Upgrading the Packers

TW

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We all agree that the Packers need to make some serious upgrades in a few positions. The problem at this time is that there's only about $26 million left under the cap for 2020. Cap Room 2020. Then there's the issue of free agents. Packer Free Agents 2020. The money spent in 2019 has put a crimp in where we can go next year. There are a handful of players that need to be paid more, and if it doesn't happen, you need to fill those spots and it will either be costly, or a potential down grade on finding someone to replace those who leave.

I think it's going to be very difficult moving ahead too much during this upcoming off season, unless there are major concessions somewhere along the line, by players who are eating up a lot of dough.

I think we may tend to expect a little too much during this upcoming off season to be honest. The gains will not be huge steps.
 
I think its doable. Have to take in account guys cutting cut can freeing up money. Jimmy G would be a great start.

There are 2 FA that top my list that would be major moves. Jack Conklin to take over at RT. Hes 25 and is not joke. The other is the late blooming Jordan Phillips. The talent was always there now hes putting it together. We saw what a good front does to qbs on Monday. Add him to the smiths and Clark and that's a damn good group.

It was also mentioned before.... I think Mark..... But AR needs to be held accountable for going tunnel vision and off track. The O was better when Adams was out. Thats freaking unacceptable.
Also the tone needs to be set. To start the season the packers came out as the hammer. Lately they been the nail. The 49ers came out flying around. Thsts a culture not just talent. That mentality needs to be in green bay.
 
Getting rid of Graham and Taylor you would have about $39 million in cap space to work with.
 
I don't think the CAP will be a serious problem for them, but they will be a little strapped for space to sign FAs. I think they'll be able to afford one or two modest FAs but nothing like last spring.

Yes, there is a long list of FAs, but who in that group are you going to give a significant raise to? Pretty easy (for me) to project Tramon Williams and Geronimo Allison will be gone and their $8mil will be more than enough to pay Martinez if you want to keep him and maybe give Crosby a little more if you think you need to bump him up a little. Even if you keep all the rest, at their current salary it'll only add about $15-20mil to the CAP - only the top 51 contracts count.

They will almost certainly dump Graham and Taylor to free up another $11-12mil. If I'm the GM, I'm not in the mood to redo Clark right now because he's been a bit underwhelming this season. It's hard to project exactly, but it looks like they'll have about $15-20mil in CAP space when all is said and done, which means they probably won't be a "splash" player in FA this spring. They have no other options to free more CAP. (A lot of deals with a lot of dead money on the CAP right now.)

The major gains this off-season will have to come from the draft. There's the irony though. While I never want to see the Packers lose just for a better draft spot, with them winning more than I expected, they decrease the odds of drafting difference makers. Still, the good thing is that other than DL they don't need fill a "premium" position this spring. Good TE's, WRs, RTs and ILBs can be found in rounds 2-4.
 
How Martinez has regressed this year I am going to let him test FA.
 
Getting rid of Graham and Taylor you would have about $39 million in cap space to work with.

Sorta. The site TW put up with the CAP space only has 40, or so, contracts on it. I missed it the first time I looked at it too. You'll need to add at least another 10 contracts. At minimum, that'll use up another $7mil and if you sign a couple of the higher priced guys it can become $10-15mil pretty easily. Another $5 million for draft picks and $39mil becomes less than $20mil quickly. Not a CAP problem, but certainly not a ton of money to maneuver around signing top tier FAs.
 
Sorta. The site TW put up with the CAP space only has 40, or so, contracts on it. I missed it the first time I looked at it too. You'll need to add at least another 10 contracts. At minimum, that'll use up another $7mil and if you sign a couple of the higher priced guys it can become $10-15mil pretty easily. Another $5 million for draft picks and $39mil becomes less than $20mil quickly. Not a CAP problem, but certainly not a ton of money to maneuver around signing top tier FAs.
Isn't the cap just the top 40 contracts now or didn't that change?
 
Total Cap Liabilities: $187,393,646
  • Top 51: $159,883,170
  • Team Cap Space: $9,382,745
  • Offense: $108,474,748
  • Defense: $56,472,492
  • Special: $6,063,725
 
If you take at the free agent list, there's no way you can afford to replace all those guys listed, and who's to say you're even going to get anyone nearly as good as the guy on it, for a reasonable enough price? There's a lot of bodies there. A lot of guys who - like it or not - are a major mix in our team this year. You dump them, better replace them. If you think it will come through the draft, there's a learning curve there, and it's going to smart for a couple of years while the whole thing sorts out.

As far as trades, I don't see that as an option, and quite honestly, I don't see the Packers can afford to shop at the top two shelves of free agents. We're going to be forced to find what we can from the bargain bin. Therefore, regardless of what people think of some of these guys, team friendly contracts that gives the Packers an out after a year or two without a lot of dead cap, would really help us down the road. Even if it means that 2020 is a down year.

We even face a problem with Crosby. He's one of best kickers in the league, and if he opts to really test the waters, we're talking at a substantial amount more than the $4 mill he got this year. Be prepared to audition rookies, and end up with seasons like we've seen other teams have around the NFL. It's always better to be forewarned.
 
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