CheezWizHed

My thought in extending Jones would be rather than ask him to reduce his salary (which is an option), you give him another year or two in the $5-6M range. I think Jones wants to stay with the team, so a win-win, IMO. Sure it is a bit risky with a 30+ yo RB, but Jones (when healthy) is highly productive and unique among RBs. I only focused on "simple" contract changes with the point of showing that we can get a pretty good chunk of cap savings with simple moves. More complicated means are of course still there if we need more. Cutting or trading Jaire would be silly. He is still a great CB. I'm more concerned about the health of his back than his attitude. He responded well to the suspension. Said the right things, did the right things, fought hard for the team in the last games. I think a few issues we were seeing on D (more than just Jaire) was the lack of leadership from JB. A new DC - especially one like JL that would be more aggressive would handle Jaire better and get him excited to play D again. Cutting or trading him adds over $3M to our salary cap. That is why I didn't bother looking into that for the cuts.

Dak might've come in more NFL ready than typical 4th round picks, but he clearly had a learning curve. He splashed on the scene as a rookie, but stepped backwards for a couple years. Mahomes sat for a development year. Would he have done as well as a rookie? No idea. But he had a year to develop, read D, see how a good QB ran the offense and did game planning.... You can't use him as "he didn't need development" when he got a whole year of it before busting on the scene. Conversely, we really don't know what Rodgers or Love would've done as rookies. I'm guessing it would've been a rocky road based on what we say in pre-season with them, but frankly it is only a guess.

Not much there... The only things listed under what I could snapshot was his time with the Brewers and U-Texas. Wait... "Raptor Construction"... is he in business with Suter???

Rivera is on his second HC gig and really didn't show anything impressive. I honestly can't see him get a third shot.

What rookie QB doesn't take development? Peyton Manning took time (even if he started right away). Stroud looks good (I've not watched him), but I'll wager he made a lot of rookie mistakes. I do think that SO many QBs would benefit of sitting the first year or two. I've shown it several times before that few QBs on their rookie contracts won the SB, but generally, the reason is... it takes time for them to get good enough to lead a team there. Watch the teams that get reactive and impatient with coaches and QBs... you'll see that they have histories of bad teams and bad QBs. Now clearly... there is skill needed on the QB's behalf - physical, mental, and emotional. But at the highest level, the difference berween these guys can be small. So letting these guys learn and grow before the bullets fly (and before the fans or reporters can tear into them) is critical to give them the best case for success. Also,

Favre (not drafted, but Wolf tried), Brunell, Brooks, Rodgers, Flynn, Hasselbeck, Love... The Packers seem to do a pretty decent job.

You obviously don't know many Bears fans. I worked in Illinois long enough to know. Granted, I worked with a lot of people in Detroit... but most of them (as Lions fans) were pretty apathetic. Kind of pitiful actually. No bite whatsoever.

He looked very explosive in pre-season, but much "slower" in the regular season. Not physically slower, but reading holes and blocking... He looked better as the season went on, so I'm hoping he is thinking less and reacting more. He is making a big jump in levels and hopefully makes a big hop in his second year. The Packers still needs another RB. I think JL would be the perfect DC for the Pack. He is younger, very creative in his blitzes and coverages, and aggressive. HIs OLBs continually improve and he seems to get the most out of his talent. Kind of the anti-Barry. I'd think that players like Jaire, Clark, and Gary would really blossom under him.

Those 90s playoff losses were rough. Especially since we could never get them up to Green Bay (until 1998 when their "era" was on the way out). But it is funny how that has turned around in recent years... us beating them in Dallas so consistently. I was at the Kaepernick game in Jan 2014. That should've been a win for us. We were much better than them... except we had zero healthy LBs. Watching Mulumba limping along while chasing Kaepernick is a lasting memory I can't forget. Sadly, he was the healthiest LB we had at the time... Favorite Team: Packers Second Favorite: Whomever is playing the Vikings Third Favorite: Whomever is playing the Bears. I'm more neutral on the Lions. I tend to hate the Cowboys and probably 49ers more than Detroit. I've always kind of like KC though...granted I'm not a Swift fan so getting an episode of Entertainment Tonight with every football game isn't interesting to me... I don't want the SuperBowl to turn into that now.

Maybe of interest would be Josh Allen's 2021 extension - 6 years, $258M total, $43M average (similar to what is being proposed for Love). His 1st year cap hit (his 5th year on rookie deal) was $10M. That at least makes me think we can stay within Love's current cap hit of $13M for next year.

To keep this from being redundant with the Offseason thread, I'm trying to focus solely on what we do to improve our cap situation After a couple years of salary cap hell, I think the Packers might be able to pursue some players in FA as well as take care of a few of their own. Gute did well in his last major FA spending spree (Amos, Z Smith, P Smith, and Turner) so I'm interested what he can do this year. But in order to get there, there is some cap management that needs to be handled. Current Cap situation: With an estimated CAP of $251M, we have a total of $8M free for 2024. Our highest CAP hits are as follows: Last column is % of cap. Second to last is the 2024 cap hit. The Release Options: Bakhtiari: Probably the most unsurprising action the Packers can take is to release Bakh for a cap savings of nearly $21M Campbell: De'Vondre is a player that really hasn't been living up to his contract. He is still helpful on the team, but I'd say there are 75% odds he is cut for the $2.6M cap savings. Newman: Cutting Seinfeld's mortal enemy doesn't save much on the cap ($124k), but just needs to be done. 100%. Jones: Aaron showed his team worth this last year so this would be a very hard cut to swallow. But he will be 30 next year and that age doesn't agree with RBs typically. Cap savings of over $5M if cut. He is in the last year of his contract. Chances of being cut: 10% Clark: Kenny is another player that might not be holding up his contract. Slated to be paid $22M this year on the last year of his contract (note payment, not cap hit), it is hard to say he is providing that level of value. He played very well down the stretch, but that is a hefty price. However... we only save just over $3M by cutting him (thanks to previous void year adds). Chances of being cut: 5% Extensions: Jordan Love: The clear option for an extension. The real question here is if his extension will save money on the cap or not? His current cap hit is $13M, but I'm seeing average contract value of $44M. So it is hard to guess the cap impact there. I'll assume $0 cap savings for the purposes of my thoughts here. Clark: Kenny doesn't make a compelling cut option and is still playing at a high level. He is 28 now, so a good possibility to reduce his cap with an extension. The next three years of the cap are already filled with about $22M via void years on Clark's deal. I believe an extension might be able to clean that up (some). Or at least reduce next years $14M cap hit. I'm going to guess we can save $10M on this year's cap with an extension. Jones: Aaron is in his last year of the contract, but is about to turn 30. He is playing at a high level, but injuries are popping up more often. I'd still entertain an extension of 1 or 2 years. Jones is another that has around $12.5M in void year cap hits over the next 3 years. If we extend Jones, I'd guess a savings of around $5M for 2024. Contract adjustments: - Gute used void years and converting salary to bonuses many times in years past. I hope he doesn't use that trick much in the future as we have numerous people hitting our next three years of caps due to that trick. Alexander: Jaire's extension is pretty new, so I wouldn't touch that... but perhaps converting his salary to a bonus would reduce this year's hit (pushing more to the future two years - no void years). I'm not crazy about these moves, but just to see the "edges" of our options. This would save nearly $4M. Similar could be done with Jenkins for similar savings. So, if you cut Bakh, Campbell, and Newman, we get to a cap space of $32.5M. If you extend Clark and Jones, you gain another $15M (my guess), so that puts us at $47.5M in cap space with a 43 man roster. And that is without the void year gymnastics we've done in year's past or other minor things that could be done (i.e. Jaire/Jenkins conversion of salary to bonus) to gain a few more millions here or there. That should give us ample room to extend Love, sign our draft picks, rebuild our safety room, and prop up other areas of weakness. Note: all cap savings comments are based on a pre-June 1st cut. I'm not advocating pushing our "issues" to next year and the cap space doesn't help us that much after June 1st anyway. Note 2: Data coming from spotrac.com. They have a nice feature to "manage" the team and make your own cuts or simple restructures.

I'm not sure we disagree on safety, but I gave too much ink to the current starters and gave the wrong impression. I advocated looking at what we could get in FA and drafting a safety pretty high. The ideal would be to get someone like Winfield and a high draft pick, that would probably help greatly. At worst, having Savage starting, then let Owens, Johnson, and a draft pick go after the other starting spot. That would also be an upgrade, though a smaller one. Savage has been decent this year. Johnson has some upside and starter potential. Obviously, a first or second round pick should have upside. And as a safety valve, Owens establishes the "floor". I'd be surprised if they went after a 1st round RB, but a 2nd or 3rd... yeah, it is going to be needed.

QB: Extend Love, but no other capitol needs to be spent (save for an UDFA if you like someone for the PS). RB: Keep Jones and Wilson. Need to consider a mid-round draft pick. WR: Not much of a need, but one of those spots where you can't pass up someone special either. TE: Like WR, not much of a need. Could add a late round pick for depth. OL: Walker and Tom are solid. Nijman is gone. Need some depth. Ideally drafting an LT. Certainly need one or two at G and C. Myers has stepped up a bit, but needs a push. Rhyan likewise. Runyan should be let go. DL: Really not much of a need. Not much of any opportunities for roster spots either with our youth. OLB: Probably will keep Smith after his season. Gary and VanNess. Maybe Cox. A mid round draft wouldn't be crazy. MLB: Campbell - not sure what to do with him. Ok, but making more than OK money. Smaller cap savings to cut him, unless after 6/1. I'd probably go another season with what we have. SS: Savage looked decent out there frankly. Owens was a bit of up and down, but decent for the $$. I'd see what we can get in FA, but it wouldn't be the end of the world to run back those two, Johnson, and a high draft pick. CB: Jaire, Stokes?? Valentine, Ballentine - a good group, but you grab another high CB if one is available. ST: Ok, hate me, but I'd guess Carlson is back. His brother (and may other kickers) took a couple years to perfect the craft. A long snapper is probably due though. I don't think Orzech was very consistent. I'd bring in a legit K to compete with Carlson, but I'm thinking he returns.

Was the loss on the kicker? One Love? On the defense? In reality... yes. Carlson - Yes, he has missed many kicks this year. But how much of it was on the long snapper? Whelan saved an XP one a bad snap. The missed FG wasn't as bad... but it wasn't good either. I know that there were several other snaps through the year that were at least contributors to misses. Offense - Yeah, not Love's best game. Not MLF's either. Love did well moving the team down the field for the first half, but no TDs. There were some questionable play calls along the path... too many play calls behind the LOS with the 49ers team speed. Then of course, the 4th quarter had a lot of offensive struggles. Seemed like the last INT was scripted the way the reporters talked about Love feeling like he could make throws they teach QBs not to make... and then boom. Defense - Played strong initially (especially the end of the half and beginning of the second), but slowly lost momentum as the game went on . But all that faded as the 49ers came back in the 4th Quarter. Basically the same thing against the Cowboys, but we didn't have the lead to sustain the W. All we had to do was prevent a TD at the end of the game and we didn't even make it hard. Can't really pin that loss on only one person.

Ty Sommers should've never seen the defensive side of the football field, so your take a is a bit laughable there. Martinez comp isn't horrible, but Walker is faster and can cover sideline-to sideline better. Both do better with the play in front of them. Neither covered the pass well. McDuffie and Martinez are probably even a better comp, but that isn't what we are talking about. I think the Chicago game showed Walker's best side. He needs to attack the LOS... either going after the run, spying the QB, or blitzing. Moving backwards is just not his forte. So I do agree with the first part about him playing deeper and using his speed to move forward instead of moving backwards.

Any thoughts on why Harold Ramirez's trade value is so low in that trade? Obviously the web site isn't perfect but that seems like a big disparity in the numbers.

No worries. It is like watching a reality game show. The people that get the most air time are the people eliminated that round. 😂

Runyan is a FA this year and has been rated as below average for a couple years. A nice pickup as a 6th rounder, but time to move on. Hopefully Rhyan will take his "second year jump" in his third year, but he is certainly improving as we go. C and G depth is another need, but probably our normal 4th round target. OLB: It depends on what they do with Smith. Given his play recently, I suspect they keep him. Having Gary, Smith, and Ness is a pretty good rotation. Cox probably steps easily into the 4th OLB, so I don't think the need is very high. But if someone really good falls to you at the OLB, CB, or WR position, I think you grab them despite the need.

I was just thinking about the improvement and the solid job that Rasheed Walker did at LT this year. Much (appropriately) has been said about Tom at RT (who has a huge challenge with Bosa this week). But Walker has shown strong and steady improvement as the year went on. Seems like the rotation with Nijman was a kick-in-the-pants he needed as he took off after that. I would still count LT and S as our two biggest targets for draft day, but I'd think that Walker's improvement prevents us from needing to go after an LT if there isn't a good one within reach.

This is the part that gives me hope that he will part with Barry in the offseason regardless of the playoff outcome. I often have to give people I manage "special attention"... and it means they aren't doing their job. Sometimes they "get it" and improve. Most the time, it just means they aren't capable. Unfortunately, we don't have contracts that expire and firing someone takes a mountain of work to prove. Only the internal GM leadership team know how much Barry has contributed to our defensive improvement and how much is being propped up by MLF and others.

But, but, but... Griffin is a defensive coach! It is still a stinker of a game, but I feel slightly better knowing the Antetokounmpo brothers played a total of 6 minutes. And Giannis had none of them.

It is lopsided on paper, but you play the game for a reason. Any given Sunday. The Packers are hot; they are underdogs and have nothing to lose. Like the Cowboys, all the pressure is on the 49ers. We shouldn't be here. The bye week gave the 49ers a chance to heal. And Purdy is the type of QB we typically struggle against. They have a good running game and McCaff is healthy now. But Purdy doesn't have much experience in the playoffs.. if he throws picks, we have a good chance (vs Bengals 2 INTs, Ravens 4INTs, Vikings 2INT, Browns 1 INT) The bye week hasn't always been the Packer's friend though in the past. And some 49ers haven't played for 2 weeks. Maybe the 49ers come out a little cold and sluggish? Though Shanahanahan seems to always have his team ready for us. But time for MLF to break that hold on us.

It is a bit of a conundrum for MM. He is one of the better coaches in the NFL (I think top 10 is about right). But he has a history of playoff chokes (not just losses, but really embarrassing ones). So Jones either has to roll the dice on someone new and upcoming or convince a Belichek or similar coach that comes available to run the show. He has a strong roster (granted, I'm not a Dak believer) and he isn't getting any younger. Sticking with MM is probably one of his better of few decent options.

If we play lock down defense (i.e. less than 20 pts) for the next three games and MLF chooses to bring Barry back with a Super Bowl victory, I think people will be OK, but leery about that. But more likely if we win the SB, it is an offensive led team and an "ok" defense that gets us there. And I'm with @BrewerFan... something stinks in the state of Denmark... I don't think this is just Joe Barry "figuring it out". Seems like he is getting more direction and "help". Perhaps behind the scenes another position coach is getting more responsibilities in the game plans? Or just MLF himself...

I live in the country so there are fewer driveways per mile/block/cm/(insert your favorite measure of distance). So out here, I have seen them angle the plow to dump less snow (sometimes). But I can't imagine that would work in a city block area with a driveway every 50 feet. But yes, the "clean the snow to the left of your driveway" will always work no matter what the snowplow will do: There is less snow to be dumped into your driveway. The plow isn't adding snow just before it gets to you. A sudden vacancy of snow will allow the plow to dump more snow there before it gets to your driveway. Thus the plow will have less snow for both reasons. I think once the driver sees that (at least in the country), s/he is more apt to angle the plow straight simply because they don't have a full load of snow. That allows them to straighten the plow without dumping snow to the left. Otherwise, I suppose you could donate all those little arms on the side of the plows. The only other way... pay someone to come clean you out or live where there isn't snow. 😅