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This is what I've been saying teams should do for years. Minnesota has done a good job with this, and they got a jump start on the Packers. Now, both teams should be in prime position every year.
Comfortable under the salary cap
By Pete Dougherty
The Green Bay Packers' salary-cap challenge is to perpetuate this year's largess indefinitely.
They're looking to join teams such as Philadelphia and Minnesota, which have been among the NFL leaders in cap room for the past several offseasons, because they've turned, then kept, the cap cycle in their favor.
That is, they use their enormous cap space to front-load contracts, which means less money is pushed to future caps, which means future caps will have more room, which will allow them to front-load future contracts, and so on.
To that end, the Packers went into the offseason with almost $30 million in cap room. They front-loaded the deals of their three major contracts, yet have about $7.6 million in cap room as of Thursday.
Perhaps the best way they can make use of that room is signing a core player or two to contract extensions this season, even if it means choosing from a pool deeper than just the players in the last year of their contracts.
"You certainly don't like to be up against the (cap) line," General Manager Ted Thompson said. "If you have a little cushion, it gives you some flexibility if you have injuries, which we all do. Certainly, there's possibilities of entering into discussions with people you want to do extensions with."
Their 12-player free-agent class for 2007 has no one who jumps out as an obvious candidate for an extension this offseason. The best player on the list is halfback Ahman Green, but even if he returns to something like his 2004 form in his comeback from quadriceps-tendon surgery, it doesn't mean he's an automatic for a contract extension.
Green is looking for a final, big pay day, and might be open only to a major contract. The Packers, though, would have to think long and hard about how much up-front money they'd be willing to risk on an aging player  Green is 29  who has plenty of miles on his body at an especially unforgiving position.
If no one from this year's free-agent class ends up a good candidate for an extension, the Packers could turn to players who are under contract for 2007. On that list, linebacker Nick Barnett is an obvious candidate.
In his first three years, Barnett, 25, has shown speed and closing ability while leading the team in tackles, and he's only missed one game.
In the past, the Packers were among teams that avoided extending a player's contract until he's in the last season of his deal. But teams more frequently are extending players earlier to keep their core under long-term contracts, and to save a little money in a business in which signing bonuses go nowhere but up.
One thing the Packers will have to consider is whether Barnett is worth a major investment while they're paying another linebacker, first-round pick A.J. Hawk, premium money .
Thompson could look to extend the contracts of players who will be restricted or exclusive-rights free agents this offseason, though the only candidates on those lists probably wouldn't earn big-money deals.
Center Scott Wells will be a restricted free agent this offseason, and backup halfback Samkon Gado will be an exclusive-rights player for two more years.
The Packers can push any remaining cap room late this season into 2007 by using the increasingly popular dummyincentives. That's where teams tack on incentive bonuses that a player has no chance of earning, but because the bonuses are added during the season, they automatically count against the cap. Then, when the player doesn't attain them, that money is treated as a credit on the next year's cap.
"We've hopefully reached the point where we'll continue to maintain flexibility to achieve our priorities," said team vice president Andrew Brandt, who manages the Packers' salary cap. "We've used a lot of cap this year, yet we've been able to protect the future."
Comfortable under the salary cap
By Pete Dougherty
The Green Bay Packers' salary-cap challenge is to perpetuate this year's largess indefinitely.
They're looking to join teams such as Philadelphia and Minnesota, which have been among the NFL leaders in cap room for the past several offseasons, because they've turned, then kept, the cap cycle in their favor.
That is, they use their enormous cap space to front-load contracts, which means less money is pushed to future caps, which means future caps will have more room, which will allow them to front-load future contracts, and so on.
To that end, the Packers went into the offseason with almost $30 million in cap room. They front-loaded the deals of their three major contracts, yet have about $7.6 million in cap room as of Thursday.
Perhaps the best way they can make use of that room is signing a core player or two to contract extensions this season, even if it means choosing from a pool deeper than just the players in the last year of their contracts.
"You certainly don't like to be up against the (cap) line," General Manager Ted Thompson said. "If you have a little cushion, it gives you some flexibility if you have injuries, which we all do. Certainly, there's possibilities of entering into discussions with people you want to do extensions with."
Their 12-player free-agent class for 2007 has no one who jumps out as an obvious candidate for an extension this offseason. The best player on the list is halfback Ahman Green, but even if he returns to something like his 2004 form in his comeback from quadriceps-tendon surgery, it doesn't mean he's an automatic for a contract extension.
Green is looking for a final, big pay day, and might be open only to a major contract. The Packers, though, would have to think long and hard about how much up-front money they'd be willing to risk on an aging player  Green is 29  who has plenty of miles on his body at an especially unforgiving position.
If no one from this year's free-agent class ends up a good candidate for an extension, the Packers could turn to players who are under contract for 2007. On that list, linebacker Nick Barnett is an obvious candidate.
In his first three years, Barnett, 25, has shown speed and closing ability while leading the team in tackles, and he's only missed one game.
In the past, the Packers were among teams that avoided extending a player's contract until he's in the last season of his deal. But teams more frequently are extending players earlier to keep their core under long-term contracts, and to save a little money in a business in which signing bonuses go nowhere but up.
One thing the Packers will have to consider is whether Barnett is worth a major investment while they're paying another linebacker, first-round pick A.J. Hawk, premium money .
Thompson could look to extend the contracts of players who will be restricted or exclusive-rights free agents this offseason, though the only candidates on those lists probably wouldn't earn big-money deals.
Center Scott Wells will be a restricted free agent this offseason, and backup halfback Samkon Gado will be an exclusive-rights player for two more years.
The Packers can push any remaining cap room late this season into 2007 by using the increasingly popular dummyincentives. That's where teams tack on incentive bonuses that a player has no chance of earning, but because the bonuses are added during the season, they automatically count against the cap. Then, when the player doesn't attain them, that money is treated as a credit on the next year's cap.
"We've hopefully reached the point where we'll continue to maintain flexibility to achieve our priorities," said team vice president Andrew Brandt, who manages the Packers' salary cap. "We've used a lot of cap this year, yet we've been able to protect the future."
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