (Steve McNair), Brandt never over-mortgaged future caps with huge signing bonuses when signing Favre to big contract extensions.

That pay-as-you-go route with Favre means that whenever the quarterback retires, the Packers will gain substantial cap room by wiping his huge salaries off their books, rather than taking on the kind of costly signing-bonus accelerations those other teams suffered when their franchise quarterbacks retired.

I don't think Brandt deserves the credit for this---this is all Brett Favre's doing. Favre agreed to take less guaranteed money up front in exchange for large salaries in the later years of the deal that he didn't even expect to earn, because he expected to be retired by then. Favre just wasn't about demanding the biggest and baddest contract.

Compare that to Peyton Manning, who demanded a huge deal a few years back from the Colts that made it questionable whether they would be able to keep surrounding him with top talent. I'm sure he would not have settled for a lesser signing bonus, no matter what the Colts' negotiator said.

That chicken is coming home to roost now in this offseason with the team probably lacking the cap room to re-sign Dallas Clark.