Contracts Up In 2020...

[tynimiller]

My mind is always swirling to the future...and numerous threads all tie back towards future discussions anyways....so here we have the contracts that set to expire in 2020 (let's not bring in potential cuttings of 2021 and onward expiring contracts...center discussion a touch).

So what are you doing with these fellas? (My thoughts will follow in comments)

Player, last contract length, amount, guaranteed...
Bryan Bulaga 5 yr $33,750,000 $6,750,000 $8,000,000
Mason Crosby 4 yr$16,100,000 $4,025,000 $5,000,000
Tramon Williams 2 yr$10,000,000 $5,000,000 $4,750,000
Jason Spriggs 4 yr $5,004,293 $1,251,073 $2,516,954
Jared Veldheer 1 yr $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $1,250,000
Kyler Fackrell 4 yr $3,134,328 $783,582 $694,048
B.J. Goodson 4 yr $2,922,207 $730,552 $582,207
Geronimo Allison 1 yr $2,800,000 $2,800,000 $750,000
Blake Martinez 4 yr $2,723,393 $680,848 $383,393
Marcedes Lewis 1 yr $2,100,000 $2,100,000 $500,000
Dan Vitale 2 yr $1,200,000 $600,000
Will Redmond 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Tony Brown 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Allen Lazard 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Tyler Lancaster 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Ryan Grant 1 yr $805,000 $805,000
Ibraheim Campbell 1 yr $720,000 $720,000
Tyler Ervin 1 yr $720,000 $720,000
Malcolm Johnson 1 yr $645,000 $645,000
Lucas Patrick 1 yr $645,000 / $645,000
Jake Kumerow 1 yr $570,000 / $570,000
Robert Tonyan Jr. 1 yr $570,000 / $570,000
Chandon Sullivan 1 yr $570,000 / $570,000

 

[tynimiller]

Bryan Bulaga - Re-sign to 2 or 3 year deal.
Mason Crosby - Thank him, honor him, let him walk.
Tramon Williams - Wouldn't be against another 2 year deal...gonna be slightly cheaper now than last for sure, still playing good.
Jason Spriggs - Love my local Spriggs, but unless its a one year DEAL to prove he has a future let walk.
Jared Veldheer - If we don't re-sign Bulaga...Veldheer could be a stop gap candidate.
Kyler Fackrell - Sense he is gonna get more than we should spend elsewhere, well deserved Kyler best of luck.
B.J. Goodson - I sense he'll be back, 2 or 3 year deal I suspect...personally not set either way.
Geronimo Allison - Let walk. Cool story, but I 100% believe EQ and company can and do his role.
Blake Martinez - Thank and let walk...fiscally would not be good to resign at what it will take.
Marcedes Lewis - Sign to 1 year deal again if Big Dog will have us. Love his leadership and blocking skills...his hands are still soft, just attached to an old slow TE
Dan Vitale - Sign him, dude is athletic, blocks well and has shown receiving chops even some.
Will Redmond 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Tony Brown 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Allen Lazard - Give the young man a mid-road 2 year, or if we sense he will grow into a #3 worst case give the man some money and a 4 year.
Tyler Lancaster - Depending on fiscal situations and how organization feels on Adams...we can do worst for depth than Tyler.
Ryan Grant - Liked his signing...but clearly isn't clicking, let walk.
Ibraheim Campbell - I'm a Ibraheim fan, see if we can make it work to stay.
Tyler Ervin - Re-sign for return skills alone, his bonus of offensive role makes it make even more sense. Doubt he will be expensive.
Malcolm Johnson - walk
Lucas Patrick - I still see more a future in him than Spriggs and would love having him on depth as I sense he'll be cheap.
Jake Kumerow - I'm comfortable giving Kume a 2 year deal, in line with a #4 level type wideout.
Robert Tonyan Jr. - Re-sign...length unsure...
Chandon Sullivan Walk

 

[Poppa San]

Some are easy. ERFA's get the league minimum offer. A bit more and longer for Lazard, Tonyan, Lancaster, and Sullivan.
RFAs throw an original round tender (3rd) at Redmond and a matching tender on Patrick. Better be sure you want Redmond back at this price.
Resign later in the process for a year or two at 2-3X minimum with low guarantees after testing the waters: Crosby, Vitale, Ervin, Lewis, Goodson.
Fackrell and Campbell 3-4 years at closer to league average at their position
Bulaga and Tramon 2-3 years for $5-6m per heavy on the playing time bonuses. Spriggs was cut once already and is only on this list due to being on IR. He won't be back.
Grant is an insurance policy at this point and hasn't done enough to be active and would be an expensive league minimum at his age.
Blake will be priced away higher than he is worth.

 

[tynimiller]

Some are easy. ERFA's get the league minimum offer. A bit more and longer for Lazard, Tonyan, Lancaster, and Sullivan.
RFAs throw an original round tender (3rd) at Redmond and a matching tender on Patrick. Better be sure you want Redmond back at this price.
Resign later in the process for a year or two at 2-3X minimum with low guarantees after testing the waters: Crosby, Vitale, Ervin, Lewis, Goodson.
Fackrell and Campbell 3-4 years at closer to league average at their position
Bulaga and Tramon 2-3 years for $5-6m per heavy on the playing time bonuses. Spriggs was cut once already and is only on this list due to being on IR. He won't be back.
Grant is an insurance policy at this point and hasn't done enough to be active and would be an expensive league minimum at his age.
Blake will be priced away higher than he is worth.

I just see Fackrell given his production last year and production in limited time here pricing himself out of where we will want to be...I think he gets a shade better than average from someone hoping that glimpse is showing future production as well.

 

[Poppa San]

Chandon Sullivan Walk

He's played almost 1/3 the snaps and is an exclusive rights FA. The cheap backfill on the roster that you'd pay the same amount to for a draftee.

 

[tynimiller]

He's played almost 1/3 the snaps and is an exclusive rights FA. The cheap backfill on the roster that you'd pay the same amount to for a draftee.

Fair point is fair...I'd concur and change my mind.

 

[isocleas2]

Nothing against Fackrell but between the Smith's + Gary I cant see the team investing big money on a #4 OLB.

 

[Dantés]

The actual unrestricted free agents are Bulaga, Williams, Martinez, Crosby, Veldheer, Allison, Lewis, Spriggs, Grant, Fackrell, Goodson, Campbell, and Ervin.

I would resign Bulaga for sure.

I would explore modest deals to keep Campbell, Ervin, and Goodson.

I would make an offer to Fackrell, hoping to get lucky by prepared to get outbid.

 

[milani]

My mind is always swirling to the future...and numerous threads all tie back towards future discussions anyways....so here we have the contracts that set to expire in 2020 (let's not bring in potential cuttings of 2021 and onward expiring contracts...center discussion a touch).

So what are you doing with these fellas? (My thoughts will follow in comments)

Player, last contract length, amount, guaranteed...
Bryan Bulaga 5 yr $33,750,000 $6,750,000 $8,000,000
Mason Crosby 4 yr$16,100,000 $4,025,000 $5,000,000
Tramon Williams 2 yr$10,000,000 $5,000,000 $4,750,000
Jason Spriggs 4 yr $5,004,293 $1,251,073 $2,516,954
Jared Veldheer 1 yr $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $1,250,000
Kyler Fackrell 4 yr $3,134,328 $783,582 $694,048
B.J. Goodson 4 yr $2,922,207 $730,552 $582,207
Geronimo Allison 1 yr $2,800,000 $2,800,000 $750,000
Blake Martinez 4 yr $2,723,393 $680,848 $383,393
Marcedes Lewis 1 yr $2,100,000 $2,100,000 $500,000
Dan Vitale 2 yr $1,200,000 $600,000
Will Redmond 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Tony Brown 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Allen Lazard 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Tyler Lancaster 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Ryan Grant 1 yr $805,000 $805,000
Ibraheim Campbell 1 yr $720,000 $720,000
Tyler Ervin 1 yr $720,000 $720,000
Malcolm Johnson 1 yr $645,000 $645,000
Lucas Patrick 1 yr $645,000 / $645,000
Jake Kumerow 1 yr $570,000 / $570,000
Robert Tonyan Jr. 1 yr $570,000 / $570,000
Chandon Sullivan 1 yr $570,000 / $570,000

That is what Guts gets paid to do.

 

[PackAttack12]

Lucas Patrick signed to 2 year $3.6 million extension with 350k signing bonus.

 

[Poppa San]

Lucas Patrick signed to 2 year $3.6 million extension with 350k signing bonus.

About 50% higher than what I expect Vitale, Ervin, Lewis, Goodson to all resign for.

 

[HardRightEdge]

You have to be practical. Where is the particular impact? Relative to a theoretical league average, it's pretty light. The 2021 free agent group is a lot more problematic, and more typical of what teams face every year. Many, if not all, of this season's playoff teams would be envious of the Packers 2020 free agent situation. It boils down to Bulaga and Martinez, regardless of what you think of the latter.

I think Martinez's play of late puts him back in the conversation, though you have to wonder if a light has gone on in year 2 of this defense or he saw the money slipping away. Whether you roll the dice with those two players, injury history and contract year risk, respectively, or go outside in free agency or in the draft for replacements, the key needs for 2020 boil down to RT, ILB, and a receiving weapon. Gutekunst bought a chuck of cap with Rodgers' renegotiation; Graham's release would add to the kitty. Lane Taylor's release would add another $4.6 mil to the equation.

A though crosses my mind. Jenkins' progress as a run blocker from preseason to today has been pretty remarkable. His pass blocking has not been in question since day one. He's very athletic. I see a possibility of moving him to RT, an ascending talent at the more critical position, with Taylor back at LG. Jenkins is 6'4", 310 lbs. at the Combine, 34" arms, 10 1/4" hands. Not quite the protype OT in terms of height and weight, but those dimensions are equal to or greater than Bakhtiari's by way of comparison. Add 10 lbs, which he may have already done, and he looks a lot like an RT. That's a reconfiguration of the starting line with savings over the 2019 cap cost. Think about that for a bit.

One report had Bulaga unhappy that he was not extended going into the season. Don't be surprised if both he and Martinez end up testing the market.

Secondarily, I'd like to see Tramon Williams back for another year covering the slot. He's playing well and doesn't seem to be losing anything. He won't be expensive year-to-year going forward given his age. Crosby should be back unless somebody throws some money at him which I doubt.

Lazard is now effectively a starter but he's an exclusive rights free agent and that makes him inexpensive. In a perfect world he'd be a #3 wideout. If you like Kumerow, Lancaster or Tonyan, they're ERFAs as well. Expect them all to be back on those cheap one year ERFA deals. None of these four players will have a significant impact on the cap outlook.

The rest of the guys in question are role and rotational players. Unless you can point to some specific upside qualification, which I cannot, they fall into a category that every team must contend with every season with rotation/depth/special teams guys who may or may not have more value in somebody else's eyes. Pick a couple of favorites out the rest; they won't be expensive. I wouldn't go quite so far to say they are all JAGs, but they pretty much are who they are. Fackrell is a possible exception to the JAG characterization, one of those guys you'd like for rotation/depth/special teams. Somebody among the the other 31 teams will likely see more value than the Packers. He looks like a good fit for a hybrid role with some off-the-ball snaps in a predominantly zone D where he wouldn't have to chase down the field.

If the draft can yield first year contributions on par with Jenkins and Savage, that compensates for substantive losses with cheap rookie deals. Stacking drafts is always essential. Gary and Sternberger will be adds to the equation in year 2. While I was never very high an St. Brown, he's another potential add to the equation.

You should like how things are shaping up for 2020.

 

[Pugger]

The Packers have converted $14.26 million of Rodgers' $19.5 million roster bonus into a signing bonus. That allows them to put a portion of the cap hit on this year’s cap and spread out the rest of the hit out over the remainder of the contract.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

In my opinion the unrestricted free agents the Packers should re-sign are Lewis, Campbell, Ervin and Vitale.

With Bulaga, Williams, Crosby and Martinez it depends on how mich money they ask for.

The rest should be allowed to walk away in free agency.

Of course the RFAs and ERFAs should be brought back for the offseason.

A though crosses my mind. Jenkins' progress as a run blocker from preseason to today has been pretty remarkable. His pass blocking has not been in question since day one. He's very athletic. I see a possibility of moving him to RT, an ascending talent at the more critical position, with Taylor back at LG. Jenkins is 6'4", 310 lbs. at the Combine, 34" arms, 10 1/4" hands. Not quite the protype OT in terms of height and weight, but those dimensions are equal to or greater than Bakhtiari's by way of comparison. Add 10 lbs, which he may have already done, and he looks a lot like an RT. That's a reconfiguration of the starting line with savings over the 2019 cap cost. Think about that for a bit.

I wouldn't like the Packers entering next season relying on Jenkins to start at right tackle, a position he hasn't played since his freshman season in college.

 

[longtimefan]

In my opinion the unrestricted free agents the Packers should re-sign are Lewis, Campbell, Ervin and Vitale.

With Bulaga, Williams, Crosby and Martinez it depends on how mich money they ask for.

The rest should be allowed to walk away in free agency.

Of course the RFAs and ERFAs should be brought back for the offseason.



I wouldn't like the Packers entering next season relying on Jenkins to start at right tackle, a position he hasn't played since his freshman season in college.

He didn't play a lot of guard either...2 games? Yet has done excellent..

 

[Deleted member 6794]

He didn't play a lot of guard either...2 games? Yet has done excellent..

True, it's easier to move from center to guard than on the edge though.

 

[Poppa San]

various posts edited or deleted

Let's leave the politics for the Asylum and off the main floor.

 

[melvin dangerr]

Bryan Bulaga - Re-sign to 2 or 3 year deal.
Mason Crosby - Thank him, honor him, let him walk.
Tramon Williams - Wouldn't be against another 2 year deal...gonna be slightly cheaper now than last for sure, still playing good.
Jason Spriggs - Love my local Spriggs, but unless its a one year DEAL to prove he has a future let walk.
Jared Veldheer - If we don't re-sign Bulaga...Veldheer could be a stop gap candidate.
Kyler Fackrell - Sense he is gonna get more than we should spend elsewhere, well deserved Kyler best of luck.
B.J. Goodson - I sense he'll be back, 2 or 3 year deal I suspect...personally not set either way.
Geronimo Allison - Let walk. Cool story, but I 100% believe EQ and company can and do his role.
Blake Martinez - Thank and let walk...fiscally would not be good to resign at what it will take.
Marcedes Lewis - Sign to 1 year deal again if Big Dog will have us. Love his leadership and blocking skills...his hands are still soft, just attached to an old slow TE
Dan Vitale - Sign him, dude is athletic, blocks well and has shown receiving chops even some.
Will Redmond 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Tony Brown 2 yr $1,050,000 $525,000
Allen Lazard - Give the young man a mid-road 2 year, or if we sense he will grow into a #3 worst case give the man some money and a 4 year.
Tyler Lancaster - Depending on fiscal situations and how organization feels on Adams...we can do worst for depth than Tyler.
Ryan Grant - Liked his signing...but clearly isn't clicking, let walk.
Ibraheim Campbell - I'm a Ibraheim fan, see if we can make it work to stay.
Tyler Ervin - Re-sign for return skills alone, his bonus of offensive role makes it make even more sense. Doubt he will be expensive.
Malcolm Johnson - walk
Lucas Patrick - I still see more a future in him than Spriggs and would love having him on depth as I sense he'll be cheap.
Jake Kumerow - I'm comfortable giving Kume a 2 year deal, in line with a #4 level type wideout.
Robert Tonyan Jr. - Re-sign...length unsure...
Chandon Sullivan Walk

I like your chart,Tramon will be 38, time to go,Martinez could be good in 3rd down roles,Spriggs is iffy I agree unless its 1yr maybe some incentives if not bye...

 

[HardRightEdge]

Let's leave the politics for the Asylum and off the main floor.

Well, buddy, If you're going to delete stuff from my posts because you don't like the political content I suggest you take a closer look at the posts of the guy who started it. Or is it you just like one side of the politics better than the other? Try post #15.

I've done you one better and deleted my offending posts altogether. They looked sullied after you messed with them.

 

[hasamikun]

Packers sit at about 44 Mio cap space(just estimated by me). With possible cuts from Graham and Taylor, they can get way over 50 M. That is a good sign. I am not a numbers guy regarding NFL contracts and the cap so I dont do any detailed calculations, just my feeling with what should be possible with this estimated cap space.
As I see it, there are 5 must signs in this FA class:

-Bulaga played on a high level this season and was healthy for 90% of it. The load management on practice seems to work good so I would give BB another 3 year contract with some easy outs for the Packers in case of injuries etc. He is 31 after all and health was always an issue. But having good OL depth is difficult in this league and the Packers have a good OL and good Back-Ups. So it should be a goal to maintain the OL as much as possible.

-Crosby has one really good season. I dont think Packers should take a risk and let him go. Kicking is a big problem in the league and Packers werent effected by it for and that should stay as it is. Mason is 35 and I expect his contract to be 2,3 and much cheaper than the previous one. Maybe a 3 year, 6M contract is realistic ?

- Ervin made the whole STs unit so much better so he is a no-brainer imo. I dont know how contracts look like for STs-only players but he gets some snaps on the offense too and is in his prime. I dont expect him to cost much money but it will be well spent.

-Martinez is heavily criticized in the community but he is an essential part of the defense and therefore not that easy to replace. Although I dont think that they should resign him no matter how much he wants. He deserves good money but not Top money and I can see him demanding top money.

-Lazard made a big impact on offense. Dude always delivered when needed and looking at the WR corps, the Packers dont have a choice to extent him. He will be cheap so it will be all worth it.

These signings would be really good for quality depth:

-Sullivan and Lancaster are good players and much needed for the defensive rotation. Sullivan is obviously a big suprise this season but he showed some big flashes and fits perfectly in the scheme. Lancaster wasnt really flashy but he showed presence when he was on the field. He obviously isnt Kenny Clark but his quality is needed on the Dl, where quality depth is not that common.

-Fackrell really improved under Pettine and although he didnt show many flashy plays, he is a reliable back-up, kinda like Lowry. He gonna be cheaper than Lowry so I dont see why Packers shoudlnt do it.

-Lewis depends on what the Packers do at TE. I expect a Graham cut and I dont see Tonyan getting an extention so maybe they draft another TE and keep Lewis around. He is an important player because he is a leader and played a bigger role under LaFleur with his catching and blocking abilities. But if they should stay with Graham, Lewis will be ouz. But I hope that this wont happen.

The rest of the FAs are not important and I dont see much need to sign them. Allison drops way too many passes, Grant played no role, Tonyan never got much playtime and now that Sternberger is back, he wont be a Packer next year, Campbell/Kumerow,Goodson/Redmond are all solid depth players but all of them didnt have a big impact on the team so I dont expect them back. Greene will take over Campbells role, EQ will come back and take Kumerows snaps and Packers hopefully draft ILB high next draft so Goodson wont be needed.

Seeing how flawlessly Veldheer played yesterday after Bulaga was out, I see him getting resigned too. I wrote before that Packers should try to maintain the Ol as much as possible and having a RT that can take over without much quality loss is luxury.

So in a perfect world Packers would sign at least 6 out of the 9 players I listed . Good thing is that most players on the list will be cheap, martinez is the exception, so it is doable. But Kenny Clark will get his extention this offseason so I guess some players will need to let go in order to finance the big contract. But with around 50M in free cap, it will be possible to do all this and maybe get one big free agent for the offense.

Also this FA class is kind of a luxury because not many big contracts are up. Teams will envy the Packers for this in the offseason. 2021 is the complete opposite with Clark, Bakh, Jones, Linsley, King and Jamaal all expiring. This will be a tough one

 

[Mondio]

If Martinez keeps playing like he has been for the past month now, he's someone to look at bringing back. I still don't think he's a 7+ million a year guy, but 6 weeks ago I was leaning towards not back at all. he's been playing noticeably better and maintaining it from week to week. That is good to see.

 

[tynimiller]

If Martinez keeps playing like he has been for the past month now, he's someone to look at bringing back. I still don't think he's a 7+ million a year guy, but 6 weeks ago I was leaning towards not back at all. he's been playing noticeably better and maintaining it from week to week. That is good to see.

The issue with Martinez isn't whether he has solid value in our system...the issue is he is gonna garner more money then fiscally we should or will do I suspect. Kudos to him, whether you believe he is a solid starting ILB in the league or not, the dude puts up figures and we've seen time and time again those folks do get the money to see if he can produce it somewhere else. IF I'm Martinez, I'm taking less to stay with a team that has a defense surrounding me that makes my job easier....than if he goes somewhere with expectations of HIM being the main cog or one of.

 

[tynimiller]

Seeing how flawlessly Veldheer played yesterday after Bulaga was out, I see him getting resigned too. I wrote before that Packers should try to maintain the Ol as much as possible and having a RT that can take over without much quality loss is luxury.

Also this FA class is kind of a luxury because not many big contracts are up. Teams will envy the Packers for this in the offseason. 2021 is the complete opposite with Clark, Bakh, Jones, Linsley, King and Jamaal all expiring. This will be a tough one

Linsley is the easy no re-sign, fiscally makes sense to give Patrick the starting job in 2020 and cut/trade Linsley (saving roughly $8Million...his dead PLUMMETS down to just 2mill). IF we do that it is even easier to justify re-signing Bulaga and also I'd go after convincing Veldheer to stay on a modest 1 or 2 year deal as well. Draft another 2 lineman in the 2nd-6th rounds...and our OL is solid for years yet.

 

[Poppa San]

Well, buddy, If you're going to delete stuff from my posts because you don't like the political content I suggest you take a closer look at the posts of the guy who started it. Or is it you just like one side of the politics better than the other? Try post #15.

I've done you one better and deleted my offending posts altogether. They looked sullied after you messed with them.

#1: I didn't mess with your posts. I usually try to get posters to clean up their own messes unless it is detrimental to the board and needs an immediate response.
#2: Squeaky wheel syndrome. I didn't even register your posts as a big issue -skirting the edge yes, a problem - flip a coin, until they were reported. Then others chimed in and then something was done.

 

[Pugger]

Linsley is the easy no re-sign, fiscally makes sense to give Patrick the starting job in 2020 and cut/trade Linsley (saving roughly $8Million...his dead PLUMMETS down to just 2mill). IF we do that it is even easier to justify re-signing Bulaga and also I'd go after convincing Veldheer to stay on a modest 1 or 2 year deal as well. Draft another 2 lineman in the 2nd-6th rounds...and our OL is solid for years yet.

What are we paying Linsley? Patrick can play multiple positions on the line so he is the perfect backup.