Getting ahead of the 2020 salary cap

[pbmax]

Bulaga misses a lot of games, signing him at anything other than near the minimums will eat cap space and guarantee his backups will be forced to start.

Not counting his rookie season when I am not sure he was the immediate starter out of camp, he has played seven seasons. If he started that Super Bowl year as the #1, he missed four starts.

That is 112 games (7x16). He has made 95 starts. He missed 11 games in 2017. He missed 2 games last year and was gimpy in several others.

He no longer seems to operate at 100% and is limited in his movement.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Bulaga misses a lot of games, signing him at anything other than near the minimums will eat cap space and guarantee his backups will be forced to start.

Not counting his rookie season when I am not sure he was the immediate starter out of camp, he has played seven seasons. If he started that Super Bowl year as the #1, he missed four starts.

That is 112 games. He has made 95 starts. He missed 11 games in 2017. He missed 2 games last year and was gimpy in several others.

He no longer seems to operate at 100% and is limited in his movement.

Bulaga is right at that time when after age 30, the data shows that Tackles skills, on average, start to decline. The trenches are a tough place to make a living and with multiple knee injuries, Father Time making them slower, and the fact they tend to face younger, faster pass rushers, their time is coming to an end as a reliable, productive starter. Certainly a large, multi-year paycheck is not in order. He's entering that time where 1 or 2 year deals are all he's going to get and they won't be for that much money, unless a team is really desperate. That's life in the NFL though, it's a young man's game.

[call_me_ishmael]

I think Bulaga will get a two year deal were more than his current deal. No way he signs for vet minimum. He's a top notch RT when healthy.

[pbmax]

I think Bulaga will get a two year deal were more than his current deal. No way he signs for vet minimum. He's a top notch RT when healthy.

Worth more overall or worth more than his current $6.75 mil per year?

[Patler]

Bulaga misses a lot of games, signing him at anything other than near the minimums will eat cap space and guarantee his backups will be forced to start.

Not counting his rookie season when I am not sure he was the immediate starter out of camp, he has played seven seasons. If he started that Super Bowl year as the #1, he missed four starts.

That is 112 games (7x16). He has made 95 starts. He missed 11 games in 2017. He missed 2 games last year and was gimpy in several others.

He no longer seems to operate at 100% and is limited in his movement.

I think it is 8 seasons, 128 games , not including 2010. He missed all of 2013 when he wrecked his knee in training camp. That was the year they moved him to LT. 2013 doesn't even appear on his stats pages, so it looks like 7 years after his rookie season.

He was hurt in 2010, too. MM had basically said Bulaga had won the job at LG, supplanting Colledge. Then he got hurt and missed a preseason game, and MM gave ones of his "availability matters" speeches and reinserted Colledge. A few weeks later, Bulaga was needed at RT.

[pbmax]

I think it is 8 seasons, 128 games , not including 2010. He missed all of 2013 when he wrecked his knee in training camp. That was the year they moved him to LT. 2013 doesn't even appear on his stats pages, so it looks like 7 years after his rookie season.

He was hurt in 2010, too. MM had basically said Bulaga had won the job at LG, supplanting Colledge. Then he got hurt and missed a preseason game, and MM gave ones of his "availability matters" speeches and reinserted Colledge. A few weeks later, Bulaga was needed at RT.

You are correct. 2013 is unlisted in his PFR stats and I just skipped over it.

Thought his numbers seemed high

[run pMc]

Correct - Tauscher went down and Bulaga was put in at RT. He's the presumptive starter there for 2019, but having a quality backup tackle is uncommon, and with his age and injury history it becomes more important. I've always gotten the impression that the plan was for Turner to play RG this year and probably slide out to RT in a pinch, with Elgton Jenkins (or possibly another player like McCray or Madison if they beat him out) moving into the RG spot. I think they'll give Spriggs a shot at backup tackle, but I'm guessing he's squarely on the bubble and unlikely to be on the team in 2020. Of course, if Turner bombs then Gute has just dropped a lot of money for a player at a spot where they have several options waiting in the wings...and they'll need a RT.

Circling back to the salary cap discussion, It's hard for me to see Bulaga re-signing with the team. I realize it's different position, but I see it playing out the same as it did this season with Clay Matthews...it's best for both parties to save face and let the player walk.
With Bulaga and Spriggs likely gone, I fully expect Gute to continue to overhaul the OL next year.

[Iron Mike]

Check out Chicago's 2021 Free Agent list:

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/2021/all/chicago-bears/

With Mack's contract, some of those 8-9 starters are gonna have to be let go...

[Radagast]

Correct - Tauscher went down and Bulaga was put in at RT. He's the presumptive starter there for 2019, but having a quality backup tackle is uncommon, and with his age and injury history it becomes more important. I've always gotten the impression that the plan was for Turner to play RG this year and probably slide out to RT in a pinch, with Elgton Jenkins (or possibly another player like McCray or Madison if they beat him out) moving into the RG spot. I think they'll give Spriggs a shot at backup tackle, but I'm guessing he's squarely on the bubble and unlikely to be on the team in 2020. Of course, if Turner bombs then Gute has just dropped a lot of money for a player at a spot where they have several options waiting in the wings...and they'll need a RT.

Circling back to the salary cap discussion, It's hard for me to see Bulaga re-signing with the team. I realize it's different position, but I see it playing out the same as it did this season with Clay Matthews...it's best for both parties to save face and let the player walk.
With Bulaga and Spriggs likely gone, I fully expect Gute to continue to overhaul the OL next year.

You may be right about Spriggs, but Madison may not even make it on this years roster.

Looking forward a year, IMO GB will be looking to draft a Tackle that can either start right off at RT or can start at RT as a sophomore. That said, I believe that the GB College Scouts #1 task this season will be focusing on draftable Tackles. The FA market will also be carefully watched for available Tackles. In addition I also see GB looking hard at ILBs and OLBs. While I love Blake Martinez, Oren Burks may not have the size to survive a full year if he makes it as a starter.

As for salaries, management does it's job with that and nothing said outside of their offices is of any influence.

[Patler]

You may be right about Spriggs, but Madison may not even make it on this years roster.

Looking forward a year, IMO GB will be looking to draft a Tackle that can either start right off at RT or can start at RT as a sophomore. That said, I believe that the GB College Scouts #1 task this season will be focusing on draftable Tackles. The FA market will also be carefully watched for available Tackles. In addition I also see GB looking hard at ILBs and OLBs. While I love Blake Martinez, Oren Burks may not have the size to survive a full year if he makes it as a starter.

As for salaries, management does it's job with that and nothing said outside of their offices is of any influence.

Well,.... management also does it's job with college scouting, free agency, player cuts, play calling and just about anything and everything we ever discuss on here; and nothing said outside of their offices is of any influence on those either!

[Patler]

You are correct. 2013 is unlisted in his PFR stats and I just skipped over it.

Thought his numbers seemed high

It is really a shame, because he was a very good player. I think the injuries and age have taken their toll on him, but when healthy he will still be the guy at RT this year.

As for another contract for Bulaga? I think it is highly unlikely. He will be squarely in the Sitton/Lang phase of his Packer career, but is much less reliable than they ever were. The Sitton and Lang decisions were Thompson's, but Gutekunst seems just as willing to move on from older and/or injury prone players as evidenced by the Burnett, Nelson, Matthews and Perry decisions he made. If they enter the next off season without a clear replacement, AND Bulaga is willing to play another year or two on a cheap deal, it could happen. I also wouldn't be surprised if Bulaga just retired.

[run pMc]

Check out Chicago's 2021 Free Agent list:

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/2021/all/chicago-bears/

With Mack's contract, some of those 8-9 starters are gonna have to be let go...

And it's compounded by trading the picks for Mack...they are really going to have to hit on remaining draft picks or the FA bargain bin. I think they like Trubisky and will try to keep him, and that won't be cheap either.

[pbmax]

Check out Chicago's 2021 Free Agent list:

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/2021/all/chicago-bears/

With Mack's contract, some of those 8-9 starters are gonna have to be let go...

I assume you are calling in to Chicago radio reminding them of this and predicting another decade in the wilderness?

[pbmax]

It is really a shame, because he was a very good player. I think the injuries and age have taken their toll on him, but when healthy he will still be the guy at RT this year.

Yep. He and Perry had similar trajectories. Bulaga met with more success overall and had more of an effect, but both could have been special with better health.