Now in his 12th off-season in charge of the Green Bay Packers, general manager Ted Thompson need not do much more than oil some gears, adjust a couple of dials and chat up the guys on the assembly line before heading on his merry way.
The Packers machine runs without interruption.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the way Thompson and vice president of player finance Russ Ball have managed their payroll to fit the NFL's salary cap system. It has become a rite of every new NFL calendar year that the Packers rank among those with the most cap room to spend.
All of that might not guarantee Super Bowls, but good cap management has allowed Thompson to build around the highest-paid player in the NFL instead of trying to build in spite of him.
For the seventh time in the l0 years Thompson has been constrained by a salary cap (it was not in place for the 2010 season), the Packers have had at least $17 million of salary cap room at or near the start of free agency.
This year, the number was $23.8 million before the contract extension given to defensive tackle Letroy Guion last week. Guion's deal is expected to eat up as much as $2.2 million of cap space but, according to a source familiar with parts of it, is structured such that it could be shaved down to $500,000 if Guion has another off-season transgression before May and the team cuts him.
All told, the Packers have $137,619,485 in salary cap charges on their books, according to a source with access to NFL Players Association salary data. The projected salary cap number for 2016 is around $153 million to $154 million, but the Packers' adjusted cap will be higher because they are carrying more than $6.99 million in cap space from 2015.
The $23.8 million of cap room the Packers have isn't official and will drop when the Guion deal is added. It will continue to fluctuate based on any other deals the Packers do and won't be official until the cap is set and the new calendar year begins on March 9.
But that figure is the most recent. Using that total, the Packers rank 16th in the NFL in available cap room based on a $153 million salary cap limit.
While that puts the Packers in the middle of the pack, it comes with an asterisk because the Packers have most of their very best players – Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Jordy Nelson, Mike Daniels, Sam Shields, Morgan Burnett, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Randall Cobb and Bryan Bulaga – under contract for multiple years.
Once the Guion deal is on the books, the Packers will have 20 players with salary cap numbers of at least $1 million, including four who top $10 million: Rodgers ($19.5 million), Matthews ($13.75 million), Shields ($12 million) and Julius Peppers ($10.5 million). The number probably will grow well beyond 20 as they re-sign some of
their 17 remaining free agents.
At this time in 2015, the Packers had 20 players with cap numbers of at least $1 million and three with $10 million or more; in '14, they had 18 and two; in '13, they had 21 and zero; in '12, they had 20 and one.
Their current free agent class consists of very few players the Packers can't afford to lose, but the 2017 class includes guards Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang, left tackle David Bakhtiari, running back Eddie Lacy, cornerback Micah Hyde and center/tackle JC Tretter, all of whom will be on the radar for contract extensions this year.
As a result, Thompson can pick and choose from the current free agent group without leaving coach Mike McCarthy with a giant hole.
This year, kicker Mason Crosby is expected to be the priority and probably will have a deal done at or near the free agent buzzer March 9. He and Baltimore's Justin Tucker are the two best free agent kickers and Crosby is coming off probably the best year of his career.
Thompson will have to decide whether to spend some money on nose tackle B.J. Raji or settle on Guion, Mike Pennel and a draft fairly deep draft for defensive linemen. He'll have to see whether Peppers comes back for a 15th season – his agent said last week he wasn't ready to say one way or the other – so he can make a decision on outside linebacker Mike Neal, who may price himself out of Green Bay if he hits the open market.
It's unlikely Thompson will pay to re-sign cornerback Casey Hayward because of a stable of young corners ready to play and may not pursue backup quarterback Scott Tolzien because young and talented Brett Hundley is waiting in the wings. But bringing back running back James Starks, linebacker Nick Perry and fullback John Kuhn are possibilities.
The biggest unknown is whether Thompson puts aside his distaste for free agency and tries to find a veteran who can complement his roster the way Peppers has and Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett did years ago. Signing Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte, a soon-to-be free agent, would give him insurance in case Lacy can't get his weight under control, but probably would result in Starks not returning.
An inside linebacker would be ideal acquisition and there are a few expected to be free agents, including Denver's Danny Trevathan, Indianapolis' Jerrell Freeman and Kansas City's Derrick Johnson. A tight end to replace veteran free agent Andrew Quarless might be in order, but the class is very thin.
Based on his history, Thompson will save his money for next year and continue to build through the draft, much to the disappointment of many fans who want the Packers to get over the hump in the playoffs with a free agent-splash. But he surprised people with the Peppers signing during the '14 off-season and could do it again.
One area where Thompson won't be hit hard this year is in dead money or salary cap charges that remain on the books for players that were cut or retired. The Packers have $679,761 in dead money attributed to 19 players, the majority of which comes from the release of 2014 draft picks Khyri Thornton ($281,626) and Carl Bradford ($214,650).
The leftover charges are what remained of their pro-rated signing bonuses when they were let go.
Compared to previous years around this time, the $679,761 in dead money is very low. They carried $3,187,020 last year after cutting linebackers A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones and $2,677,284 the year before that. By July of 2012, they were carrying $4,868,250 in dead money.
The current number isn't expected to grow much unless Peppers decides to retire or the Packers choose to let him go. That would add $2.5 million in dead money to this year's cap.
In the meantime, the machine will continue to run full speed ahead.
PACKERS SALARY CAP NUMBERS
The following are the salary cap numbers for the 52 players under contract for the Green Bay Packers for 2016. Only the 51 highest numbers count for off-season salary cap calculations.
Aaron Rodgers, $19,250,000
Clay Matthews, $13,750,000
Sam Shields, $12,000,000
Julius Peppers, $10,500,000
Randall Cobb, $9,150,000
Jordy Nelson, $8,300,000
Mike Daniels, $7,400,000
Josh Sitton, $6,850,000
T.J. Lang, $6,181,250
Morgan Burnett, $5,956,250
Bryan Bulaga, $5,462,500
Datone Jones, $2,455,282
Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix, $2,274,137
David Bakhtiari, $1,809,850
Damarious Randall, $1,799,029
Micah Hyde, $1,740,527
Tim Masthay, $1,540,000
Eddie Lacy, $1,079,404
Davante Adams, $1,072,746
Quinten Rollins, $850,583
JC Tretter, $778,977
Richard Rodgers, $739,004
Josh Boyd, $711,140
Nate Palmer, $699,724
Ty Montgomery, $693,386
Sam Barrington, $687,250
Corey Linsley, $646,250
Jake Ryan, $639,169
Demetri Goodson, $625,788
Jeff Janis, $612,848
Jayrone Elliott, $601,668
Mike Pennel, $601,168
Brett Hundley, $580,908
Aaron Ripkowski, $551,599
Kennard Backman, $547,621
LaDarius Gunter, $526,666
Jared Abbrederis, $525,000
Carl Bradford, $525,000
William Campbell, $525,000
John Crockett, $525,000
Mitchell Henry, $525,000
Joe Thomas, $525,000
Josh Walker, $525,000
Robertson Daniel, $450,000
Jamel Johnson, $450,000
Rick Lovato, $450,000
B.J. McBryde, $450,000
Christian Ringo, $450,000
Matt Rotheram, $450,000
Jeremy Vujnoich, $450,000
Ryan Williams, $450,000
Ed Williams, $450,000
The following is a list of "dead money" the Packers are carrying on their 2016 salary cap. These are leftover charges that carried over to this year for players who were released after June 1.
Jared Abbrederis, $72,280
Bernard Blake, $2,334
Javess Blue, $2,667
Carl Bradford, $214,650
Ricky Collins, $3,334
Adrian Coxson, $3,334
Johnathan Crockett, $3,334
Tavarus Dantzler, $3,334
Fabbian Ebbele, $1,334
Alonzo Harris, $2,334
Mitchell Henry, $3,334
Jimmie Hunt, $3,334
Larry Pinkard, $2,000
Jermauria Rasco, $3,334
Marcus Reed, $2,667
Christian Ringo, $67,863
Matt Rotheram, $3,334
James Vaughters, $3,334
Khyri Thornton, $281,626
