Upcoming contract situations

TJV

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Obviously Rodgers and Matthews are at the top of the list and #3, probably Raji, is significantly behind.

I don't think Raji is as indispensable as I once considered him to be. He was supposed to be that very rare big man who could stand up to double teams on run downs and get consistent pass rush from the interior on passing downs. We haven't seen much of the latter for a couple of years now, but he does seem to be coming-on this season. Perhaps playing through his pre-season ankle injury has affected his play more than we know. With Pickett near the end of his career and the other "pure" run stopper being Wilson, Raji's return is preferable - but not at "break the bank, great vs. run and pass NT" prices. How they view Neal may factor into this as well, but lately he's been in on passing downs so in spite of his strength they don't seem to view him as the run stopper Raji is. Worthy has been surprisingly good vs. the run but he's not a NT and certainly not in Raji's class vs. the run IMO. The Packers have two DL very good vs. the run IMO: Pickett and Raji. Their only true NTs IMO and Thompson has said many times how he values big talented men so my guess is they'll try hard to extend BJ.

I don't know about Jennings - love to keep him but he'll probably be too expensive. However, IMO if they can afford to franchise him, they can better afford to sign him long term.

The most interesting aspect of this topic IMO is whether Thompson and Ball will get anything done this salary cap year. How much cap room do they currently have? It'd be great if they could use up cap space this season on an extension. Maybe one of the "lesser" players/contracts?

BTW, got a laugh at the idea of paying for Newhouse's plane ticket out of Green Bay - he's not the least of the problems on the OL currently (Sitton is) but he's closer to that end of the spectrum than the other. And if Sherrod can play LT (no guarantee of that) Newhouse would be a GREAT backup OT. And he may turn out to be an adequate starting LT if the rest of the OL is good.
 

El Guapo

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BTW, got a laugh at the idea of paying for Newhouse's plane ticket out of Green Bay - he's not the least of the problems on the OL currently (Sitton is) but he's closer to that end of the spectrum than the other. And if Sherrod can play LT (no guarantee of that) Newhouse would be a GREAT backup OT. And he may turn out to be an adequate starting LT if the rest of the OL is good.
Couldn't agree more. I think that some of the fans only pay attention to linemen when their names get called. Yes, we've all heard John Madden say that's not a good thing. However, most of the folks commenting on such issues merely notice the mistakes, look up a few stats on statistical websites, and then formulate an opinion without ever sitting down and watching the player on each play - and not just for one series but an entire game. If you really want to gauge any player one needs to sit down and watch the game in slow motion, focusing on one player at a time.

Send Newhouse on a plane out of town? Only if the person who wrote that is on it too!
 

burt packerack

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If only Gruden like Raji he'll mention him 67 times in one quarter. God Gruden has gotten annoying lately with his obsession with just about everybody.
 
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I'd rather sign Jennings over Raji. The offense is not the same without Jennings, i don't care what anybody says.
I agree. But even Jennings says the possibility is only 50-50... Jennings is one of my favorite players of all time and I would rather lose Raji a 1000 times than lose Jennings
 
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adambr2

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I think if they can afford the $10M or so cap hit from tagging Jennings, that's the way to go next year. Keep him around for a run in 2013.
 

El Guapo

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I think if they can afford the $10M or so cap hit from tagging Jennings, that's the way to go next year. Keep him around for a run in 2013.
This is where I start to blow up. There are hundreds of threads on this forum about how we need more defensive players, more offensive linemen, better running backs, a tight end that catches, and a better kicker. Why would we take any kind of cap hit to retain a free agent in our deepest position? It doesn't even make zero sense to me, it makes negative sense!
 
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HardRightEdge

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I have worries about Matthews contract.

I've got creeping concerns as well. It's not that we couldn't afford him, but that the chronic hamstring problems raise questions of risk in a contract of this size.
 
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adambr2

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This is where I start to blow up. There are hundreds of threads on this forum about how we need more defensive players, more offensive linemen, better running backs, a tight end that catches, and a better kicker. Why would we take any kind of cap hit to retain a free agent in our deepest position? It doesn't even make zero sense to me, it makes negative sense!

Because we are seeing this year that his absence affects us a lot more than we thought.

Plus, its just a franchise tag one year deal. Im not advocating a long term deal for Jennings but if the cap space is there to use the tag, why wouldnt you?
 

El Guapo

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Because we are seeing this year that his absence affects us a lot more than we thought.

Plus, its just a franchise tag one year deal. Im not advocating a long term deal for Jennings but if the cap space is there to use the tag, why wouldnt you?
You're correct - if the cap space is there of course we would. The problem is that the cap space is not there. It's like talking about signing Aaron Rodgers, Megatron, Adrian Peterson, the Giants offensive line, Ed Reed, Demarcus Ware, Brian Urlacher, and Revis.....if we had the cap space, why wouldn't we? Because they're both fantasy situations
 
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adambr2

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You're correct - if the cap space is there of course we would. The problem is that the cap space is not there. It's like talking about signing Aaron Rodgers, Megatron, Adrian Peterson, the Giants offensive line, Ed Reed, Demarcus Ware, Brian Urlacher, and Revis.....if we had the cap space, why wouldn't we? Because they're both fantasy situations

That's really not the same thing at all. You're talking about signing a bunch of superstars under contract with other teams, I'm talking about keeping our own guy for one year on a franchise tag.

They are well under the cap right now for next year, it's just a matter of how they want to use it.
 

HyponGrey

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That's really not the same thing at all. You're talking about signing a bunch of superstars under contract with other teams, I'm talking about keeping our own guy for one year on a franchise tag.

They are well under the cap right now for next year, it's just a matter of how they want to use it.
You do realize franchising Jennings would be around 10 mil pure cap space right? DO.NOT.HAVE.
 
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HardRightEdge

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You do realize franchising Jennings would be around 10 mil pure cap space right? DO.NOT.HAVE.

That's a little misleading. Jennings cap hit this year is somewhere around $7.5 mil if the GBPG numbers are to be believed. If you give Jennings the tag and replace Driver with a minimum salary guy, it's close to a break even proposition in 2014 cap hit over 2013.

Since we're talking about a front line skill position player, the question comes down to whether he presents a good $10 mil. franchise value taking into account the available alternatives. I doubt it. My guess is the team will offer a low ball multi-year deal (maybe 4 years), and let him do the Jones/Wells shop-the-market thing and then see if he comes back. How it shakes out will depend quite a bit on how he springs back from the injury. A season ending injury recurrence would kill his FA value if it isn't severely damaged already.

Over the next couple years Rodgers gets a huge but cap friendly deal; Raji's value has been cut in half over the last 2 seasons and may get replaced anyway if the right talent/value appears in the draft; Matthews is a wild card. We'll get cap savings from Woodson's renegotiation/departure and Pickett's departure.

Way too many things can happen, particularly injuries, over the next 2 years to draw any clear conclusion other than Rodgers gets his money, and that's most of the battle.
 

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