Shields Signed

brandon2348

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My first thought was it was too much too soon. But after i thought about it. This sentiment came to mind... And good CBs are expensive any way you look at it.


TT had to do it. Hayward and Hyde haven't proven they can play outside and House is way too inconsistent. Look at the receivers in the division. Shields is one of the best "cover corners" in the league. Pack need to get some more speed in the middle and get pressure on Quarterback. Not Shields fault he is back there all day while quarterbacks are eating "hot dogs" in the pocket
 

GreenBaySlacker

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If Breer's numbers are correct the cap hit for this season will be$5.625 million ($3.125 million prorated signing bonus, $2.5 million base salary).

Will increase to $9.125 million in 2015 and $12.125 million for 2016 and 2017.

I imagine Williams cap space might be figured into Sheilds deal... As in Williams gone bye bye. Writings on the wall...
 

GreenBaySlacker

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TT had to do it. Hayward and Hyde haven't proven they can play outside and House is way too inconsistent. Look at the receivers in the division. Shields is one of the best "cover corners" in the league. Pack need to get some more speed in the middle and get pressure on Quarterback. Not Shields fault he is back there all day while quarterbacks are eating "hot dogs" in the pocket

TT is not one to be strong armed. He's never hesitated to throw in next in line , when the budget says so. replacint the OTs, and DE post Clifton/Tauscher Kampman/Jenkins days... Took half a decade to replace those guys... With Hayward, Hyde already on the roster. And House as a contributor. Another rookie or two. We would be fine IMO.
Nope! Not strong armed. I think TT paid a guy he thought was worth it.
 

jaybadger82

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A very good CB entering the prime of his career is a good risk.

Good article. Basically, the Packers can make this a 2 year, $21M deal or 3 years, $30M deal if they want to and if he doesn't restructure at that time.

Nice summary.

I think some of the knee-jerk, negative reactions to this contract come from the assumption that we're locked into paying Shields about $10 million per year over the course of the deal. Just ignores the way the deal was structured.

I believe Shields' guaranteed money peaks next year and that he's closer to $8 million per year over the last two years of the deal.

It wasn't going to be cheap Shields and this deal still leaves us plenty of flexibility to pursue other FAs and/or to extend Nelson/Cobb.

P.S., Demand for quality FA CBs appears to be rising.
 
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Carl

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TT is not one to be strong armed. He's never hesitated to throw in next in line , when the budget says so. replacint the OTs, and DE post Clifton/Tauscher Kampman/Jenkins days... Took half a decade to replace those guys... With Hayward, Hyde already on the roster. And House as a contributor. Another rookie or two. We would be fine IMO.
Nope! Not strong armed. I think TT paid a guy he thought was worth it.

The next in line was always over an older veteran though. Shields is still a young player.
 

Zartan

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Needed to resign him. He brought talent at CB. He would really benefit if CM3 and oppside of him could put pressure on the QB more often.
 

brandon2348

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Say we decide to keep Williams again... Then what to do with hayward the following year?

The following year? It will all play out. Hayward was hurt all last season and Hyde is emerging. I don't know if they know what either of those guys true position is yet. We will see what Hayward can do coming back.
 

Einstein McFly

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Way too much money essentially ten million a year. We could have gotten Jairus Byrd for that no question he is only 27 just one year older than Shields and a much better player. I like Shields he has been a really special player in spurts but I don't like him for nearly 10 million per. TT got outplayed but Rosenhaus seems like he got a bit scared that none of his free agents were biting on his offers and he over payed. There is no way any other team was poised to give Shields that much cash. Now all we can do is hope he becomes a consistently special player. Maybe Ted will surprise everyone and offer Byrd the same money and give the Packers one of the top secondaries in the league. Burnett and Byrd at safety and Shields and Williams at corner with Hayward and Hyde manning the slots in nickel and dime. That would be a tough defensive backfield to throw on.

Wow, that's a lot of speculation there. Without watching a lot of the other top paid corners around the league and just knowing what Tramon Williams is getting paid, Shields is certainly worth the extra money (even as well as Williams played down the stretch). This isn't a conference with lousy wideouts; there's a top guy OR TWO every conference game. This is exactly the sort of guy that Packers are supposed to spend on: Guys that they've groomed whose work ethic they know all about who know their system. Paying for an unknown guy from some other team can lead to massive over spending and big long term problems.
 
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HardRightEdge

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I like Shields quite a bit. I thought he was our #1 priority. And I think Thompson overpaid for one of his own at least partially because there are just too many holes to fill. Hey, what's $2 - $3 mil per year among friends for a top 10-15 cover corner?

On a related matter, I wouldn't get too excited over the fact the Shields deal appears to count only about $5 mil against the 2014 cap.

We ended this last season with one of the youngest teams in the league and have 20 free agents. It's not practical nor preferable to fill most of those spots with a bunch of minimum salary rookies.

Figure Shields will be the first of 10 FA signings, give or take, be it our incumbents or outside guys.

I'd also not expect Thompson to get anywhere near full cap. As the Shields deal illustrates (see Post 10 above), typical multi-year deals have long tails with the cap hit back loaded to the out years of the contract.

One must consider what happens if we spend all the way up to max cap in 2014 including the $10 mil cap carryover which would imply a $10 mil max cap reduction in 2015 (offset by whatever league increase comes along).

There isn't all that much dough to spread around among 10 or so vets, at least a few of some decent provenance, without accumulating a lot of dead cap in the out years of the contracts.
 
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TJV

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Glad to have him back – he was the #1 UFA priority for a reason. Perhaps this signing will cause some posters here to gain a little perspective. Here are some quotes from one poster on the Shields situation:

“It amazes me how this guy will overpay for guys like Brad Jones and Morgan Burnett but only offer your best corner less then 6 million a year smh . Freaking Amazing.”

“Shouldn't have come this far. shields should have gotten a deal done last season . (Thompson only locked up Rodgers and Matthews last season but by all means criticize him for not extending another player.) knowing TT he will let Shields go resign Raji and draft a corner in hopes he will develop into a player. To answer the question? Slim to none Shields is back !”

“I'm watching NFL network in their talking about Sam Shields and it is amazing how Green Bay is not trying to make a better attempt to resign him!” (Yep, apparently making no effort at all.)

And in fine ‘stomping his feet and holding his breath’ mode: “I hope Shields does leave. Can't wait to hear ppl complain about how sorry the secondary is next yr! If he does leave please save this thread and post so I can bring it up.”

There’s nothing wrong with criticizing Thompson or anyone else but *****ing and moaning and whining about something that hadn’t happened yet is more than a little ridiculous.
 
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Glad to have him back – he was the #1 UFA priority for a reason. Perhaps this signing will cause some posters here to gain a little perspective. Here are some quotes from one poster on the Shields situation:

“It amazes me how this guy will overpay for guys like Brad Jones and Morgan Burnett but only offer your best corner less then 6 million a year smh . Freaking Amazing.”

“Shouldn't have come this far. shields should have gotten a deal done last season . (Thompson only locked up Rodgers and Matthews last season but by all means criticize him for not extending another player.) knowing TT he will let Shields go resign Raji and draft a corner in hopes he will develop into a player. To answer the question? Slim to none Shields is back !”

“I'm watching NFL network in their talking about Sam Shields and it is amazing how Green Bay is not trying to make a better attempt to resign him!” (Yep, apparently making no effort at all.)

And in fine ‘stomping his feet and holding his breath’: “I hope Shields does leave. Can't wait to hear ppl complain about how sorry the secondary is next yr! If he does leave please save this thread and post so I can bring it up.”

There’s nothing wrong with criticizing Thompson or anyone else but *****ing and moaning and whining about something that hadn’t happened yet is more than a little ridiculous.

Amen brotha amen!
 
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HardRightEdge

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I'm glad I don't have to send Thompson a shredded photocopy of my stock certificate. The accompanying letter, both carefully crafted and heartfelt, would have taken the better part of an afternoon to draft. Of course, that would have been contingent on both (1) dropping Shields and (2) signing Raji.

So far, we're half way to those 2 highest priorities in free agency so I feel encouraged.
 
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HardRightEdge

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Signing Shields to this deal pretty much guarantees Williams will be gone after this year if he expects #1 corner money going forward, particularly if Heyward returns to form. We just can't pay Shields #1 money, then Williams #1 money in a new deal, then Heyward top nickel corner dough in 2016 if he happens to earn it.

The wheels keep on turning...and only so much can be allocated to each position group.
 
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HardRightEdge

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For those supporting the Byrd signing, would you do it at the expense of Tramon?
That's not really a valid question. Williams has only one year left on his contract costing $7.2 mil in both cash and cap in 2014. Byrd is looking for a long term deal with a heavy guarantee.

Now, if you ask me, would I take Byrd as a rent-a-player for 1 year at $7.2 mil I might say yes since Williams is likely to be gone after this season. I say "might" because rent-a-player deals are often bad for chemistry and it's not like Byrd is the only piece keeping us out of serious championship contention in 2014. Besides, this is purely idle conjecture.
 
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Deleted member 6794

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That's not really a valid question. Williams has only one year left on his contract costing $7.2 mil in both cash and cap in 2014. Byrd is looking for a long term deal with a heavy guarantee.

Now, if you ask me, would I take Byrd as a rent-a-player for 1 year at $7.2 mil I might say yes since Williams is likely to be gone after this season. I say "might" because rent-a-player deals are often bad for chemistry and it's not like Byrd is the only piece keeping us out of serious championship contention in 2014. Besides, this is purely idle conjecture.

I'm sorry, but I have to correct you on that. Williams will be paid $7.5 million this year with a cap hit of $9.5 million. IMO we don't have to cut him though as restructuring his contract could save approximately $5 million in cap space for 2014.
 

Stevie DK

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In 2014 Shields will be paid the second highest, just behind Revis, I like the kid and him as a player, but $10 mill avg. is a bit too much. Grimes got $8 avg. and was the highest ranked CB on PFF (Yea he's older), Shields ranked 52, you could argue the Dolphins pass rush was better, but $2 mill more in avg. is a lot.

I just hope Cobb and Nelsons agent isn't Rosenhaus.
 
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