Ahman Green

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

He has to find the NEXT guy at RB...and that won't happen if you keep Green and pay him big time $$$$.

Why not? That’s the same argument people were using to not get Moss, but I did buy it. Why can't you have Green and draft his replacement in a year or two to take over for him the time is right. Why do we have to suffer this year and maybe another before we find our next great back. Also, even if Jackson and Wynn or whoever else turns out, you can never have enough good backs.

[The Leaper]

Why not? That’s the same argument people were using to not get Moss, but I did buy it. Why can't you have Green and draft his replacement in a year or two to take over for him the time is right.

Because Houston offered Green starter's money for 4 years...and Green isn't worth $5M a year at this point. He'll be fortunate to get 1000 yards and 8 TDs in Houston this year...and I'm willing to bet that Wynn/Morency is BETTER than Green by year end.

I'm sure Thompson would've preferred to keep Ahman as a starter for one more year...but locking him into a 4 year deal when Ahman really doesn't have that much left in the tank would have been foolish.

[rpiotr01]

I'm sure Thompson would've preferred to keep Ahman as a starter for one more year...but locking him into a 4 year deal when Ahman really doesn't have that much left in the tank would have been foolish.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you in spirit, but length of the deal doesn't matter. Length and overall value is something agents need so they can toot their own horns about getting a client X amount for X amount of years. The Packers could have signed Green to a 5 year deal, front loaded the contract and cut him after 2 years if he was playing poorly. They just didn't think he was worth what the Texans gave him, and he thought he was worth more than what the Pack offered, so he hit FA, and as has been said, once someone gets to FA they're gone.

[The Leaper]

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you in spirit, but length of the deal doesn't matter. Length and overall value is something agents need so they can toot their own horns about getting a client X amount for X amount of years.

Yes and no.

Ahman Green was basically going to be signing his final contract in the NFL...he wasn't going to settle for anything less than the maximum amount of guaranteed money and "likely to be seen" money that he could. Length of the deal DID matter...because the length is what determines your chances of continuing to play under your current deal. For Green, that is the difference between earning $5M a year and $800k.

If you are talking about a young kid in his 20s who probably has a very good chance to land another deal down the road, I might agree with you. However, in this instance, Green was going to take the deal that provided the highest chance at getting the highest dollars possible. His next deal, if he gets another one, will be at the vet minimum.

That is why he wouldn't accept a deal that was basically a guaranteed max 2 year deal. Green wanted a good chance that he might be retained for 3 or more years...which is what he gets in Houston.

[PackerBlues]

Where are all the people who were arguing with me that "Green was old and we'll be fine with Morency and BJ?" Silence speaks volumes.

My guess is that they are hangin out with all the people that said that Randy Moss was "washed up", and "not worth getting". Green had a great year with the Packers last year, rushing and recieving. While I was pointing out how hard it was going to be to replace that much production from one guy, others were bashing me for wanting an "old, washed up, overly expensive player".

Green and Moss could have both been signed in GB with the cap space the Packers have. The entire time I was arguing that Moss would have been great for our depth if nothing else, people were bashing me for even wanting Moss at all. Now look at our fucking depth at WR.

As much as I would like to say "I hate to say it, but I told ya so", I do not hate to say it........I fuckin told ya so!!!!!!!!!

[MJZiggy]

PB, we're two games in and undefeated. You can tell me so after Green and Moss have both survived the season and have done better than our teams. (and in Moss's case, manages to keep his trap shut and out of trouble for the season)

[HarveyWallbangers]

I would have liked to seen Ahman return. Ahman was one of my favorite Packers, but I can see both sides.

Ahman's contract is a base salary of $3M this year and $4.5M next year with a $5M signing bonus. It escalates from there, and Ahman likely won't be playing under the terms of this contract in 2009.

Realistically, it's a 2 year contract. If Ahman get injured and plays one year, it would count $4.25M against the cap this year and would count $3.75M in dead money against the cap in 2008. If he plays two years and then gets injured, it would count $5.75M against the cap next year and would count $2.5M against the cap in dead money in 2009.

If Thompson had doubts about Ahman's durability, I can see him wanting to go with younger legs that will be cheap for several years. Our cap situation is good now (although not as great as some think because we've resigned our own players). However, in two years we are going to start having a boatload of players become FAs.

I don't think it's that hard to find RBs. I'm sure if our OL was run blocking better, these RBs would look a lot better.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Where are all the people who were arguing with me that "Green was old and we'll be fine with Morency and BJ?" Silence speaks volumes.

Ahman is averaging 70 yards/game for Houston. What do you think he'd be doing running behind our OL with the way they are run blocking this year?

Ahman is 30 years old and has had injuries in recent years. I'll wait to see if he is mostly healthy and productive for the next two seasons before judging if it was a good move or not.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Water under the bridge.

[PackerBlues]

I agree with Harv and Ziggy in the fact that what they are saying makes sense. But it is still a slap in the face to be told that neither of them were worth getting by people who predicted such great things from guys like Morency and Jones for this year. To me, Moss and Green would have been great for our depth and inexperience at their respective positions, which by the way, was my biggest argument for getting both of them signed.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I wish Ahman all the best. Wouldn't care if it proved Thompson wrong or not. I also don't blame Thompson for his decision on Ahman.

The only thing that's sad is that I was hoping he'd finish his career in Green Bay and get the rushing record. Plus, my #30 Packers jersey with "Green" on the back isn't as cool.

[Bretsky]

Ahman's contract is a base salary of $3M this year and $4.5M next year with a $5M signing bonus. It escalates from there, and Ahman likely won't be playing under the terms of this contract in 2009.

Realistically, it's a 2 year contract. If Ahman get injured and plays one year, it would count $4.25M against the cap this year and would count $3.75M in dead money against the cap in 2008. If he plays two years and then gets injured, it would count $5.75M against the cap next year and would count $2.5M against the cap in dead money in 2009.


When you truly examine the contract, as you did, it becomes more of a no brainer to bring Ahman back to GB. He would not be tearing it up here by any means, but he's much much better than what we have. Honestly, frontloading the deal into this years cap would have been right up TT's alley for Ahman.

[Bretsky]

I wish Ahman all the best. Wouldn't care if it proved Thompson wrong or not. I also don't blame Thompson for his decision on Ahman.

The only thing that's sad is that I was hoping he'd finish his career in Green Bay and get the rushing record. Plus, my #30 Packers jersey with "Green" on the back isn't as cool.

I hope Ahman tears it up and somehow makes the pro bowl so we get an extra 3rd round draft pick

[HarveyWallbangers]

I wish Ahman all the best. Wouldn't care if it proved Thompson wrong or not. I also don't blame Thompson for his decision on Ahman.

The only thing that's sad is that I was hoping he'd finish his career in Green Bay and get the rushing record. Plus, my #30 Packers jersey with "Green" on the back isn't as cool.

I hope Ahman tears it up and somehow makes the pro bowl so we get an extra 3rd round draft pick

That's the other side of it. If Ahman does tear it up (and he only has to do so this year), we get a good draft pick. That makes Thompson's decision even more reasonable.

[HarveyWallbangers]

When you truly examine the contract, as you did, it becomes more of a no brainer to bring Ahman back to GB. He would not be tearing it up here by any means, but he's much much better than what we have. Honestly, frontloading the deal into this years cap would have been right up TT's alley for Ahman.

Round and round. We are $13M under the cap. How much would have realistically been able to frontload--yet still give Ahman the long-term deal he was seeking? Not much. Especially if you want to extend some of your own guys (by frontloading contracts). Remember also that it was still early in the FA process, so I don't think Thompson felt assured that he'd have $13M left at the time Ahman signed his deal. He probably was thinking that he'd still need room for Randy Moss' contract.