Packers send safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to Washington for 2019 fourth-round draft pick

[dannobanano]

Getting the 2020 comp pick would only work if Ted "I don't do free agency" Thompson was still at the helm, and then there is still no guarantee it would be a 4th round pick. We've been down that road before where "we think" it will be a 3rd? 4th? and it ends up a 5th or 6th.

Plus, that potential comp pick would be voided if Gute dips into free agency and signs an UFA, which he is likely to be doing year in and year out for the foreseeable future. By doing this now, he has guaranteed the Packers get a (2019) pick for losing HHCD.

Confirmed by Gute himself.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/31/packers-g-m-free-agent-strategy-factored-into-trade/

Packers will have $43M in cap space and Gute intends to be a player in FA.

 

[Wolfman]

Good post, R! And I do feel MM needs to move on. Fish rots from the head down. Strange that NE never seems to have these issues. Get an aggressive, fun guy to play for that actually adjusts to the game being played in front of him. A fresh start with players AND coaches is much needed, imo. It’s just been too long and feels stale to me.

 

[Crease Creature]

but he is not the player he was when he was a pro bowler

I'd argue he wasn't even the player he was when he was a pro bowler when je was a pro bowler, the guys before him were just that awful.

 

[FlaPack]

Good post, R! And I do feel MM needs to move on. Fish rots from the head down. Strange that NE never seems to have these issues. Get an aggressive, fun guy to play for that actually adjusts to the game being played in front of him. A fresh start with players AND coaches is much needed, imo. It’s just been too long and feels stale to me.

Belichick is fun?

 

[Wolfman]

Belichick is fun?

Touche’! Certainly not for reporters!!

Just meant that the guys would have fun winning with new, innovative coaching. But I have a feeling you knew that!

 

[Wolfman]

Confirmed by Gute himself.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/31/packers-g-m-free-agent-strategy-factored-into-trade/

Packers will have $43M in cap space and Gute intends to be a player in FA.

I like him so much more than Ted already!

 

[TW]

There's several players we'll lose at the end of 2018. To improve, you need to fill those holes first, and tend to the weak spots later. The trick is finding enough money to do both. I'm not looking at our picks in 2019 being that big in contributions as rookies, and I don't see where the Packers have all that much money to dive into the deep end of the FA pool for someone who might only make them a little bit better in one position, but weaker across the board because they tied up too much money in one spot. Anyhow, that's how I see them approaching the issue this winter.

 

[57packer]

I get what you are saying TW and to a certain degree that's usually the case. Typically you have a couple of big-buck FA's of your own that you need to sign and then there are a bunch of depth guys to do deals on, and before you know it the money is gone.

This off-season is different. Below is the list of Packer FAs and their current CAP numbers. Lots of names, but not much money to be spent. I think we can all agree that the top-3 are unlikely to be signed, or at least unlikely to be signed at anything near their current deals. I know you need to keep your depth, BUT even if you decide to keep all 17 guys at the bottom of that list (which is unlikely) and bring them back to camp to maintain your depth you will only spend about $15mil on the whole bunch of them. That means you will likely have $30-35mil in CAP space to use for FAs. You might have had to burn a chunk of that to retain HaHa and Monty, but those deals are gone now. There truly is nobody on the roster you need to sign that will command a chunk of CAP space. They will likely have the ability to dive into the deep end on one FA and maybe a couple more mid-level deals.

Clay Matthews OLB $13,200,000 UFA
Randall Cobb WR $10,000,000 UFA
Muhammad Wilkerson DE $5,000,000 UFA
Marcedes Lewis TE $2,100,000 UFA
Lance Kendricks TE $2,000,000 UFA
Byron Bell RT $1,600,000 UFA
Davon House CB $1,005,000 UFA
Bashaud Breeland CB $880,000 UFA
Korey Toomer ILB $790,000 UFA
Jake Ryan ILB $684,170 UFA
Geronimo Allison WR $630,000 RFA
Lucas Patrick G $555,000 ERFA
Jermaine Whitehead FS $555,000 ERFA
Justin McCray G $555,000 ERFA
Tre Carson RB $555,000 ERFA
Kentrell Brice S $540,667 RFA
Reggie Gilbert DE $495,000 ERFA
Robert Tonyan Jr. WR $480,000 ERFA
Jake Kumerov WR $480,000 ERFA
Tyler Lancaster DT $480,000 ERFA

 

[TW]

Looking at the list you posted, and those salaries, the top five on that list combine for $32 mill. That's a huge cap hit. The only player among them that I would be remotely interested in keeping at this point would be Matthews, and he would stay only if the price was right. Although I had high hopes for Wilkerson, I see nothing but paying out money for a guy who sits out injured. I'd cut ties under those circumstances.

 

[ChampionshipBelt]

It really tells you something when you have that many FA's and none of them are huge in looking at the future of this team. Shows you how bad TT has been the last 5 years in the draft and getting this team depth.