What happens if Rodgers wants to stay but management wants to move on??

[call_me_ishmael]

I kinda feel like we're underrating the niners. They're clearly a very good team that underperformed for much of the season.

They have a lot of talent. The best MLB in the league, arguably one of the top 3 DLs in the league, arguably one of the best LTs in the league, etc. They have a great innovative coach too.

I'm not so sure blowing it up is the right answer right now. But they do need to get better, get more weapons on the perimeter, and run a more innovative offense in my opinion.

[texaspackerbacker]

Keeping Rodgers would certainly make this team competitive for next year. I just don’t have any reason to believe our season will end any differently if he stays. With Love, I have no expectation of making the playoffs; with Rodgers, I have no expectation of winning in the playoffs.

Two things about that: 1. WHY would you think like that - no hope, etc. in the playoffs? Freak things happened, etc., but the best team in the NFL - which I think even ya'all haters would agree the Packers are with Rodgers - ought to be expected to win in the playoffs, same as they win most of the time otherwise. 2. The season ended with 13 wins and 5 losses, 1 of those without Rodgers, and 1 in a meaningless game. That to me anyway, is pretty damn good - 13 weeks with a happy satisfying conclusion compared to 5 without. I know for a lot of people, it's SB or nothing, and I'm not totally discounting that point of view, but for me, now two or three days out from the shock and disappointment of that loss, I'm fairly happy with the situation.

My dread was that maybe we win the SB and don't retain Rodgers. THAT would be the pits - a dark and rotten future, etc. Of course, if ya'all negativists turn out to be right, maybe we lose Rodgers and flounder even without winning the SB. My point, though, is that given a choice, win the SB OR retain Rodgers for a lot more years and continue winning, I absolutely will take the latter.

[RashanGary]

The Bengals are doing ok without Rodgers. So are the Chiefs, Bills, Buccaneers, 49ers, Rams and Titans.

You all make it sound like finding a franchise QB is a 1 in a 100 probability. It’s more like 1 in 6.

Maybe Love is the guy. Maybe we’d have to lose for a few years and draft one. But there are a lot of good quarterbacks. Rodgers isn’t the only one.

[texaspackerbacker]

Well, just maybe having Burrow, Mahomes, Allen, Brady, and Stafford have a lot to do with that. Rodgers isn't the only one, but he IS the GOAT and even to those in denial of that, he's the absolute best right now. And even Garropalo/Lance and Tannehill (and just about every other team's QB situation) is way better than Jordan Love.

Do you seriously want to "lose for a few years and draft" a possible franchise QB - or as you said, have a "1 in 6" chance of hitting on one? That IMO is what the loser franchises do. Actually, the Packers sort of had the right idea in drafting Love - find your franchise QB a few years before you need him, and then have a smooth transition with no stupid rebuilding period. They just didn't handle it very well - started too early, didn't involve Rodgers in the process, and probably chose the wrong guy.

[Joemailman]

Keeping Rodgers would certainly make this team competitive for next year. I just don’t have any reason to believe our season will end any differently if he stays. With Love, I have no expectation of making the playoffs; with Rodgers, I have no expectation of winning in the playoffs.

[run pMc]

So Rodgers said he doesn't want to be part of a rebuild. Do you think, given the cap situation, he's telegraphing that he wants out?
Also, if he wants to stay, would he take a discount a la Tom Brady to provide cap relief and sign players to avoid a rebuild?

[run pMc]

Some dumbasses really can't seem to comprehend, you can sign somebody for a humongous contract. and end up with a rock bottom cap number for at least a year or two.

Clearly, Z. Smith will be gone, and that will be apparently saves $20+ million by itself on the cap. I absolutely don't anticipate much of anybody else of substance being gone, though.

Talk about Rodgers being gone and the team still being good is just plain stupid.

While you can sign a player to a big contract but keep the cap numbers modest, they would still need to make a lot of room to make that happen because IT'S A BIG CONTRACT. They are over the cap by $40M. They have to cut that much salary before they can sign anyone. You're going to have to pay a bonus out to anyone to get them to sign, which can be prorated but still counts. No agent is going to let their client wait until Year 2 or 3 of a contract to get a roster bonus or guaranteed money -- they want it right away before they risk getting injured or cut.

I think you are underestimating the cap situation, and the losses to the roster necessary to fit under the cap. I do agree that the team is worse without Rodgers.

[texaspackerbacker]

Do I have to go through all of this in detail again? At least $20M of that 40 is Z. Smith. And I think somebody said Rodgers cap number itself is something like $26M (or was it $46M?). Extending him should get that down to the low teens I would think. On and on from there - Adams stretched out with a not too bad hit, Tonyan, MVS, Campbell, Douglas the same. And that is without even considering the probable very large cap increase.

This is not rocket science, even if some media dumbasses can't comprehend it or would like to see the Packers dragged down.

[King Friday]

Tex... There is no "stretching" out of of Adams deal. Every single dollar of it will be in addition to the gap we already have. You can't create any cap savings by signing Adams. He will likely count at least $10M in additional money to the cap in 2022 even with a favorable deal because he will want a big signing bonus.

[NewsBruin]

EDIT: Unnecessary snark. I want the Packers to re-sign everyone worth keeping, but I don't think it's possible at their current rates, and definitely not at matching rates.

[MadtownPacker]

Fuck Rodgers when has he really ever won in the cold? It’s time to #MoveOnPackers cuz he can’t win at Lambeau when it counts.

[kcpackman]

But he is apparently blinded by his ego, so it's a push whether or not he plays ball with Gute.

I would argue Rodgers is blinded by his ego, but that is just my opinion. I believe this statement - which come from military doctrine applies to him:

Hubris: An overestimation of one’s ability, and, potentially most significant, an ignorance of history’s lessons, preceded many inglorious failures.

[George Cumby]

Hubris, indeed.

[kcpackman]

Hubris, indeed.

And just to be clear, I am not auguring that Rodgers in not a great QB - he is. What I am auguring is that his hubris has prevented him from taking that next step.

[run pMc]

https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2022/1/25/22901561/green-bay-packers-sign-10-players-futures-contracts-bring-in-3-for-tryouts-kurt-benkert-danny-etling

the team is about $40 million over the cap as it stands today, without WR Davante Adams, WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR Equanimeous St. Brown, TE Robert Tonyan, OL Lucas Patrick, OL Dennis Kelly, DL Tyler Lancaster, LB De’Vondre Campbell, LB Oren Burks, CB Rasul Douglas, CB Chandon Sullivan, CB Kevin King or P Corey Bojorquez under contract. Odds are that the Packers are going to rank among the highest in the league in players on futures deals and/or undrafted free agents who end up sticking on the 53-man roster next year.

DeAndre Hopkins signed a 2 year, $54,500,000 contract with the Arizona Cardinals, including a $27,500,000 signing bonus, $60,050,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $27,250,000. In 2022, Hopkins will earn a base salary of $6,650,000 and a roster bonus of $10,650,000, while carrying a cap hit of $25,050,000 and a dead cap value of $29,900,000.

Let's say Davante signs for the exact contract DeAndre Hopkins did; that would be $25M of cap space they'd need to find in addition to the $40M they will already need to free up. Yes, you could maybe add void years and a longer contract (and longer contract = more money for a player approaching 30) but it won't bring that cap hit down by much -- maybe they get the number down to $15M... so you have to find $55M ($40M + 15M) in cap space magically from your roster. You are gutting your roster to make that move.

You can extend Rodgers, but I'd guess he's looking for something in the neighborhood of 3yr/$120M. He already has a 2023 void year on his current contract; I assume an extension would modify that. Either way I'm not sure you can bring his cap number below $30M without him having void years until he's 50. If you extend him 3 more years I don't think he plays to the end of that contract, and you'd be paying for it for years with a lot of dead cap space you can't use to sign/keep players.

Yes, the FO and HC want Rodgers and Adams to stay, but the reality is they might not be able to afford them.

They *might* be able to convert some of his base salary to a bonus and push it out across void years to lower the cap; that, plus cutting Cobb and both Smiths would get you room, but I don't think it's enough for Adams. Maybe cut Lowry too? You're really hurting your Front 7 on D and creating a lot of holes to fill. Fun fact: Amari Rodgers and Juwann Winfree are the only WRs under contract for next season. (They'll get Lazard back, he's an RFA)