Middle of the D

[Deleted member 6794]

First of all, with the re-signings the cap space is down to about $12 mil.

As of right now the Packers have $17 million in cap space. They will need $3.4 million of it to sign their draft picks, for contracts #52 and #53 and signing practice squad players.

 

[HardRightEdge]

As of right now the Packers have $17 million in cap space. They will need $3.4 million of it to sign their draft picks, for contracts #52 and #53 and signing practice squad players.

I stand corrected.

The number I posted was for the full roster...63 guys currently under contract.

Your number is for the "top 51" plus the $3.2 mil in dead cap.

In addition to your subtractions for the draft picks/52 and 53/PS, which looks about right, some money must be held in reserve for replacements for guys going to IR....a minimum of $435,000 per head for minimum salary rookie replacements.

From a practical standpoint, keeping a few $ mil in reserve for IR replacements, actually brings the remaining available cap somewhere south of $12 mil.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I stand corrected.

The number I posted was for the full roster...63 guys currently under contract.

Your number is for the "top 51" plus the $3.2 mil in dead cap.

In addition to your subtractions for the draft picks/52 and 53/PS, which looks about right, some money must be held in reserve for replacements for guys going to IR....a minimum of $435,000 per head for minimum salary rookie replacements.

From a practical standpoint, keeping a few $ mil in reserve for IR replacements, actually brings the remaining available cap somewhere south of $12 mil.

The Packers will for sure enter the season with some millions in cap space available. First of all Thompson wants to roll over some money into 2016 and it's improbable the team will have as much luck with injuries than last season.

 

[HardRightEdge]

The Packers will for sure enter the season with some millions in cap space available. First of all Thompson wants to roll over some money into 2016 and it's improbable the team will have as much luck with injuries than last season.

Despite the low injury count among the starters, the following players went to IR for the entire 2014 season:

Raji
Barclay
R. Neal
Abbrederis
Thomas
Thornton
Tiller

I don't recall Tiller's eventual status (injury settlement?), but the other 6 counted in full against the cap as did their replacements.

Partial season IRs were:

Tretter
Robinson
Lattimore
Mulumba

All of those guys counted in full against the cap, while their replacements on the roster would have counted against the cap on a prorated basis based on weeks served.

Figuring on 6 full and 5 partial seasons missed, let's say that represents 8 replacement salaries. Even if those replacements were minimum salary rookies, that's $3.5 mil based on the current salary scale.

I would consider $3.5 mil to be the rock bottom minimum cap amount to be held for injury replacement. $5 mil is probably more like it.

So, I'd say Thompson has about $9 - $10 mil left to work with or carry over. Perhaps Pat Willis will reconsider his retirement.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Despite the low injury count among the starters, the following players went to IR for the entire 2014 season:

Raji
Barclay
R. Neal
Abbrederis
Thomas
Thornton
Tiller

I don't recall Tiller's eventual status (injury settlement?), but the other 6 counted in full against the cap as did their replacements.

Partial season IRs were:

Tretter
Robinson
Lattimore
Mulumba

All of those guys counted in full against the cap, while their replacements on the roster would have counted against the cap on a prorated basis based on weeks served.

Figuring on 6 full and 5 partial seasons missed, let's say that represents 8 replacement salaries. Even if those replacements were minimum salary rookies, that's $3.5 mil based on the current salary scale.

I would consider $3.5 mil to be the rock bottom minimum cap amount to be held for injury replacement. $5 mil is probably more like it.

So, I'd say Thompson has about $9 - $10 mil left to work with or carry over. Perhaps Pat Willis will reconsider his retirement.

Last season a total of 14 players spent a combined 148 weeks on IR for the Packers. That would result in a $3.65 million cap hit for their replacements.

Aside of Raji, Lattimore, Barclay and Tretter all of them either had their base salary reduced or were waived with an injury settlement. So the actual number is probably somewhere close to $2.5 million.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

First of all, with the re-signings the cap space is down to about $12 mil.

In any case, the free agent ILB opportunities have long left the station, with the possible of exception of Spikes. Since he's still on the market, we can surmise he's a a two-down player looking for a three-down contract.

And perhaps the train never got on the track...I don't see a three-down ILB in this free agent class that would have been an improvement over Kendricks.

I realize the "ILB opportunities have long left the station". That's my concern about the position. The Packers have to hit on a rookie or else it'll be another year of musical chairs at the position.

Pernell McPhee was available. He's a legit 3-down inside backer who signed with the Bears.

"With the re-signings the cap space is down to about $12M" is a relevant term. $12M is a ton of money since the Packers only need approximately $2M to sign rookies and the only impending free agents are Mike Daniels and Casey Heyward. The cap is going to go up again next year. It should also be noted about $4M of cap space is being eaten up by Sean Richardson, Scott Tolzien and John Kuhn. Three players who could have been let go with little to no impact on the team.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I realize the "ILB opportunities have long left the station". That's my concern about the position. The Packers have to hit on a rookie or else it'll be another year of musical chairs at the position.

Pernell McPhee was available. He's a legit 3-down inside backer who signed with the Bears.

McPhee is an outside linebacker. There weren't any three down ILBs available in free agency this year. Spikes would be a great run stopper who's still available.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Last season a total of 14 players spent a combined 148 weeks on IR for the Packers. That would result in a $3.65 million cap hit for their replacements.

Aside of Raji, Lattimore, Barclay and Tretter all of them either had their base salary reduced or were waived with an injury settlement. So the actual number is probably somewhere close to $2.5 million.

Who were the other three?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Who were the other three?

You didn't mention Aaron Adams (17 weeks), Kevin Dorsey (7 weeks), Nate Palmer (17 weeks) and Jake Stoneburner (9 weeks). Joe Thomas didn't spend time on IR for a regular season game before he got waived injured.

 

[adambr2]

I know it shouldn't be a big deal, but I kind of cooled on Spikes a bit after his recent comments in support of Aaron Hernandez. It's a bit of a character/intelligence red flag to me.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I know it shouldn't be a big deal, but I kind of cooled on Spikes a bit after his recent comments in support of Aaron Hernandez. It's a bit of a character/intelligence red flag to me.

I only recently discovered that after he signed with Buffalo he tweeted that his time in New England was "4 years a slave". Yes, there are some issues.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I know it shouldn't be a big deal, but I kind of cooled on Spikes a bit after his recent comments in support of Aaron Hernandez. It's a bit of a character/intelligence red flag to me.

I only recently discovered that after he signed with Buffalo he tweeted that his time in New England was "4 years a slave". Yes, there are some issues.

I wasn't aware of Spikes making comments like that. Maybe there are some character flaws with him but it seems he's a good guy in the locker room and a leader as well.

 

[Carl]

I realize the "ILB opportunities have long left the station". That's my concern about the position. The Packers have to hit on a rookie or else it'll be another year of musical chairs at the position.

Pernell McPhee was available. He's a legit 3-down inside backer who signed with the Bears.

"With the re-signings the cap space is down to about $12M" is a relevant term. $12M is a ton of money since the Packers only need approximately $2M to sign rookies and the only impending free agents are Mike Daniels and Casey Heyward. The cap is going to go up again next year. It should also be noted about $4M of cap space is being eaten up by Sean Richardson, Scott Tolzien and John Kuhn. Three players who could have been let go with little to no impact on the team.

Considering the Ravens have been very good at personnel moves in recent years while the Bears have been really bad, I wouldn't bet on McPhee being that good.

 

[PikeBadger]

I realize the "ILB opportunities have long left the station". That's my concern about the position. The Packers have to hit on a rookie or else it'll be another year of musical chairs at the position.

Pernell McPhee was available. He's a legit 3-down inside backer who signed with the Bears.

"With the re-signings the cap space is down to about $12M" is a relevant term. $12M is a ton of money since the Packers only need approximately $2M to sign rookies and the only impending free agents are Mike Daniels and Casey Heyward. The cap is going to go up again next year. It should also be noted about $4M of cap space is being eaten up by Sean Richardson, Scott Tolzien and John Kuhn. Three players who could have been let go with little to no impact on the team.

Plenty of time yet to pickup an ILB if they feel it's needed. Lots of cap casualties yet to hit the unemployment line. Completely disagree with your assessment of Kuhn, Tolzien & Richardson. All have a role to play on the team. Special teamers and backups are always needed and impactful. That said, Thompson as usual has the team cap in very good shape and has plenty of room to maneuver. I'm not seeing any cause for concern. We're in much better position than practically everyone else in the league.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Plenty of time yet to pickup an ILB if they feel it's needed. Lots of cap casualties yet to hit the unemployment line.

Ideally players who end up on the 53 have spent the entire offseason program with the team. I don´t expect a lot of impact players being released from now on.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

McPhee is an outside linebacker. There weren't any three down ILBs available in free agency this year. Spikes would be a great run stopper who's still available.

McPhee alternates between ILB and OLB. He'll be playing ILB in Chicago.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

Plenty of time yet to pickup an ILB if they feel it's needed. Lots of cap casualties yet to hit the unemployment line. Completely disagree with your assessment of Kuhn, Tolzien & Richardson. All have a role to play on the team. Special teamers and backups are always needed and impactful. That said, Thompson as usual has the team cap in very good shape and has plenty of room to maneuver. I'm not seeing any cause for concern. We're in much better position than practically everyone else in the league.

I'm concerned about ILB because the Packers literally have nobody to start opposite Sam Barrington and the sample size on Barrington is very small. I'm not seeing your lack of concern for the position.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

As of right now the Packers have $17 million in cap space. They will need $3.4 million of it to sign their draft picks, for contracts #52 and #53 and signing practice squad players.

I was going to make the correction too. Packers have a little over $17M in cap space. TT has done an excellent job of keeping the cap healthy in GB.

http://espn.go.com/blog/green-bay-p...ract-salary-cap-updates?ex_cid=espnapi_public

 

[Deleted member 6794]

McPhee alternates between ILB and OLB. He'll be playing ILB in Chicago.

McPhee weighs 280 pounds, he will for sure not play ILB for the Bears and has never played the position with the Ravens. Don´t make things up when proven wrong.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

McPhee weighs 280 pounds, he will for sure not play ILB for the Bears and has never played the position with the Ravens. Don´t make things up when proven wrong.

Besides the talk on Chicago radio of the Bears using McPhee as an inside rusher in sub-packages to pair with Willie Young and Jared Allen you have articles like this from the Baltimore Ravens website:

The one big piece of the linebacker corps that could be departing is McPhee. The unrestricted free agent had his finest season in a contract year in which he notched 7.5 sacks. Those stats are strong, but don’t show the full range of his disruptiveness. Finally fully healthy, McPhee was used largely as an inside pass rusher, providing one of the league’s most explosive attacks when combined with Dumervil and Suggs. McPhee, 26, is a hard-nosed player that fit in well in Baltimore. He could look for a payday elsewhere, similar to Paul Kruger, Dannell Ellerbe and Art Jones in recent years.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Besides the talk on Chicago radio of the Bears using McPhee as an inside rusher in sub-packages to pair with Willie Young and Jared Allen you have articles like this from the Baltimore Ravens website:

The one big piece of the linebacker corps that could be departing is McPhee. The unrestricted free agent had his finest season in a contract year in which he notched 7.5 sacks. Those stats are strong, but don’t show the full range of his disruptiveness. Finally fully healthy, McPhee was used largely as an inside pass rusher, providing one of the league’s most explosive attacks when combined with Dumervil and Suggs. McPhee, 26, is a hard-nosed player that fit in well in Baltimore. He could look for a payday elsewhere, similar to Paul Kruger, Dannell Ellerbe and Art Jones in recent years.

The Ravens used him on the inside of the defensive line to rush the passer, not as an ILB. The Bears will do exactly the same.

 

[TJV]

I'm not saying need isn't a factor at all. If you thought that, you read way too far into my post. I was saying that there are more players at cornerback or receiver or defensive tackle with first round grades/high grades who will be available at #30 instead of inside linebackers.

No, that is not what you posted:

TT has never drafted for need, he drafts best available player. It appears from everything being written that the best player available will not be an inside linebacker. My money would be on a CORNERback.

Thompson “has never drafted for need” is as unambiguous as it gets and there’s no language qualifying that absolute statement. There’s nothing to ‘read into’. It’s not a big deal but you directly contradicted yourself with these two posts.

Regarding McPhee, I think it’s likely the Bears will start him at OLB and will rush him from inside on sub packages, IMO even if he were affordable, it’s extremely unlikely the Packers would have acquired him to start at ILB (for example, how are his coverage skills?). With regard to affordability, according to rotoworld, here’s the deal he signed with the Bears:

Signed a five-year, $38.75 million contract. The deal contains $15.5 million guaranteed, including a $2.5 million signing bonus. McPhee is eligible for an annual $175,000 workout bonus throughout the contract's life. 2015: $1 million (+ $5 million roster bonus), 2016: $7 million, 2017: $6.95 million (+ $200,000 roster bonus), 2018: $7.2 million (+ $200,000 roster bonus), 2019: $7.625 million (+ $200,000 roster bonus), 2020: Free Agent

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/6671/pernell-mcphee
The Packers could have fit him into this year’s cap (a $6.5M cap hit), but how would those numbers have affected the cap going forward? BTW, McPhee received more guaranteed money than Nelson, Shields, or Bulaga; and just $1.5M less than Cobb.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I wasn't aware of Spikes making comments like that. Maybe there are some character flaws with him but it seems he's a good guy in the locker room and a leader as well.

There's something to that. As a free agent signing, he was made a captain on that veteran Buffalo defense.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Regarding McPhee, I think it’s likely the Bears will start him at OLB and will rush him from inside on sub packages, IMO even if he were affordable, it’s extremely unlikely the Packers would have acquired him to start at ILB (for example, how are his coverage skills?).

Since entering the league McPhee has rushed the passer on 95.8% of his snaps on passing plays. He has occasionally dropped into coverage, being targeted a total of three times (all completions). At 280 pounds he´s not capable of playing ILB.

 

[TJV]

I know it shouldn't be a big deal, but I kind of cooled on Spikes a bit after his recent comments in support of Aaron Hernandez. It's a bit of a character/intelligence red flag to me.

Yikes. His tweet after the Hernandez verdict was “I’m confused about the justice system these days”. That’s just one of many examples for the proposition 'the not-very-bright (to be kind) should avoid using social media' argument. Of course if they were bright… I did like the first response he received: “just don’t murder people”. Perhaps Brandon should write that down. “4 years a slave” is of course another example. Nothing wrong with tweeting he was underpaid in New England or otherwise complaining about his treatment there, but comparing pro athletes to slavery is like comparing almost anything post WWII to ****** and the Nazis: It displays both a lack of perspective and ignorance of history.