Fear The Chorizo

Honestly just take the word sports out of this statement and it's just as accurate....thanks twitter!

Right now the Packers are only committed to $130M for 2023, and that includes $33M for Rodgers and $20M for Aaron Jones, and only $86M for 2024. Cap space clears quickly. That's sort of true...but that also doesn't include new contracts for players like Alexander, Gary, Savage, Jenkins, Dillon etc. that the Packers would most likely not want to just let walk away and need to pony up significant dollars to keep around. That 2023 number is also for roughly 25 players, several of which have no cap amounts because of 5th year rookie options yet to be determined.

That number is pretty much uncarry-able for any NFL team that hopes to field a roster capable of winning a Super Bowl for more than 1 season when the 2022 cap is still based upon a total less than $210 million. I just don't see a "set the QB market" contract extension for a player headed into his age 39 season and after the 2nd year of salary cap constraints caused by a pandemic. Any new contract the Packers extend to Rodgers (or Adams for that matter) absolutely has to include a couple extra non-guaranteed years tacked onto the end of it to both allow for more future years to prorate out the initial signing bonus, and try to take advantage of what ***should*** be progressively higher salary caps several years from now as gameday revenues have fully returned and TV contract money continues to balloon the NFL's coffers. Heading into both the 2021 and 2022 salary cap announcements I was vocal in my opinion that the cap was going to drop (2021) and wasn't going to explode into the $220's or higher(2022) because COVID screwed up gameday revenue for all of the 2020 regular season. The NFL weathered that storm remarkably well, and now I'd anticipate seeing a few more years of 12-16% cap bumps in order for their cap to both catch up where it would already be there not been a pandemic and to allow for teams to have an easier time managing escalating player contracts. The Packers are going to gamble on those future caps 2-3 seasons out to be much higher than the current one to make this all work and avoid a total team gutting as early as next offseason, but I'd consider that gamble to be a pretty safe bet.

I don't care so much about the names on the backs of the jerseys. I don't care whether Mark Attanasio makes a profit on the team. I care about the name on the front of the jersey, because I'll still be cheering for this team long after those names on the back have moved on, and probably long after Mark A either sells the team or hands it down to his kids. The Brewers are a well run organization right now, and whatever happens with this labor fight, I'm going to be upset if changes to the CBA are made that make it more difficult for the team to remain competitive in the future. That's the fans' skin in this game. Totally get that and totally agree....but the fans don't have a seat at the table in this dispute, which is unfortunate since without fans the owners would have to find something else to invest their billions into and the players would have to find a different line of work that most likely doesn't pay as well as being able to throw a baseball really hard or hit one very far.

Disagree. The average working guy disagrees as well. It is extremely relevant to people making 60K how much players make, and turn down. Again, using Soto as an example. Dude turns down 350 million and expects regular working guys to feel bad for him? I'm laughing out loud! Opinion, not fact. Do players even have a "plight" if they turn down 350 million? When did Soto ever say "feel bad for me?" It is a fact that the owners are much richer than the players... https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/12/mlb-owners-net-worth.html And deservedly so to be honest....there are far fewer businessmen and women on this planet financially capable to buy a professional sports franchise, despite their profession's playing field being infinitely larger than that of the amount of players actually trying to play a game for a living that amounts to generational wealth. Being a pro sports majority owner is more rare than being a HOF player in any sport. And being born into a family who owns a franchise is alot like being born Ken Griffey JR on the baseball field or a Manning kid on the football field. To me it boils down to a fight amongst two groups who both try and use the general public's sentiment as leverage to get a better financial deal for themselves - and both sides could honestly care less about the general public....therefore, I don't care about them and feel neither side deserves to "win".

I wasn't really expecting a Clark restructure as part of the 'get almost everyone back and get under the cap' activities over the next few weeks...but definitely welcome finding a way to make almost $11M in accounting-only salary cap dollars leave the 2022 ledger before any other cuts or new contracts happen. I don't see any way Z. Smith doesn't get cut at this point, the cap savings is just too much to pass up despite a big part of me wishing there was a way to have him around one more season via restructuring or signing to a cap friendly deal - for me cutting #55 is the next obvious roster move that will happen even if they wait until the last minute to announce his release as everything else shakes out.

I don't think that's necessarily accurate. If you're going to join another organization and hope to compete quickly, you are far better off being traded early so the receiving team can plan their offseason strategy accordingly and so that your client can go through the offseason with his new team. Ok, let's say that's the case - what team out there is going to trade for Love right now that doesn't already have a young QB they just drafted and who wants Love based on his onfield body of work through 2021? NFC West Seattle maybe if they trade Wilson, and that's it NFC North - interdivision trade isn't happening unless Packers truly think Love is a bust NFC South - division probably makes the most sense to be QB hunting after Brady retired, ATL likely moving on from Ryan soon, Panthers if they've soured on Darnold, and Saints after they stop putting themselves in cap hell. NFC East - WFT and Giants maybe, but I'd think any moves they make at the QB position would be to bring an established veteran in via trade AFC East - nobody AFC South - Houston trainwreck if the Watson saga ever gets sorted out AFC North - Pittsburgh? likely bringing in an established vet via trade though AFC West - Nope - if Denver makes a QB move it won't be for Love I should have added in my post that if Love is traded, I'd expect it to happen next offseason for the reason of working into the mix with the new organization you mentioned. I think this offseason will include some veteran QB cuts and trades with teams who think they're one veteran signal caller away from making a run - IMO GB doesn't have a solid market to trade a young QB headed into his 3rd year that hasn't proven it on the field yet. I'd check in after the 2022 season and a few of the current crop of young QBs prove to not be longterm answers for teams, and see if any of them are interested in giving Love a shot instead of drafting a guy 3 years younger with a premium draft pick.

There's no reason to trade Love this offseason even if Rodgers returns to a longterm extension - even his agent should realize at present the best option for Love becoming a starting quarterback (assuming Rodgers remains a Packer in 2022) lies with him performing well next preseason and getting other teams interested, then looking to make a trade either during the 2022 regular season or next offseason.

I'm going to substitute OT for TE. Kelly is a FA. Nijman is a RFA (not exclusive rights) and I think he played well enough at LT that someone will make an offer that the Packers won't be able to fit under their cap. Turner is in the last year of his deal and might have to be a cap casualty if they manage to retain Nijman. And Bakh has questions surrounding his health and ability to get back on the field. Point being, Kelly and I think one of Nijman or Turner aren't back. I don't know if the Packers view Newman as having RT potential, but if they lose Nijman they will need to draft a tackle to develop. As for TE, they have Deguara who was for all intents and purposes still a rookie last year plus Dafney and Davis. I think Tonyan will be back because coming off of the injury and starting the season on the PUP there won't be a strong demand for him as a FA; I think he'll be back relatively cheap on a one-year deal. I get the viewpoint of needing more lineman, and agree - but I still feel TE is a bigger immediate roster hole than OL with the uncertainty of how soon Tonyan is back healthy with that knee. I'm basing that off an assumption that Bakh is ready for the 2022 regular season - a big assumption but frankly one the Packers have to also make considering his huge contract. Also hoping Jenkins is able to be back at some point next season. I do hope Deguara takes that next step, but I'm anticipating Lewis is gone, and they need another TE that is an effective run blocker on the roster.

I mean, half the Packers' staff he referenced in that post are now coaching in other organizations, and it comes at the back end of a post that seems mostly centered around his relationship with his former fiance'. Seems like more a reflection on Rodgers' past year and likely has nothing to do with his mindset for whether he plays football next season and if that's in GB or elsewhere. Sources indicated the primary issue that engagement fell apart was because Woodley didn't like how much time Rodgers spent focusing on football during the season (lol, what did she expect?) - and the post alludes to football being his job and how much more enjoyable that job is because of the friendships he's built with his teammates over the years. people are trying to read way, way too much into everything - we'll know more definitively soon enough.

Its mostly because there are like 500 different cross country ski and biathlon events that their country routinely cleans up with.

I think the next month needs to unfold before we all know what blatant roster holes need filling and exactly where the Packers are picking.... Having said that, WR, TE, DL, and LB are three position groups of notable need that I'd hope the Packers focus a good chunk of their draft towards.

My thoughts on the Russian contingent .... But Russia is banned from the Olympics due to their state-sponsored doping scheme...so it's not Russia, it's the "Russian Olympic Committee" competing the past few Olympics - seems like that change has done a world of good in curbing their use of PEDs. Blame the IOC for all of it - the hypocrisy, the corruption, the dependence on countries run by despots and blatant human rights abusers to continue being influential on the world stage, the list goes on and on....As much as I enjoy watching some of the Olympics (both summer and winter), I'd be a proponent of just doing away with them altogether and allowing various events/sports to proceed/die on their own merit on a worldwide stage.

Agreed. At some point it really would be great if Rodgers would make the acknowledgment money-wise that his best way to help the team be competitive is that like Brady (and Favre in a lot of ways), the best thing he really can do to help is play under a salary that is 'beneath' his performance level, especially for 2022. His supposed demand to be highest-paid doesn't equate well to 'room to add talent'. He needs to get on board with that philosophy at some point. This should be the gameplan provided Rodgers wants back and it would wind up with him actually making more actual money this year than what his current contract would pay him. Inking a 4 or even 5 year contract extension that pays him a massive (and guaranteed) signing bonus would allow the Packers to spread the bonus amount out across 4 or 5 cap years and then also structure the contract so his 1st season "salary" amount for cap purposes is small is very doable. it kicks the cap management can down the road where it can hopefully be dealt with in future seasons where the cap jumps up a bit more post-COVID, too. I'd expect the same type of contract with Adams - and frankly for Jaire Alexander as well to get him an extension. There's a good chance some of the cap gymnastics wind up with Green Bay actually paying out much larger chunks of guaranteed money to players who wind up with significantly reduced 2022 cap figures than their current contracts or potential franchise tag amounts are.

The one that stings most to me is that NFCCG loss to the Seahawks - they may have been underdogs due to the Seattle being the reigning champs and playing that game on the road, but at the time they played that game I though GB was the better team even with a hobbled Rodgers. They dominated that game for 3 quarters until special teams and overly cautious offensive playcalling left the door open for Seattle to pull off a miracle comeback. That 2011 Giants squad almost handed the Packers their first regular season loss in NY that season - there wasn't a vast talent gap between those teams. The 2010 Packer team that won the Super Bowl was everyone's pick in the preseason due to their talent - then all the injuries hit and they scuffled through October-mid December. I think they were indeed the best team in the league in a down year, once they got Rodgers back from that concussion and still had good health in key spots it was easy to see on the field they were no ordinary 6 seed. ATL went 13-3 in a bad division that year, so they were ripe for knocking off as a #1 seed and the Packers' uneven regular season allowed the Bears to be a #2 seed who won their divisional playoff game against a Seahawk team who finished the regular season 7-9.

Basically just doing the exact same thing they did to set their 2021 roster up, and then possibly having to swing some trades using draft capital or do some crazy cap gymnastics to keep their roster as loaded as it can be. If Rodgers wants to come back to GB I don't see how you don't do something like the Rams did in 2021, TB did in 2020/2021, or the Saints did in 2019/2020 - it will make the pain of crawling out from cap hell worse and take longer, but it's probably worth a shot doing whatever you can to run it back with as many players as you can next season.

I posted in the super bowl thread - oftentimes the best teams don't win titles, many times it's not the hottest team in a 1 and done situation too. Heading into this postseason I thought it was probably the most wide open of any I could have remembered, and I think after watching how the playoffs unfolded it wouldn't surprise me in the least to replay all of it and wind up with two completely different teams in the Super Bowl and totally different storylines to be watching unfold this offseason.

With some of the quotes and smoke related to McVay looking at his life beyond the sidelines and Donald even talking about the 'R' word if the Rams found a way to win it all this season, I wonder if that also spurred a big part of their "all in" approach for 2021 - knowing even if they didn't make all the moves they did to try and win it this year to try and maintain some semblance of longterm success that their head coach and best player might not be long for sticking around anyways. With TB and the Rams winning the last two titles, that's definitely a formula to win a title - quite possible GB follows that recipe for 2022 even if it means a more painful retooling/rebuild a season or two further down the road.

I actually disagree Cincy outplayed the Rams - they did the same thing by that won them three playoff games against AFC opponents who shot themselves in the foot in key situations. The Rams were headed towards a comfortable win until OBJ went down, then it was suddenly obvious they didn't have enough healthy weapons left to go up and down the field, so scoring was going to be tough sledding. If Cincy doesn't get that great catch by Chase and that long TD pass to open the 2nd half on what was offensive PI, they don't score 10 points in this game. Credit goes to the Rams' D for basically shutting the Bengals down right after that 2nd Stafford INT early in the 3rd quarter and giving their offense most of the 2nd half to score 10 points and win a title. Cincy's offense does have alot of exciting young weapons, but their line is atrocious and it prevents them from scoring alot of points against solid defenses - it's actually been Cincy's defense that has made huge plays at key times during this playoff run to win them games, and tonight they just couldn't come up with one on that last Rams drive that was basically Stafford and Kupp. An entertaining game that just felt disappointing at the end because the Packers are better than both of those squads - such is life when all too often the best teams don't win titles.

Donald is some kind of strong

Flag city.....and all justified. Just stinks they all come out now

Run a draw here

I personally feel like Rodgers is the most talented quarterback in league history in terms of the complete package - arm talent, athleticism, pocket presence, ability to dictate the game. That obviously hasn't equated to him winning a fistful of rings because of how difficult it is to sustain success in the NFL and win all the big games when those opportunities are there. Seems like Maholmes' career may wind up mirroring Rodgers with getting a title early on as a starter with the assumption more were sure to follow, but then the team he's on is set to go through inevitable roster churn and salary cap difficulties - basically leading a really good but flawed enough team that isn't an overwhelming title favorite. Tom Brady is the absolute QB unicorn and has to be considered the GOAT at the position with 7 rings - what he lacks in physical talent he has made up for with just finding ways to win games (both on the field and just as importantly with his contracts over the years to limit how big an albatross he is for salary cap purposes to build around him).

Rodgers was not 4 to 1 better than Brady this year. Agreed, but 4X as many writers thought Rodgers had the better season than Brady did - which is absolutely correct. I'm guessing the final voting would've been a bit closer had Brady not had that clunker at home against the Saints on national TV right before Christmas and Hub's stupid reasoning for publicly not planning to vote for Rodgers a few weeks later when most pundits shifted heavily towards Rodgers getting the MVP nod. Any writers on the fence about Rodgers v Brady probably went heavily towards Rodgers because they didn't want to deal with the perception the didn't vote for Rodgers solely due to the COVID drama Hub cited.

Agreed. He's either gonna retire or play for Green Bay. I'm in the same boat, although I think that if the Packers chose to trade him, they'd bring him in on the decision and he'd be part of the process of picking his next destination. But I get the feeling from listening to him last night that in his heart, he wants to be the Packers' QB next year, but his mind is telling him that his age and salary demands means that the magic he has had the last two regular seasons has a limited shelf life. I've long felt that Rodgers wasn't going to stick around beyond the point in his career where he was obviously diminished as a player - even before all the drama starting around this time last year. While the dud Packer loss and overall poor Rodgers performance in that game does indeed sting, looking at the big picture of his career it would be tough to outdo going out after winning back to back league MVPs if Rodgers really did want to retire as close to the top of the mountain as possible.