Packers create more 2020 cap space

[PackAttack12]

The Packers converted $14.26 million of Aaron Rodgers' 19.5 million roster bonus for 2020 into a signing bonus, ESPN's Field Yates is reporting.

That allows the money to prorate over five seasons for cap purposes, including 2019. It created 11.4 million in 2020 cap space.

This per Demovsky.

 

[weeds]

I can already hear the talking heads saying he's underpaid in 2 years because his cap hit is only $11m.

 

[AKCheese]

Rodgers will never be underpaid, he’s on the downhill slope of his career. Hopefully they can manage his cap impact and solidify the team around him.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Rodgers will never be underpaid, he’s on the downhill slope of his career. Hopefully they can manage his cap impact and solidify the team around him.

By converting roster bonus to signing bonus and pushing his cap hit further to the back of his contract, the Packers are less convinced his years are as numbered as you seem to believe.

Here are his new cap numbers:

2019: $29.4 mil
2020: $21.2 mil
2021: $36.4 mil; dead cap rises to $36.1 mil
2022: $39.9 mil; dead cap rises to $17.2 mil
2023: $28.4 mil; dead cap goes from zero to $2.85 mil

If there was any question as to whether Rodgers would be this team's QB through 2021, which should not have been the case, be assured those numbers guarantee it.

The 2022 numbers are less manageable than before with $5.7 mil added to the dead cap.

If anybody was expecting a QB pick in the first round, which they should not have been, these numbers put the kebosh on that notion.

 

[gbgary]

I can already hear the talking heads saying he's underpaid in 2 years because his cap hit is only $11m.

you got that right lol. actually it'll be $36.3

glad they did this. it was desperately needed.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/green-bay-packers/aaron-rodgers-3745/

 

[weeds]

Yeah that is an ungodly, unfathomable amount of money.

 

[OldSchool101]

Perfect. This also fits with a logical plan of keeping the throttle open concerning addressing our needs through FA. Add that to Graham’s getting cut and that alone is 19.4M freed up in 2020 (less Jimmy).

We may not make another 4 player FA splash, but I can easily see 2-3 more solid FA signings that are both affordable and significant upgrades at various needed positions.
We can start to see a better idea of Gute’s strategy develop.

If we combine that by slightly consolidating some of our 2020 draft resources, I see no reason why we can’t find upgrades at several more position groups. IMO a 4-5 position upgrade is a completely reasonable goal while still being able to dedicate funds to resign our most dependable and valued veterans.

Imagine having significant upgrades at WR, TE, ILB and DL/OL to add to this current roster. All this while getting more much needed depth and ST help in the back half of the draft.

I like this move because it fits the MO of the second of a three pronged attack to make a final push while #12 is still highly effective.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Yeah that is an ungodly, unfathomable amount of money.

The cap number will be nearly $40 mil in 2022. But those 2021 and 2022 numbers are not really money, they are cap numbers, the distinction being that a substantial amount of those cap numbers will have been paid in signing bonuses.

New money in 2021 is limited to $22 mil; $25.5 mil in 2022 and again in 2023. Anyone who would say he's overpaid in 2021 because of the $36.4 mil cap number will be wrong. The question will be whether he's worth the $22 mil in new money. When looking at that $36.4 mil the question will be whether he was overpaid over the term of the contract to date. We won't know that until 2020 wraps up. You simply cannot look at one year's cap number, whether low or high, to assess value.

Of course the other way to look at it is the cap savings and dead cap in 2021 are nearly equal. From the standpoint of signing bonuses as sunk cost and water under the bridge, the cost to keep him that year relative to cutting or trading him is about zero, so in that sense he'll be playing 2021 for free from a cap perspective.

you got that right lol. actually it'll be $36.3

glad they did this. it was desperately needed.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/green-bay-packers/aaron-rodgers-3745/

It was needed if one shares my view that 2020 is the prime window of opportunity.

 

[OldSchool101]

It was needed if one shares my view that 2020 is the prime window of opportunity.

I share that view. But my view isn’t a 2020,
1-window view. It includes a floor to ceiling view of about 3-4 seasons minimum (maybe that’s what you meant)
I believe Gute is going to double down next hand.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I share that view. But my view isn’t a 2020, 1-window view. It includes a floor to ceiling view of about 3-4 seasons minimum (maybe that’s what you meant)
I believe Gute is going to double down next hand.

Of course the window could be now. Packer and Seattle wins on Sunday earn two home playoff games on the way to the big show. That's plausible, though the idea of Seattle bringing back Lynch for anything other than inspiration is a dubious proposition. However, stranger things have happened.

Anyway, it is hard enough looking 1+ seasons down the road. 2, 3, 4 seasons has many unknowns under ordinary circustances. In this case there's also the matter of the CBA expiring after 2020.

That said, here's what we do know.

2020

Bulaga and Martinez are the free agents of note after 2020. Martinez has been subjected to a lot of criticism this season, deservedly so, but suddenly over these past few weeks he's played his best football as a Packer to my eye. In any case, these are two positions that need to be addressed one way or the other.

To lesser extent, Tramon Williams (who's having a good year under the radar covering the slot) and Crosby will also be free agents. I'd like to see these guys re-signed which would not be particularly expensive.

From a free agent standpoint, this is about as manageable as any team can expect.

On the plus side, Savage and Jenkins will be in year 2 with upside, Gary has shown flashes and will develop further with potential big upside. Sternberger amounts to an extra 2020 3rd. round pick after what amounts to a redshirt year.

The cap hits for the 2019 FA class cap will not peak until 2021.

Kenny "Mr. December" Clark is sitting on a $7.7 mil 5th. year option for 2020. We should expect he'll be extended sometime between today and the draft. A long term deal with a big signing bonus means his cap number for 2020 will likely not go up.

2021

The 2021 free agents include Bakhtiari, Linsley, Jones, Jamaal Williams and King. That's a substantive group, more so than for 2020.

Rodgers cap number will jump from $21.2 mil in 2020 to $36.4 mil in 2021.

The cap numbers for the big four 2019 free agent signings will go from $23.4 mil in 2019 to $47.8 mil in 2020 to $55.0 mil in 2021. The 2nd. and 3rd. year jumps in thos contracts look less manageable in 2021 than 2020 given that collection of 2021 free agents.

Clark wil be in the second year of the presumed extension where the cap bite comes into play with a backloaded contract as evidenced by the 2019-to-2020 jumps we see with the 2019 free agents.

Conclusion

Knowing what we know now, 2020 looks pretty promising if Gutekunst can stack a decent draft on top of what he has. The cap situation for 2021, pending the outcome of the CBA negotiation, looks less so.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

If Brady would have agreed to restructure his contract in a similar way the media would be talking about how he takes less money for the team to be able to stay competitive.

 

[longtimefan]

If Brady would have agreed to restructure his contract in a similar way the media would be talking about how he takes less money for the team to be able to stay competitive.

Did Rodgers have to agree? or can the Pack do this with out rodgers agreeing?

Asking because I don't know the legality of it all

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Did Rodgers have to agree? or can the Pack do this with out rodgers agreeing?

Of course, the Packers aren't allowed to restructure his deal without his consent.

 

[milani]

Of course the window could be now. Packer and Seattle wins on Sunday earn two home playoff games on the way to the big show. That's plausible, though the idea of Seattle bringing back Lynch for anything other than inspiration is a dubious proposition. However, stranger things have happened.

Anyway, it is hard enough looking 1+ seasons down the road. 2, 3, 4 seasons has many unknowns under ordinary circustances. In this case there's also the matter of the CBA expiring after 2020.

That said, here's what we do know.

2020

Bulaga and Martinez are the free agents of note after 2020. Martinez has been subjected to a lot of criticism this season, deservedly so, but suddenly over these past few weeks he's played his best football as a Packer to my eye. In any case, these are two positions that need to be addressed one way or the other.

To lesser extent, Tramon Williams (who's having a good year under the radar covering the slot) and Crosby will also be free agents. I'd like to see these guys re-signed which would not be particularly expensive.

From a free agent standpoint, this is about as manageable as any team can expect.

On the plus side, Savage and Jenkins will be in year 2 with upside, Gary has shown flashes and will develop further with potential big upside. Sternberger amounts to an extra 2020 3rd. round pick after what amounts to a redshirt year.

The cap hits for the 2019 FA class cap will not peak until 2021.

Kenny "Mr. December" Clark is sitting on a $7.7 mil 5th. year option for 2020. We should expect he'll be extended sometime between today and the draft. A long term deal with a big signing bonus means his cap number for 2020 will likely not go up.

2021

The 2021 free agents include Bakhtiari, Linsley, Jones, Jamaal Williams and King. That's a substantive group, more so than for 2020.

Rodgers cap number will jump from $21.2 mil in 2020 to $36.4 mil in 2021.

The cap numbers for the big four 2019 free agent signings will go from $23.4 mil in 2019 to $47.8 mil in 2020 to $55.0 mil in 2021. The 2nd. and 3rd. year jumps in thos contracts look less manageable in 2021 than 2020 given that collection of 2021 free agents.

Clark wil be in the second year of the presumed extension where the cap bite comes into play with a backloaded contract as evidenced by the 2019-to-2020 jumps we see with the 2019 free agents.

Conclusion

Knowing what we know now, 2020 looks pretty promising if Gutekunst can stack a decent draft on top of what he has. The cap situation for 2021, pending the outcome of the CBA negotiation, looks less so.

Not any worse than most teams. I think TT wound up paying so much to Matthews and Jordy that it hurt us later on.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Not any worse than most teams. I think TT wound up paying so much to Matthews and Jordy that it hurt us later on.

Thompson did a great job managing the cap. Unfortunately he lost his touch drafting players late in his tenure.

 

[HardRightEdge]

If Brady would have agreed to restructure his contract in a similar way the media would be talking about how he takes less money for the team to be able to stay competitive.

That might be true if the media was playing stupid since Rodgers is not taking less money.

From Rodgers perspective, its a no brainer. He gets $14+ mil now in signing bonus instead of waiting until March 2020 to get the same $14+ mil in roster bonus shortly after the start of the league year. Further, the deal adds more dead cap to the out years of the contract which puts a little more money into the silent guarantee aspect of dead cap / cap savings.

Did Rodgers have to agree? or can the Pack do this with out rodgers agreeing? Asking because I don't know the legality of it all.

Of course Rodgers has to agree. Why wouldn't he?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

That might be true if the media was playing stupid since Rodgers is not taking less money.

My point being that Brady hasn't taken less money either yet the media tries to sell it that way.

 

[HardRightEdge]

My point being that Brady hasn't taken less money either yet the media tries to sell it that way.

There was a point where there was some truth to that. Not so much in recent years taking us to this:

Brady has put $235 mil cash money in his pocket over his career to date.

Rodgers has put $233 mil in cash money in his pocket over his career to date.

And it's not like Brady has some monster deferred earnings coming his way in the form of future guarantees.

 

[longtimefan]

Of course the window could be now. Packer and Seattle wins on Sunday earn two home playoff games on the way to the big show. That's plausible, though the idea of Seattle bringing back Lynch for anything other than inspiration is a dubious proposition. However, stranger things have happened.

Anyway, it is hard enough looking 1+ seasons down the road. 2, 3, 4 seasons has many unknowns under ordinary circustances. In this case there's also the matter of the CBA expiring after 2020.

That said, here's what we do know.

2020

Bulaga and Martinez are the free agents of note after 2020. Martinez has been subjected to a lot of criticism this season, deservedly so, but suddenly over these past few weeks he's played his best football as a Packer to my eye. In any case, these are two positions that need to be addressed one way or the other.

To lesser extent, Tramon Williams (who's having a good year under the radar covering the slot) and Crosby will also be free agents. I'd like to see these guys re-signed which would not be particularly expensive.

From a free agent standpoint, this is about as manageable as any team can expect.

On the plus side, Savage and Jenkins will be in year 2 with upside, Gary has shown flashes and will develop further with potential big upside. Sternberger amounts to an extra 2020 3rd. round pick after what amounts to a redshirt year.

The cap hits for the 2019 FA class cap will not peak until 2021.

Kenny "Mr. December" Clark is sitting on a $7.7 mil 5th. year option for 2020. We should expect he'll be extended sometime between today and the draft. A long term deal with a big signing bonus means his cap number for 2020 will likely not go up.

2021

The 2021 free agents include Bakhtiari, Linsley, Jones, Jamaal Williams and King. That's a substantive group, more so than for 2020.

Rodgers cap number will jump from $21.2 mil in 2020 to $36.4 mil in 2021.

The cap numbers for the big four 2019 free agent signings will go from $23.4 mil in 2019 to $47.8 mil in 2020 to $55.0 mil in 2021. The 2nd. and 3rd. year jumps in thos contracts look less manageable in 2021 than 2020 given that collection of 2021 free agents.

Clark wil be in the second year of the presumed extension where the cap bite comes into play with a backloaded contract as evidenced by the 2019-to-2020 jumps we see with the 2019 free agents.

Conclusion

Knowing what we know now, 2020 looks pretty promising if Gutekunst can stack a decent draft on top of what he has. The cap situation for 2021, pending the outcome of the CBA negotiation, looks less so.

That might be true if the media was playing stupid since Rodgers is not taking less money.

From Rodgers perspective, its a no brainer. He gets $14+ mil now in signing bonus instead of waiting until March 2020 to get the same $14+ mil in roster bonus shortly after the start of the league year. Further, the deal adds more dead cap to the out years of the contract which puts a little more money into the silent guarantee aspect of dead cap / cap savings.



Of course Rodgers has to agree. Why wouldn't he?

all I saw was the Packers converted the signing bonus..never saw a report saying packers and rodgers agreed to it.

Not until 10 mins ago did I see a report stating they both agreed

 

[HardRightEdge]

The Packers converted $14.26 million of Aaron Rodgers' 19.5 million roster bonus for 2020 into a signing bonus, ESPN's Field Yates is reporting.

That allows the money to prorate over five seasons for cap purposes, including 2019. It created 11.4 million in 2020 cap space.

This per Demovsky.

Your use of the word "allow" triggered a thought about the curious timing of this thing.

Start with the fact that unused cap carries over to the following year. "Use it or lose it" went out the window with the 2010 CBA.

So, doing it this way, gets you a $2.9 mil signing bonus charge against the 2019 cap and another $2.9 mil charge against the 2020 cap. Since the 2019 cap being expended would have been carried over to 2020 in the absence of this move, the net affect is a $5.8 mil signing bonus charge against the 2020 cap.

If the exact same terms were applied after the season, the $14.26 mil in signing bonus would have been prorated over 4 years instead of 5. $14.26 mil / 4 = $3.6 mil.

Had this been done later, taking affect in 2020 sometime before the roster bonus was due in March, the Packers would have picked up another $2.2 mil in 2020 cap space. Of course there's no free lunch; that extra $2.2 mil cap space would be an additional cap liability in the 2021-2023 years.

Still, with the evident (and justifiable) priority on "win now", it does beg a question.

 

[HardRightEdge]

all I saw was the Packers converted the signing bonus..never saw a report saying packers and rodgers agreed to it.

Not until 10 mins ago did I see a report stating they both agreed

These are binding legal employment contracts. While the collective bargaining agreement may dictate the rules of what can go into them, once the signatures are on the dotted line they have the status of any other legal contract.

So for future refernce think of it this way: nobody can unilatterally change the terms a binding contract.

 

[tynimiller]

I predict a surprise cut or trade to boost cap space for a 2020 push will be Linsley...his dead money plummets after this season and if I saw the right figures would save us around $8million. Patrick extension and his play makes me think the Packers are already looking towards future without Linsley...I say do it now rather than later and keep pushing that gas pedal on this window with Rodgers.

 

[longtimefan]

I predict a surprise cut or trade to boost cap space for a 2020 push will be Linsley...his dead money plummets after this season and if I saw the right figures would save us around $8million. Patrick extension and his play makes me think the Packers are already looking towards future without Linsley...I say do it now rather than later and keep pushing that gas pedal on this window with Rodgers.

Now? Or by draft time? Or what ever the new year starts?

 

[tynimiller]

Now? Or by draft time? Or what ever the new year starts?

It'll be by draft time I feel. I hate this a lot though, I love Linsley and was pushing hard for his extension a few years ago...I just feel Patrick can do that task and the nod of his new contract makes me foresee this as a real option even more.

 

[tynimiller]

Noticed I said now and I meant to convey the "sooner rather than later" aspect and failed miserably.