Official Free Agency/Offseason Thread

[Joemailman]

Ari Meirov
@MySportsUpdate

The #Packers are re-signing LB Justin Hollins to a 1-year, $1.2M deal, per source.

Hollins recently took a visit with the Giants and is coming off a 3.5 sack season.

Hollins provided pretty good pass rush at times last year. Believe he was not so good against the run. He'll be needed though until Gary comes back.

[run pMc]

Hollins is a good athlete, showed some of that as well as giving "paycheck chasing" effort. He's not good against the run.
Still, he's a good pickup for a 4th Edge rusher... he's better than what they've had there with Garvin and Hamilton IMO.

[Fritz]

For sure. How many times did we see those guys flailing away ineffectually, like a poster trying to convince Tex of something reasonable and obvious?

[texaspackerbacker]

The Rodgers hating crowd in here wouldn't know "reasonable and obvious" if it bit them in the ass.

[bobblehead]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/packers-paying-price-for-aggressive-approach/ar-AA192vwm?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=10040229f2104b5fe6c1413de08e324e&ei=53

This could go in about 3 places, but this seemed like a reasonable place.

"Safety Adrian Amos is the ultimate case-in-point. Through multiple restructures by the team, which included the insertion of void years to cut down on his annual cap numbers, Amos counts $7.95 million on this year’s salary cap.

Amos, of course, is a free agent who spent his Thursday being wined and dined by his hometown Baltimore Ravens. And yet, he has the seventh-highest cap charge on the team.

To be sure, Amos is the extreme example, but he provides the ultimate argument to the salary-cap-isn’t-real crowd. The salary cap is real, and Amos, defensive tackle Dean Lowry ($3.01 million), defensive tackle Jarran Reed ($1.49 million), receiver Randall Cobb ($1.39 million), tight end Marcedes Lewis ($1.05 million), kicker Mason Crosby ($1.05 million) and tight end Robert Tonyan ($500,000) provide more than $16 million worth of examples. That’s two or three good players the Packers can’t afford."

[bobblehead]

Also contained within the article:

-Bakhtiari’s cap charge in 2024 is set to explode to $40.58 million, the most expensive at the position by more than $12 million.

- Clark’s cap charge in 2024 will rise to $27.49 million, second only to future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald.

- Jaire Alexander’s cap charge in 2024 will increase to $24.36 million, fourth-most among corners.

- Running back Aaron Jones’ cap charge in 2024 will rise to $17.17 million, second-most among running backs.

[Fritz]

Also contained within the article:

-Bakhtiari’s cap charge in 2024 is set to explode to $40.58 million, the most expensive at the position by more than $12 million.

- Clark’s cap charge in 2024 will rise to $27.49 million, second only to future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald.

- Jaire Alexander’s cap charge in 2024 will increase to $24.36 million, fourth-most among corners.

- Running back Aaron Jones’ cap charge in 2024 will rise to $17.17 million, second-most among running backs.

Sounds like the team will have to be very, very different in 2024.

[run pMc]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news...e08e324e&ei=53

This could go in about 3 places, but this seemed like a reasonable place.

"Safety Adrian Amos is the ultimate case-in-point. Through multiple restructures by the team, which included the insertion of void years to cut down on his annual cap numbers, Amos counts $7.95 million on this year’s salary cap.

Amos, of course, is a free agent who spent his Thursday being wined and dined by his hometown Baltimore Ravens. And yet, he has the seventh-highest cap charge on the team.

To be sure, Amos is the extreme example, but he provides the ultimate argument to the salary-cap-isn’t-real crowd. The salary cap is real, and Amos, defensive tackle Dean Lowry ($3.01 million), defensive tackle Jarran Reed ($1.49 million), receiver Randall Cobb ($1.39 million), tight end Marcedes Lewis ($1.05 million), kicker Mason Crosby ($1.05 million) and tight end Robert Tonyan ($500,000) provide more than $16 million worth of examples. That’s two or three good players the Packers can’t afford."

100% agree with this, and is a reason I don't like void years. Even if a player reaches end of contract and isn't on your team, you're still paying for them.

Also contained within the article:

-Bakhtiari’s cap charge in 2024 is set to explode to $40.58 million, the most expensive at the position by more than $12 million.

- Clark’s cap charge in 2024 will rise to $27.49 million, second only to future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald.

- Jaire Alexander’s cap charge in 2024 will increase to $24.36 million, fourth-most among corners.

- Running back Aaron Jones’ cap charge in 2024 will rise to $17.17 million, second-most among running backs.

I think Bakh could be gone next offseason, they'd gain 21.5M in cap savings by cutting him or trading him.

Jaire might see another restructure, which worries me pushing all that out. The other thing that worries me is that most great corners aren't great for long, and he's undersized to boot. He should still be good and if used properly is a shutdown-half-the-field type of player. He could also be used as trade bait, but I think they try to let his contract ride and rework it if his performance slips (it shouldn't until 2025).

Kenny Clark is remarkably young and could actually get an extension to potentially move some money around. Compared to what DaRon Payne and other DL are getting his contract is a lot but not terrible. His cap number might not look as bad in a year, but I agree it's too high. Good in the locker room and in general, and he's been their best DL for the last ? years, playing next to underperforming or bad players.

Aaron Jones... I think they are drafting a RB in the draft, and might be completely rebooting their backfield in 2024. I don't see them extending Jones at age 30, I don't know if they'll keep Dillon either. I have a feeling they were hoping Kylin Hill would push Dillon and maybe even Jones. Jones was without a doubt their most consistent playmaker last year and they need him but you can't pay a 30y/o RB that kind of money when you have cap issues.

Every team has some highly comped players, are these bad contracts? Do you think they are bad players, or badly coached? I'm not sure myself...if I had to guess, I'd lean towards GB handing out too much guaranteed money -- maybe they have to bc it's GB -- and that bites them.

[run pMc]

One I forgot to mention - Devondre Campbell. Cutting him or in 2024 would gain you a little cap room (2.7M) so it might not happen, especially if Quay flops, but Campbell had a rough start to last season. Not sure he's worth that contract. This year will be important for him.
Rasul could also be a target for a cut or redo, depending on this season. He'd save them 6M in 2024 if they cut. I think they keep him though... he's kind of a fun player when he's not messing around with DET FGs.

[texaspackerbacker]

I've pretty much laid off this topic because if Rodgers is gone, the season and beyond is in the toilet regardless of anything else. Just the same, getting rid of quality players who are not way over the hill is just stupid. That applies to Campbell, obviously Aaron Jones, Clark, Jaire, probably Rasul, and a lot of others. I would extend and do what's needed to keep all of them. This does not apply to Preston Smith, who IMO is pretty far over the hill. And I wouldn't overpay to keep Bakhtiari either - although for those who still do worship that sacred cow, he too could be retain without the horrible cap hit if it was handled right.

[Fritz]

Tex, you probably liked George Allen and his Over the Hill Gang back in the 70's didn't you? I mean, except that you liked the Cowpukes. But the concept, you probably liked.

[texaspackerbacker]

The only thing I ever liked about George Allen was after his coaching career, and that's unmentionable in this part of the forum hahahaha (or was that his son?) Macaca!

There's a colossal difference between retaining your own quality players - which is mostly a financial thing, and going after quality players from other teams. Furthermore, regarding Allen and the '70s era, I'm pretty sure the free agency rules were different back then and maybe salary cap too, if it existed at all. Most of what Allen did was trades and giving up draft picks - which I considered stupid then, and which nobody is really suggesting the Packers do now, at least not like Allen did.

And yeah, the Cowboys were my second favorite team even before I was in Texas, going back to the days when they and the "Dallas Texans" of the AFL had a veritable blood feud which resulted in Lamar Hunt getting chased out to K.C, and his team named the Chiefs. And when I moved here, thanks to the army, so much more so, they were my second team. Ya'all are probably gonna have sad times for years if Rodgers really is gone. I, on the other hand, have the Cowboys to root for, not to mention a great resurgence of Badger football. It's gonna suck to be ya'all hahahaha - be careful what you wish for.

[run pMc]

I've pretty much laid off this topic because if Rodgers is gone, the season and beyond is in the toilet regardless of anything else. Just the same, getting rid of quality players who are not way over the hill is just stupid. That applies to Campbell, obviously Aaron Jones, Clark, Jaire, probably Rasul, and a lot of others. I would extend and do what's needed to keep all of them. This does not apply to Preston Smith, who IMO is pretty far over the hill. And I wouldn't overpay to keep Bakhtiari either - although for those who still do worship that sacred cow, he too could be retain without the horrible cap hit if it was handled right.

Preston could be gone after the season, but the way they redid his contract doesn't save them much if they do... I think like 2.5M in 2024.

How would you handle Bahktiari's contract? It expires after the 2024 season and they just redid it. His cap number balloons next year and they save a lot of money by releasing him. Are you saying they extend him? if they wanted to do void years they would likely already have done that when they redid it this year. I'm curious what you view as "handled right" means.

I agree you don't want to get rid of quality players if you don't have to, but age and contracts along with cap space might demand it. I love Aaron Jones but giving a 5-9 30 year old RB 17M in 2024 is not smart. Maybe they can do something to keep him but you're likely extending him and asking him to take a paycut or something. Again, RBs have short careers and can be replaced without too much trouble, so paying a lot for one is iffy.

I wouldn't give up on this season or those beyond it, especially if the Super Bowl isn't your thing. I don't expect them to win the SB, and I'd be surprised if they win 10+ games, but they should be more interesting and possibly more fun than last year. We at least get to see what the MLF offense will look like, and we can see if/how JL, Watson, Doubs, and other young players develop. Free agency -- once they unwind their cap mess -- as well as NFL's push for parity will likely get GB back into playoffs sooner than you might think. I remember the bad old days of the 80's, they aren't going back to that. The league and the GB FO are too smart for that now.

[RashanGary]

I could see one or two down years. That’s why I wouldn’t mind next years first from the Jets. It would give us two 2024 1sts (one presumably in the top 15). If we see our QB, we could move up with the two firsts and the 2025 first to get our guy if Love flops.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news...e08e324e&ei=53

This could go in about 3 places, but this seemed like a reasonable place.

"Safety Adrian Amos is the ultimate case-in-point. Through multiple restructures by the team, which included the insertion of void years to cut down on his annual cap numbers, Amos counts $7.95 million on this year’s salary cap.

Amos, of course, is a free agent who spent his Thursday being wined and dined by his hometown Baltimore Ravens. And yet, he has the seventh-highest cap charge on the team.

To be sure, Amos is the extreme example, but he provides the ultimate argument to the salary-cap-isn’t-real crowd. The salary cap is real, and Amos, defensive tackle Dean Lowry ($3.01 million), defensive tackle Jarran Reed ($1.49 million), receiver Randall Cobb ($1.39 million), tight end Marcedes Lewis ($1.05 million), kicker Mason Crosby ($1.05 million) and tight end Robert Tonyan ($500,000) provide more than $16 million worth of examples. That’s two or three good players the Packers can’t afford."

With all due respect, you folks without a meaningless bachelor’s in accounting (not to mention, having passed the not-so-easy Wisconsin CPA exams) have no fucking clue what y’all barking about when the subject pertains to the NFL salary cap.

“Dead money” has already been accounted for, cash flow-wise. The Packers currently have about $17M in dead money. That doesn’t mean they don’t have $17M to spend on free agents. They can simply create $17M in cap space by “cooking the cap.” Sure, doing such would lead to more dead money in the future. But such dead money would be offset by expiring contracts and the ever increasing salary cap. And trust me, cooking the cap ain’t gonna be banned in the future.

Some examples of why dead money is irrelevant: Had the Packers terminate underachiever Cletidus Clark instead of restructuring his contract, they would be fucked with $20M in “dead money.” Yet, they would actually gain $3M in cap space with the move; next season, Clark’s contract would be off the books and they would get something like $20M in cap space! The fucking Panthers currently have over $51M in dead money. Illogic says they should be in a so-called cap he’ll. Yet, the fucking Panthers currently have more cap space available than the fucking Packers!

Mic drop as I go back to flipping burgers - all because tunderdan won’t hire me be a CPA.