Official Packers Offseason/Free Agency Thread

[Joemailman]

For those that keep saying the cap doesnt matter,

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/

We are currently 7 million over the cap and have 24 million in dead money.
If our past didnt impact our present we would be under the cap by 14 million. That would hsve given us the space to resign douglas, or say pick up DJ chark. The much needed second wr that put up a 1000 yard season with Gardner Minshew. Some who say the cap doesnt matter have said we are a good #2 we from the sb. Found him...

The cap matters. But the draft matters more. The Packers got into this situation because a couple bad drafts late in TT's tenure caused Gute to spend big in free agency in 2019 to fill major holes in the roster. Then Covid hit and the salary cap went unexpectedly down. I think the Packers are handling the cap as well as can be expected. The key out of this is to draft well. If they draft well, they'll be able to cut high priced vets without seeing a big drop in talent level. There won't have to be a fire sale. This year it was Z and probably MVS who have to go. Next year probably Aaron Jones and Dean Lowry. Maybe even Bakhtiari if his knee doesn't respond.

[ThunderDan]

"Dead Money" is a very real thing. APB just spouts off about cash flow which has nothing to do with the cap. The reason Seattle and the Bears are under the cap even with dead money is they have shitty rosters. That doesn't change how much money they have to spend which is a lot since they traded away their big price tag players this offseason.

Of course APB should know the difference as a supposed ex-CPA or something but he doesn't and shows why he is a burger flipper and not a CPA when he could get a $70,000 salary offer from 10 CPA firms in WI within a week.

[ThunderDan]

The cap matters. But the draft matters more. The Packers got into this situation because a couple bad drafts late in TT's tenure caused Gute to spend big in free agency in 2019 to fill major holes in the roster. Then Covid hit and the salary cap went unexpectedly down. I think the Packers are handling the cap as well as can be expected. The key out of this is to draft well. If they draft well, they'll be able to cut high priced vets without seeing a big drop in talent level. There won't have to be a fire sale. This year it was Z and probably MVS who have to go. Next year probably Aaron Jones and Dean Lowry. Maybe even Bakhtiari if his knee doesn't respond.

We did have some bad drafts that have caused us to spend more to fill holes.

[Upnorth]

“Dead money” is nothing but an accounting item that has already been accounted for. Cutting Butte and getting drowned with $107M in dead money doesn’t mean you’re paying Butte $107M. In an era of soaring revenues and titanic TV contracts, dead money merely provides the pig owners an excuse to cut labor expenses. Expenses fuck with the pig’s profit margin. In short, dead money is pretty much irrelevant.

Look at your source for examples of said irrelevancy. The Seafucks have over $40M in dead money, and lo and behold, they’re almost $40M beneath the cap. The Mobsters of the Midway are drenched in even more dead money ($45M); according to your source, they’re $34.5M below.

Cook the fucking cap!

So your example of the cap not mattering is 2 teams that missed the playoffs. One is the bears and they suck but the other is the Seahawks who have been slowly drowning due to poor financial decisions and asset allocation.
You are right that dead money no longer has to be paid as it already had. That has no relevance to team construction. The packers are a cash flow positive position every year. In a real dollar sense I don't care how much we spend, and honestly if we spent 100% of revenues it wouldn't matter (for a few years) in a real money sense.

The cap on the other hand has to be factored in especially for a 'rich' team like the packers. Our problem is not having real money to pay players. Our problem is having 24 million less cap dollars to get a second fa wr, and a back up tackle. That is what 24 million dead money costs this team. 1 of those things you say ad nauseam would get us to the sb.
Redundant explanation to follow for emphasis.
So my arguement is based on your statement that we need a #2wr the cap very much matters. You can't have it both ways. Real money doesn't matter to the packers as a team. Cap money does matter because each time we spend future dollars we make tomorrows team a little weaker. Every time we make it a little weaker it adds up. Eventually we cant afford those nice things like wr depth and oline depth. Then we become like the bears, who's cap situation very much hurts them.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

So your example of the cap not mattering is 2 teams that missed the playoffs. One is the bears and they suck but the other is the Seahawks who have been slowly drowning due to poor financial decisions and asset allocation.
You are right that dead money no longer has to be paid as it already had. That has no relevance to team construction. The packers are a cash flow positive position every year. In a real dollar sense I don't care how much we spend, and honestly if we spent 100% of revenues it wouldn't matter (for a few years) in a real money sense.

The cap on the other hand has to be factored in especially for a 'rich' team like the packers. Our problem is not having real money to pay players. Our problem is having 24 million less cap dollars to get a second fa wr, and a back up tackle. That is what 24 million dead money costs this team. 1 of those things you say ad nauseam would get us to the sb.
Redundant explanation to follow for emphasis.
So my arguement is based on your statement that we need a #2wr the cap very much matters. You can't have it both ways. Real money doesn't matter to the packers as a team. Cap money does matter because each time we spend future dollars we make tomorrows team a little weaker. Every time we make it a little weaker it adds up. Eventually we cant afford those nice things like wr depth and oline depth. Then we become like the bears, who's cap situation very much hurts them.

Did you even read your own source? The Bears have $45M in dead money, almost double the Pack’s number, yet they’re $34.5M below. If dead money is so important, shouldn’t the Bears be in a so-called cap hell today?

[Anti-Polar Bear]

And via your source, the Saints have just $13.4M in dead money, yet, if Bobble is to be believed (cos they kept cooking Brees’ contract, says Bobble), they’re supposedly are in a cap hell.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

"Dead Money" is a very real thing. APB just spouts off about cash flow which has nothing to do with the cap. The reason Seattle and the Bears are under the cap even with dead money is they have shitty rosters. That doesn't change how much money they have to spend which is a lot since they traded away their big price tag players this offseason.

Of course APB should know the difference as a supposed ex-CPA or something but he doesn't and shows why he is a burger flipper and not a CPA when he could get a $70,000 salary offer from 10 CPA firms in WI within a week.

I never once said I was a CPA. Pigs won’t hire me, and therefore I lack the accounting experience to call myself a CPA. I have, however, passed the Wisconsin CPA exams four scores and 7 years ago.

So long as cash flow is a flowing, the cap can always be cooked. Dead money is irrelevant.

[Upnorth]

Did you even read your own source? The Bears have $45M in dead money, almost double the Pack’s number, yet they’re $34.5M below. If dead money is so important, shouldn’t the Bears be in a so-called cap hell today?

The bears have a shitty roster. They have only 135mil spent on their roster, yet inly have 30 mil left to spend. They are in cap he'll. If they maximize this year's spending their roster is only going to have a value of 164 mil. The only team who is in larger cap he'll is the Seahawks.
Both teams missed the playoffs. I bet both do in 2022 season as well. And a big reason will be cap mismanagement. You can borrow a bit from the future but you gotta pay it back.

[texaspackerbacker]

Both of our accountants are correct in a way. True, dead money is a paper transaction in terms of the cap in the voided years. But also true that it is paid - paid in advance as bonuses later prorated on the books for cap purposes. Bottom line is that it is a means to cook the books for the salary cap. It's also true that it hurts in terms of the cap, and teams with shitty rosters as well as some maybe with good rosters can be both way under the cap and heavy with dead money. At some point, the Packers will need to bite that bullet when Rodgers is gone - hopefully many years from now. Very likely the cap will be MUCH higher by then, and it won't be too big a factor for very long. Regardless, when Rodgers is gone, the team will likely be way down for a while until or unless we come up with a Rodgers-like QB - primarily in terms of interceptions but really in every way.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

The bears have a shitty roster. They have only 135mil spent on their roster, yet inly have 30 mil left to spend. They are in cap he'll. If they maximize this year's spending their roster is only going to have a value of 164 mil. The only team who is in larger cap he'll is the Seahawks.
Both teams missed the playoffs. I bet both do in 2022 season as well. And a big reason will be cap mismanagement. You can borrow a bit from the future but you gotta pay it back.

So since the Jets only have $1.474M in dead money, they’re Super Bowl bound?

Via the CBA, each team has to spend a certain amount (can’t recall what exactly) on players or they face penalty. Teams can’t just sign minimum-wage players all around cos they suck. Bears paid Mack, Robinson, Fuller, etc., plenty of frogskins. They’re not in a cap hell despite $45M in dead money.

Dead money is irrelevant.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

The signing bonus is typically the only portion of an NFL player’s contract that is guaranteed. A player would be stupid to take a 5 year $100M contract with a one dollar signing bonus over a 3 year $40M contract with $35M in signing bonus.

It takes positive cash flow to pay signing bonuses. Signing bonuses can be cooked. Therefore, so long as cash flow remains a-flowing, the cap can always be cooked.

Logic, yo.

[Joemailman]

Packers not bringing back FA punter Corey Bojorquez. He faded badly once the weather turned cold, and his holding for placekicks was questionable.

[Sparkey]

The clock is ticking to get under the cap.

[call_me_ishmael]

Packers not bringing back FA punter Corey Bojorquez. He faded badly once the weather turned cold, and his holding for placekicks was questionable.

WTF this is crazy IMO. He is a great punter. I can't speak to his holding but dude has a boot for sure.

[Sparkey]

Packers are 7 million over the cap with 2 minutes to go.