2017 Draft/FA Needs - Ranked

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PackerDNA

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If Clay is reconstructed, he'll probably worth his original contract. :)

Restructuring probably won't work since it wouldn't make sense for him to do it. I'd probably eat his contract for '17, hope for the best and cut him after next season.
 

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Too cute for my own good. Note that I'm talking about Clay being 'reconstructed' as the post I replied to called it, obviously meaning 'restructured', and my point was just that if, we get the Matthews as constructed a few years ago, I'd be happy with his contract. Sorry for lame attempt at humor.
 

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Too cute for my own good. Note that I'm talking about Clay being 'reconstructed' as the post I replied to called it, obviously meaning 'restructured', and my point was just that if, we get the Matthews as constructed a few years ago, I'd be happy with his contract. Sorry for lame attempt at humor.

No ,no that was great! I got a kick out of it, but didn't get it until after I replied.
 

sdh09e44

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His hammies and shoulder do indeed need to be reconstructed LOL


but anyway. Yea it doesn't make sense for him as an individual to have his deal restructured. But if you go to him and say " if we had an extra 5 mil we could make some big time moves to better the defense and take the load off of you"......then maybe you agree to it. He should agree with it. But I bet it doesn't work that way in the reality of the NFL.
 
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This is a very deep draft in terms of CB depth, and it's full of pass rushers too. Also remember that this draft boasts a good class of first round running back and receiver prospects... So lots of other teams will be looking to improve in other areas of need. Bear in mind that cats like Tre'davious White who would ordinarily be a top 20 guy is projected by some to be a second rounder.
It's always hard to tell where the 1st round runs are gonna be. It could all depend on whether a GM got too much Starbucks that morning or not enough bacon.

One twitchy knee jerk reaction could cascade something off the wall.

If we lock our focus on one position, we could miss out on a future pro bowler at another.
 

brandon2348

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My fear is Clay won't be restructured and they pay him the 16 mill which is a horrible sign to what TT and Co. plan do to this offseason with the defense.

If thats the case they mine as well "double down" on the offense and draft Mike Williams. I've actually seen him mocked in a few drafts being there and Sporting News has Pack drafting him.. Hard to believe he will be there but some seem to think so. adding him to the offense would create a whole nother dimension.
 

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NFL players sometimes have dramatic falls in ability in short periods, I worry that we have several positions we currently think we are OK and next year will have big falls in ability. Clay has been nothing since the PED thing came out, he's a $5M player at this point. Play 12 games and hurt for 4.
 

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NFL players sometimes have dramatic falls in ability in short periods, I worry that we have several positions we currently think we are OK and next year will have big falls in ability. Clay has been nothing since the PED thing came out, he's a $5M player at this point. Play 12 games and hurt for 4.

That's been the epitome of this team the last few seasons. Certain areas that we believe are strong end up being a huge liability, injuries impact this but still.

We lose one WR and the offense completely falls apart we lose one CB and the pass defense absolutely falls apart. This GM needs to figure out how to have sufficient depth and he needs to figure it out fast.
 

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Yes, it is just this simple
1) CB -- Dmitri Goodson
2) DL -- Kyrie Thornton
3) OLB -- Carl Bradford
4) OL -- Andrew Datko
5) CB -- Quinton Rollins
6) TE -- Kennard Backman
7) RB -- Jonathon Franklin

I only went back 5 years. 1-#2, 1-#3, 2-#4, 2-#6, 1-#7 These should be the core starters and top backups by now if the draft and develop actually worked in these instances. I'd cut Franklin some slack. Just saying "yep we can draft what we need" rarely recalls these players.
 

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The problem with letting Perry walk and going after Jones is that the most likely scenario is ending up with neither. The Cards would have to let him walk, which they won't. Then he would have to choose Green Bay out of what would be a long list of suitors. And by the time you figure out what Jones is going to do, Perry might already be taken by another team. And even if he wasn't, his price tag will be much higher once there is open competition for his services.

The Packers need to keep Perry and then continue to address the pass rush from there.
 

brandon2348

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This is going to be a very interesting off-season because the way I see it TT has backed himself into a corner with his development approach and not hitting on enough picks in the past few years to make his whole program work. There are key free agents that decisions need be made on. I dont think TT can draft his way out of this mess.

Problem no. 1. Most people think its conerback but what to do with Matthews needs to be addresed because it affects the salary cap so much and who needs to be targeted. His cap number is an eye sore. These guys gotta know he isn't the player he was on the edge. I mean there gonna go to Clay and ask him to move to ILB and BTW take a significant pay cut to do it. I don't see a happy ending here. Regardless, I would rather move on from Clay then have a broken down 16 million dollar ILB on the payroll. Makes no sense. I know the thought of losing Matthews and Peppers might scare some but it makes way more sense then moving on from Sitton last fall. What makes this whole situation even more difficult is as much as i liked Nick Perry's development I just dont know if I trust giving him big money with him hurt so much in the past. Fackrell isnt ready. At least not now. I was against it at first but might be a good idea to sign Datone Jones to a "prove it deal". Something needs to be done here.

Problem no. 2. Gotta protect Rodgers at all costs and they can't afford to lose both Lang and Tretter. If TT doesnt play this one right and with an injury here and there on the offensive line we could be back to 2015 OL problens real quick or even worse.

Problem no. 3. We need a no.1 corner and I don't feel safe drating one to make him the no.1 guy day one. If TT overpays in free agency at one position it should be at corner. At the very least a "tier 2" corner should be signed to come in and play. I still have some hope for DR but not much. Same thing with Rollins. Were okay at safety. I like the possibilities of Brice and possibly moving Dix down closer to the box.

Problem no.4 is lack of speed in the middle of the defense. This one ****** me off the most becuse TT has spent draft picks at the position and were really not any faster there. I mean it goes Palmer, Barrington, Bradford, Ryan and Martinez and we end up with a FA "Thomas" playing a ton of snaps there. Pathetic.

Lastly they need to move on from Lacy. If a guy cant keep himself in shape then you cant pay him. Let a team like the Giants pay him. Pack can get a good fresh RB in 4th round. I personally like Jamaal Williams as an option as I've posted.
 
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brandon2348

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The problem with letting Perry walk and going after Jones is that the most likely scenario is ending up with neither. The Cards would have to let him walk, which they won't. Then he would have to choose Green Bay out of what would be a long list of suitors. And by the time you figure out what Jones is going to do, Perry might already be taken by another team. And even if he wasn't, his price tag will be much higher once there is open competition for his services.

The Packers need to keep Perry and then continue to address the pass rush from there.

Agreed, As long as Perry is reasonable and doesnt expect "all star type money" I could see 8-10 mill per as reasonable
 

Dantés

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Logan Ryan and Hightower are FA's.

I would worry about Ryan coming into a defense as rigid as ours after NE was able to use him to his strengths so consistently. I like the player, but I can also see him disappointing in his next spot.

Hightower would be a stellar signing. I'm guessing they keep him. They flipped Jones and Collins. Eventually they're going to pay one of their studs.
 

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Problem no.4 is lack of speed in the middle of the defense. This one ****** me off the most becuse TT has spent draft picks at the position and were really not any faster there. I mean it goes Palmer, Barrington, Bradford, Ryan and Martinez and we end up with a FA "Thomas" playing a ton of snaps there. Pathetic.

That drives me crazy as well. Draft and develop doesn't work when you draft the wrong players time after time. I would rather we went to a 4-3, 4 "Reggies" up front can cover a lot of weaknesses behind them.
 
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Just speculation, but imagine this. I think you let Perry walk if you can sign Chandler Jones. He'd be double the price but we'd be set for the pass rush once another rookie is drafted. Rather than keeping Perry around and being hopeful he can replicate 2016, but uncertain about it. And then hoping Clay can get healthy stay healthy and replicate his better days, but again uncertain about it.

This would prevent us from signing a top CB but Kirkpatrick Amukamara Claiborne or DRC if he is cut could probably be brought in. Then since the pass rush is set, you can probably draft a CB in the first round to pair with one of those Vets.

I don´t think the Packers have enough cap space to sign Chandler Jones. Therefore I would prefer to re-sign Perry and use a significant portion of the available cap space to sign a veteran cornerback.

It's all about how the contracts are structured. Chandler Jones at about $16M a year sounds about right.

But that could be made to be 8M against the cap in 2017.

While that´s true a move like that would result in huge cap hits later in the contract. This approach leads to troubles with the cap down the road.

What makes this whole situation even more difficult is as much as i liked Nick Perry's development I just dont know if I trust giving him big money with him hurt so much in the past. Fackrell isnt ready. At least not now. I was against it at first but might be a good idea to sign Datone Jones to a "prove it deal". Something needs to be done here.

I would be fine with the Packers re-signing Perry to a reasonable contract. $8 million a season sounds like a fair deal.
 

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That's been the epitome of this team the last few seasons. Certain areas that we believe are strong end up being a huge liability, injuries impact this but still.

We lose one WR and the offense completely falls apart we lose one CB and the pass defense absolutely falls apart. This GM needs to figure out how to have sufficient depth and he needs to figure it out fast.

Think it might deserve its own thread, but this (and the post prior to it) are right near the top of my 'you are driving me crazy' complaints about the Pack. Added to what the others have mentioned, I figured our only problem with the running game after Lacy's first two years was if we could afford to re-sign him. In addition to CMIII's decline, I knew we were set in the middle of the line with Raji. That sort of thing - while the deficient areas are there, they never seem to permanently (in NFL terms) plug the holes (well, maybe QB).
 

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I don't think there is a single Reggie in the entire league, or has there been since the original.
 

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I don´t think the Packers have enough cap space to sign Chandler Jones. Therefore I would prefer to re-sign Perry and use a significant portion of the available cap space to sign a veteran cornerback.



While that´s true a move like that would result in huge cap hits later in the contract. This approach leads to troubles with the cap down the road.



I would be fine with the Packers re-signing Perry to a reasonable contract. $8 million a season sounds like a fair deal.

Again, all manageable if done right. Guys retiring or cut, yearly cap increases, etc.
That's one of the big problems here; too worried about 3 years from now instead of now.
 
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Again, all manageable if done right. Guys retiring or cut, yearly cap increases, etc.
That's one of the big problems here; too worried about 3 years from now instead of now.

I would be fine with the Packers signing high priced free agents this offseason but with cornerback being in most dire need of an upgrade I would prefer the team to spend money there instead of a pass rusher.
 

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I would be fine with the Packers signing high priced free agents this offseason but with cornerback being in most dire need of an upgrade I would prefer the team to spend money there instead of a pass rusher.

Get both; move up in the draft to secure a pass rushing OLB. If Jones isn't available- and I doubt he will be- Calais Campbell is one good option. One of the CB's talked about here, the draft, several good '2nd tier' options.
There's plenty of options and opportunity to drastically improve this defense, and no excuse not to.
 

sdh09e44

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Sam Shields and Starks have been cut, as we all expected.

Spotrac has us at $43.5 mil in space. We only get around 9 mil from SS getting cut, if he retired we would've gotten the full 12 mil, but still a very nice number to work with to sign someone big
 

sdh09e44

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Again, all manageable if done right. Guys retiring or cut, yearly cap increases, etc.
That's one of the big problems here; too worried about 3 years from now instead of now.

TT shouldn't be so scared to be close to the cap ceiling for a year or two. It's all worth it if you put together a SB caliber roster.

I remember saying this 2 offseasons ago and everyone kept telling me " we need to save some money for potential injuries in training camp or during the season or to make a trade during the season" , and the last two seasons we would've needed moves like that but they never came.
 
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