He was also in a dramatically different system.
I wanted him back and thought it was a mistake to let him go, but if I’m being fair about it the change in scheme needs to be considered. I’m so glad Capers is gone.
Here's another way to look at it:
Let's say the Packers had signed Hyde to the same contract terms as he got from Buffalo. That's $10.8 million in aggregate cap for 2017 and 2018. Subtract about $1 million over two years for a minimum salary rookie he replaces on the roster. That's about $9.8 mil off the current cap.
That would take the Packers to a current cap space number of about $7 mil for the top 51 assuming a $178 million cap number for 2018 which is the high end of the projected range. Once one accounts for 52 and 53, the top 2 draft picks, the practice squad, and cap held in reserve for PUP/IR replacements (PUP/IR guys count against the cap), there's next to nothing left.
If at the time Hyde left one envisioned him as the 2017 nickel corner and the 2018 replacement for Morgan Burnett, the cheaper alternative in 2nd. round pick Jones looks like a prudent decision at the time. At this juncture, we still cannot say whether Jones over Hyde wasn't the best decision. That will depend on what they do with Burnett, whether Jones gets a high snap count, and what he does with those snaps.
When viewed in light of the cap savings with Jones over Hyde, consider Jimmy Garoppolo @ $27.5 million per year with 7 starts under his belt.
Does anybody think having Hyde on the roster last season would have gotten this team to the playoffs or will he be that difference maker in the coming season? I don't.
As for the whole matter of the Packers not even making an offer to Hyde or Peppers or anybody else past or future, one cannot make anything of it without being privy to the conversations that took place. Clearly, if one let a player test the market that's what they are going to do. Lets say Hyde, for example, gets that nice offer from Buffalo. The agent comes back to the Packers with it. The Packers decline to counter because it is meaningfully above the top of their range. Or the agent contacts the Packers first with an offer that is well above what the Packers are willing to pay and decline to respond until the market is tested. The player may have an interest in saying he didn't get an offer from his incumbent team so as not to look like it was just about the money. Anybody think Hyde would have come back if the Packers offered him half what Buffalo did to play nickel corner? And a GM doesn't do that any more than you would walk into a car dealership and offer half the sticker price.
You can argue that the Packers should have matched the offers to Hyde or Peppers or whoever, but claims they did not make an offer is a nothing burger without having been in on the phone calls.
