Remembered I had subscribed to scout.com sometime last year so went and checked it out. They had a really good piece about our Cap. Seems we may not have a whole lot of money to spend on FA's. This is basically what the article says.
The Packers have $116.691 million dedicated to the 60 players they have under contract for 2012. The cap will be about $125 million. This year and next year, teams are allowed to roll over any unspent money from the previous year’s cap. The Packers finished 2011 about $6.627 million under the cap. the Packers’ cap for the upcoming season would increase to $130.627 million. The Packers would have $13.936 million of cap space.
That won’t last long. The Packers have eight unrestricted free agents. If the Packers wind up using the franchise tag on Finley, that will run somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.5 million. Wells counted $3.1 million against the cap this season.Bush, had a cap charge of $1.733 million this season, Grant, who counted $3.797 million under his reworked deal, played well enough down the stretch to merit consideration for a one- or two-year deal, as well.
With 60 players under contract, the Packers need to add 20 players to get to the offseason limit of 80. They will have 12 draft picks and will fill out the roster. Signing a free agent now has ramifications on the roster down the line. The most noteworthy of the Packers’ 2012 free agents is Jennings.Packers will make him their No.1 priority for an in-season contract extension, which means they need to stay far enough below the cap to strike a deal. Lang (unrestricted), Shields (restricted) Masthay (restricted) also need new deals after 2012, and what about A-ROD?
To create cap space, Thompson faces tough decisions on Clifton(cap figure of $5.703 million would be totally eliminated) and Driver (cap figure of $5 million would be totally eliminated). Collins with an uncertain future because of a neck injury, has a cap figure of $5.05 million for 2012 and $5.95 million for 2013, though the team would be on the hook for $2 million of his prorated signing bonus.