Packers will have tough cap decisions to make

[SnakeLH2006]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/packers-will-have-tough-cap-decisions-to-make-b9997437z1-223720151.html

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Finley for the money and attitude and lifestyle can go. Shields is ok but Hayward is better and Snakey loves some Devon House action. Jolly is old by NFL standards but man that dude can play and change games via gameday or on season averages stopping the run/deflecting passes, etc. Resign Jolly on the cheap...no one is gonna give a dude facing expulsion from the NFL on his past drug history a big contract....but hey he's a good dude/teammate/gamechanger.

Personally, Snake doesn't think that anyone in the NFL knows the cap more than the Packers..go from Russ Ball to current regime. ARod and CMatty got paid at less than premium deals considering how valuable they are to the team..No one passes like Arod...No one pass rushes like CMatty. We locked them up on subpar market deals. Great job. Raji is pretty deece but no way I'd pay him $10 million for a lazy fat guy smoking pot. I'd rather pay a druggie like Jolly $4 million that actually makes a HUGE diff in leadership and run D.

I trust TT and the cap logic with the Packers..best in the business in the NFL. We all fuck up now and then...aka Jeff Saturday, but that didn't kill our cap..In fact I was pissed when Cullen Jenkins got a "cheap" deal last year at 5 years 25 million with Philly..now he got cut and plays for a shit team...TT knows his shit. I have 100% faith in the Packers front office for evaluating talent and contracts.

[King Friday]

Thompson rebuilds through the draft, where the majority of players are incredibly cheap against the cap. He has wisely avoided paying big money contracts to easily replaceable guys or guys who really don't deserve the cash for what they will offer in the future. I'm not all that concerned with cap space...Thompson never uses cap space anyway. If we have $20M in cap space, it sits unused.

Sure, Seattle and SF are in a great position with super cheap QBs...but those guys will be $15M+ guys sooner than later, and with all the other talent already on those teams they are the ones who will truly be facing the massive cap difficulty in the near future. Green Bay has already locked up their premium players to deals that will look favorable 3-4 years from now. They have a lot of money currently tied up in Finley and Williams...guys who I think can be replaced with comparable production for much less money.

[packer4life]

Agree. I think you for sure either jettison Tramon or get his cap number WAY down. He signed his lucrative contract when he was actually a shut down corner. Now, I don't see him as any better than Shields.

Snake, Raji has way more upside than Jolly. Jolly might be an anchor this season, but I think you put more eggs in Raji's basket, and hope Jolly will sign a 2 year deal for around $5 million. Jolly should show the packers a little bit of loyalty and take that deal, seeing that we put up with his incarcerated ass for 3 years.

Either way you look at it, decisions loom. It would make me feel better if that 2011 draft class was stronger. Sherrod is going to need to make a miracle recovery for us to benefit even marginally from that draft. In TT we (usually) trust.

[Joemailman]

Raji or Pickett will be a Packer next year, but probably not both. I think Tramon will be gone, unless he wants to make a Hawk-like concession. I think they sign Finley, unless Quarless or Bostic make him look expendable before the season is over. Not likely.

[run pMc]

It would make me feel better if that 2011 draft class was stronger.

+1

The 2011 class hasn't produced a lot compared to some of TT's other drafts. I wouldn't be surprised if he does a lot of trading down for extra picks to get more/improved competition at spots (cough, Safety). Finley is talented but unless he has a monster year I don't see anyone paying him $8M/yr, and I think he's gone. I could see them renegotiating Tramon (add a year, lower the cap #, etc.) if they can't work things out with Sam...but I can't see them keeping both at $7M+/year, not with House, Heyward, etc. behind them. I'll be especially interested to see how the WR corps shakes out -- Jones is a FA after the season, and then Jordy & Cobb. Oddly, I'm not that concerned about the DL; probably because of all the competition/quality they have with additions of D.Jones and J.Jolly. I think they'll fish around with Raji, but will sign elsewhere. How much do teams spend on 3-4 DLinemen?

Article seems like fearmongering -- every team has its superstars and will have to make tough decisions. Young players have to step up...that's how it goes.

IND, WAS, SF, SEA and CAR have successful QBs on rookie contracts, but they are going to want to get paid and that will impact their rosters. A team like ARI, JAX, or OAK is going to show interest in them, and if they get into the playoffs they will want to be paid like a Top 5-10 QB. DET has a mess with all the FA signings, and they'll have to figure out Suh's contract (and Fairley's the next year IIRC). GB isn't the only team with roster/cap decisions. Frankly, I think they're in ok shape compared with a lot of teams. As long as they have Rodgers and give him guys to throw to they'll be competitive.

I wonder, with the salary cap not expected to increase much over the next few seasons, if we will start to see some flattening of salary increases. Every year there's a new "highest paid at their position" signing. At some point that's gotta ease up or we're going to have teams with 2-3 very high paid players and everyone else on rookie/vet minimum contracts. (Seems like that's already here.) Maybe it will take some team to catch lightning in a bottle and win the SB for everyone to follow suit.

[Bretsky]

Raji or Pickett will be a Packer next year, but probably not both. I think Tramon will be gone, unless he wants to make a Hawk-like concession. I think they sign Finley, unless Quarless or Bostic make him look expendable before the season is over. Not likely.

Agree on all counts
I think James Jones also heads to other pastures
I hope we can keep Jordy Nelson long term; he's a lot better route runner and JJ

[Bretsky]

Agree. I think you for sure either jettison Tramon or get his cap number WAY down. He signed his lucrative contract when he was actually a shut down corner. Now, I don't see him as any better than Shields.

Snake, Raji has way more upside than Jolly. Jolly might be an anchor this season, but I think you put more eggs in Raji's basket, and hope Jolly will sign a 2 year deal for around $5 million. Jolly should show the packers a little bit of loyalty and take that deal, seeing that we put up with his incarcerated ass for 3 years.

Either way you look at it, decisions loom. It would make me feel better if that 2011 draft class was stronger. Sherrod is going to need to make a miracle recovery for us to benefit even marginally from that draft. In TT we (usually) trust.

NFL Network noted Packers and Raji are far away with Raji wanting a deal in the 9MIL to 10MIL a year range.

Don't let the door kick you in the ass buddy; you are not wortht those figures

[HarveyWallbangers]

Or are they in good cap situation?

http://www.packersnews.com/article/20130914/PKR07/309130485/Pete-Dougherty-column-Packers-salary-cap-situation-looks-bright

It’s difficult to see how Thompson could afford to retain all seven, but he should be able to re-sign two of the three most expensive (Raji, Shields and Finley), and if he wants, five or possibly six total. With the cap carryover allowed by the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, Thompson has at least $25 million in cap room to work with, not counting any money he’ll save with sure-to-come veteran roster and pay cuts next offseason...

Thompson next offseason also might try to extend the contract of receiver Randall Cobb, who in 2014 will be going into the final year of his rookie deal...

But the NFL’s new nine-year TV deal, worth roughly 60 percent more than the current one, kicks in next year. It’s expected to begin increasing the salary cap in 2015.

[SnakeLH2006]

Yep...Raji and Tramon are pretty good players, but can go if cap figures and salary expectations go North. Hayward and House need to play as Hayward is a playmaker and House could be a shutdown corner...both on the cheap. Travon is ok but he had one really good year and has really has regressed to being an average starting NFL CB. Finley is all about himself. I won't get into it but I know him personally and I don't care how talented he is, he's a selfish bitch that will NEVER make us better despite yearly articles saying how he did this and that to get better.

Arod is much like a young Brady as he doesn't need ELITE weapons to get his stats..I'm a Favre apologist cuz I grew up with him. But Arod would get Taco Wallace a starting gig somewhere. Arod is that good...then again I'm a QB rating whore....yet Arod decimates stats via the QB rating...and I love it. Fun side note: Snake had a Stats class in college and I ran the QB rating formula for a PowerPoint presentation showing winning % correlated to QB rating. It's not even close. Great QB's with a great QB rating have historically won most games vs. Qb's with low ratings...I did this for fun as most of the girls yawned and the dudes were totally into my speech, but it's true. Stats of great QB ratings get wins. Arod will win and our cap space means shit cuz we locked up the best QB in statistical history by a landslide and the current best passrusher..We just lost to maybe the best coached and best team in the NFL, the Niners...yet scouts still say we win 12 games with our brutal sched. I agree.

James Jones is a deece player but he's gone. Raji is gone. Travon might be gone. I dunno...life lives on in GB. As long as Arod is the QB and CMatty runs around scaring offenses...we will win a min of 10-14 games a year. The semantics of cap space are moot. We will ALWAYS be in good shape with TT as GM as he will NEVER overpay, rarely get FA's (which I suspect is cuz he gets more draft picks if he loses FA's vs signing them), and loves the rookies (which is smart for youth and training and also for cap space). We are in great shape as we just paid good deals for Arod and Cmatty and no one else needs a new deal IMO next year. I'd resign Jordy for the same deal...that's about it.

[MadtownPacker]

Dammit Snake!!!

Quit pasting the articles in threads. Just the link fucker.

[SnakeLH2006]

Dammit Snake!!!

Quit pasting the articles in threads. Just the link fucker.

Aight Mad..sorry bro. Snake is on here sporadically and I forget that shit. But u love me like the hot girl that shows up now and again in the yard next door wearing next to nothing. Cuz whether you agree with her or not..she's hot and makes you hard.I'm sorry bro. My bad.

[RashanGary]

Shields has been absolutely incredible early this season. He should stay if they can work out the right deal. I could see him signed in the coming week or 2.

[3irty1]

I tag and hopefully trade Raji if it was me. Get another year or two of Pickett. With the DL in the shape its in and Worthy coming back, we can afford to keep just a specialty player at NT and Pickett is as stout as they get. CJ Wilson walks opening up reps for Boyd. Neal I haven't decided on yet.

I make JJ a fair offer and let him decide. Same for Finley. I don't sign Cobb earlier than I have to.

Sign Shields as a priority. Let EDS hit FA then make a fair bid for a backup role. Come up with a nice raise for Jolly but still within reason. ~2.5M range.

Q and Newhouse will be a bit rich for my blood methinks.

[Patler]

Shields has been absolutely incredible early this season. (Emphasis added)

Do you think so? I think he has played quite well, and I hope they find a way to extend his contract, but I'm not sure he has shown himself to be elite. I think he might always struggle a bit with the highly athletic, monster-sized WRs there are out there now.

[pbmax]

Shields has been absolutely incredible early this season. He should stay if they can work out the right deal. I could see him signed in the coming week or 2.

Exactly. He is getting more and more expensive every week. Though he got a little sloppy late in the game.