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

[FlaPack]

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

I am not sure of others on the roster but Rodgers cap hit increases $5.5M, Perry (+$4M) and Bak (+$3M) goes up as does Graham (+$7M). Thats almost $20M that needs to be accounted for so the net number is a bit lower. You can save some on a release/restructure on Graham but not much. My excitement about Gute going into free agency is a bit low hope I'm wrong

 

[realitybytes]

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.

i'd let 2-6 go. i agree that matthews is no longer worth $10 million to the packers, but i'm not sure what his market value is. everyone else on the list is less than a million bucks, and lets face it a million bucks doesn't buy much in the nfl these days.

 

[dannobanano]

i'd let 2-6 go. i agree that matthews is no longer worth $10 million to the packers, but i'm not sure what his market value is. everyone else on the list is less than a million bucks, and lets face it a million bucks doesn't buy much in the nfl these days.

Market value, to me, is always an "over inflated" number because of the NFL's propensity to over-pay for players in free agency. I'd be more curious as to what Gute feel's CM3's (honest) dollar value is to Green Bay.

I honestly don't have a problem with moving on from Matthews, especially since (imho) I believe that Matthews over values himself and his abilities at this age/stage of his career and won't come back on-the-cheap.

As of late though, he seems to be playing with greater intensity/urgency...............is it possible he's in a contract year?

In the end, it's a young mans game, and Clay isn't getting any younger.

 

[rpiotr01]

I'd be more curious as to what Gute feel's CM3's (honest) dollar value is to Green Bay.

According to Bob McGinn and his sources, GB has no intention of keeping Clay and are ready to move on. His best bet is probably go somewhere next year where he can be a situational rusher. I think GB needs to start from scratch at OLB to a degree, and it's got to be one of our first round picks. I kinda feel like retaining Matthews, even at a reduced salary and a limited role, would be a hindrance.

 

[GBP4EVER]

According to Bob McGinn and his sources, GB has no intention of keeping Clay and are ready to move on. His best bet is probably go somewhere next year where he can be a situational rusher. I think GB needs to start from scratch at OLB to a degree, and it's got to be one of our first round picks. I kinda feel like retaining Matthews, even at a reduced salary and a limited role, would be a hindrance.

Clay goes to Browns to finish off career were his father played.

 

[ChampionshipBelt]

I am not sure of others on the roster but Rodgers cap hit increases $5.5M, Perry (+$4M) and Bak (+$3M) goes up as does Graham (+$7M). Thats almost $20M that needs to be accounted for so the net number is a bit lower. You can save some on a release/restructure on Graham but not much. My excitement about Gute going into free agency is a bit low hope I'm wrong

Perry is going up to 7-9M? No way I keep him, if that is the case. Graham better have a better 2nd half of the season because we cannot keep him for that amount of money. Bak may be the only one we keep.

 

[dannobanano]

Perry is going up to 7-9M? No way I keep him, if that is the case. Graham better have a better 2nd half of the season because we cannot keep him for that amount of money. Bak may be the only one we keep.

If they cut/trade Perry next year they would eat the rest of his signing bonus (pro-rata $11.1M) which would be a bitter pill IMO, Buuuut...........they would still realize a $3.6M cap savings because they wouldn't have to pay him his base salary/roster bonus/workout bonus, which is $11M.

That'll be an interesting storyline to follow. Keep or Cut?

I'd keep Graham through 2019. His production has been on an uptick, and it's more cap friendly to wait until after next year if they are looking for an "out" with him.

 

[rpiotr01]

Keep Perry. We're already losing Clay, Reggie Gilbert seems to be more Jayrone Elliot than diamond in the rough, Fackrell is not a starting player. Perry also provides some scheme flexibility, depending on who coaches the D next year. He's an overpayed player, but not a bad one.

 

[ChampionshipBelt]

Valid points. That is tough to swallow to pay Perry that amount of money but you may be right in keeping him.

 

[57packer]

I am not sure of others on the roster but Rodgers cap hit increases $5.5M, Perry (+$4M) and Bak (+$3M) goes up as does Graham (+$7M). Thats almost $20M that needs to be accounted for so the net number is a bit lower. You can save some on a release/restructure on Graham but not much. My excitement about Gute going into free agency is a bit low hope I'm wrong

It's always complicated, and there are always a variety of numbers that impact. Yes, some guys are going up which will impact, but offsetting that is that this year they are carrying over $12mil in dead CAP money. Right now that number is under $500k for 2019 so they get a huge CAP savings there that offsets the increases. Using just the Spotrac numbers we know right now, we will have about $40+mil in CAP space in 2019. Enough to make some things happen. Of course, things could change, but I don't know where they would spend the money unless they decide to extend Clark early.

Perry is going up to 7-9M? No way I keep him, if that is the case. Graham better have a better 2nd half of the season because we cannot keep him for that amount of money. Bak may be the only one we keep.

It's tempting to cut Perry and Graham but it doesn't save all that much. Probably better to bite that bullet and wait another year. They're not worth the money but the timing isn't the best so maybe you keep them for depth. Unless of course you can tru;y replace them really cheap.