2025 NFL Free Agency

[Heyjoe4]

I was personally not willing to go above $3.5/$4M on him unless incentive tied.

Yeah it may be that the Seattle price was driven higher by the loss of Metcalf. And that deal may have incentives as well. It's so hard to tell what the real financial impact is for a contract.

 

[Heyjoe4]

It’s not even that we didn’t sign him, dude just loves Wisconsin so much and I was clinging to hope that somehow we would do same low deal as last year

True. Some guys are just so connected with the community - it's very hard when they leave. Dillon certainly fits that bill. All the best to him.

 

[El Guapo]

Yeah it may be that the Seattle price was driven higher by the loss of Metcalf. And that deal may have incentives as well. It's so hard to tell what the real financial impact is for a contract.

One possibility is the MVS did not want to come back to Green Bay. Maybe he has ill feelings about his departure from the team, or maybe he didn't pay his final electric bill on his way out the door. There could be some non-monetary issues that made a deal with MVS impossible from the start.

 

[Heyjoe4]

One possibility is the MVS did not want to come back to Green Bay. Maybe he has ill feelings about his departure from the team, or maybe he didn't pay his final electric bill on his way out the door. There could be some non-monetary issues that made a deal with MVS impossible from the start.

Good point. I'm generally opposed to teams and players reuniting. It's common there is some bitterness, on both sides, over the separation. There certainly are plenty of choices for the player and the team. Best to move on. I'm sure there are exceptions, but not many that come to mind.

 

[Thirteen Below]

True. Some guys are just so connected with the community - it's very hard when they leave. Dillon certainly fits that bill. All the best to him.

I am willing to wager he is not going to enjoy his new community quite as much as he enjoyed Green Bay. It's going to be quite a culture shock for his family, and frankly for him too.

He was born and raised in a small, quiet town in Connecticut, went to a small, elite Ivy League prep school in Groton, CT, and then (after a few years in Boston) he found a little slice of heaven in Green Bay.

And now Philadelphia happens to him.

He goes from the best, most caring, most welcoming and supportive fan base in the NFL (arguably all of professional sports) to a fan base that NFL players voted a few months ago as "the most annoying fans in the NFL". I feel badly for the guy when the fans start booing him for getting stuffed at the line.

 

[Thirteen Below]

I'm sure there are exceptions, but not many that come to mind.

The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Charles Woodson, when he went back to Oakland for the last 3 years of his career. But he was a very popular player, and a great guy, so I think Raider Nation was glad to seem him finish out his career there.

 

[Heyjoe4]

The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Charles Woodson, when he went back to Oakland for the last 3 years of his career. But he was a very popular player, and a great guy, so I think Raider Nation was glad to seem him finish out his career there.

Good point. I forgot about that.

 

[Thirteen Below]

Our longtime nemesis, the Niners, are just getting gutted. So far they've lost or released 12 players (most of them starters), including Dre Greenlaw, Deebo Samuels, Kyle Jusczyk, and of course Aaron Banks.

Kyle Juszczyk (released)
Maliek Collins (released)
Dre Greenlaw (signed with Broncos: three years, $35 million)
Charvarius Ward (signed with Colts: three years, $60 million)
Talanoa Hufanga (signed with Broncos: three years, $45 million)
Aaron Banks (signed with Packers: four years, $77 million)
Jaylon Moore (signed with Chiefs: two years, $30 million)
Elijah Mitchell (signed with Chiefs)
Leonard Floyd (released, signed with Falcons: one year, $10 million)

Most of those guys are going to be hard to replace this season with anything close to comparable value. Fortunately they have 11 picks in this year's draft (roughly 1 of every 21 picks in the Top 150), because they just got 4 comp picks (and a fairly high draft slot at #11), but most of those guys aren't going to quickly be replaced by rookies. And they can't spend much on free agency, because they only have about $40 million in cap space, and Brock Purdy is patiently waiting outside John Lynch's door expecting a roughly $40 million extension.

And that still leaves George Kittle, who they may not even decide to extend at all, considering the fact that by the time they seriously contend again he'll have played out the extension and probably considering retirement.

They're carrying $89 million in dead money, meaning over 25% of their salary cap is being used by players no longer on their roster. They have a serious rebuild ahead of them, and I think it's going to be a couple of years before we have to worry about beating them in the NFCCG again. I remember that 3 or 4 years ago, the last time they beat us in the NFCCG, most of us saw this coming and called it. The way their payroll and roster were structured, there was simply no way it could be avoided.

In fact, I'm surprised it took as long as it did - I thought it would happen in 24, but then again I guess you could say the disintegration started last season, because that roster wasn't even close to contending.

The good news for them is that they'll probably be drafting higher again next year than they're used to drafting, and they'll probably have lot of picks again because they'll collect a bunch of comp picks from this free agent exodus. But, Packer fans, we got our wish - we no longer have to worry about getting past the Niners in the NFC! Just as we all knew was coming!

Except I don't think any of could have remotely expected that the Lions and Vikings were going to become 2 of the toughest teams in the league, the Bears were going to become a club that we actually have to seriously fear, and the NFC North would (top to bottom) become the strongest division the NFL has seen in a generation or more.

Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

 

[Thirteen Below]

Good point. I forgot about that.

Easy to overlook, but I suspect Woodson is and was the exception to quite a lot of rules.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Our longtime nemesis, the Niners, are just getting gutted. So far they've lost or released 12 players (most of them starters), including Dre Greenlaw, Deebo Samuels, Kyle Jusczyk, and of course Aaron Banks.

Kyle Juszczyk (released)
Maliek Collins (released)
Dre Greenlaw (signed with Broncos: three years, $35 million)
Charvarius Ward (signed with Colts: three years, $60 million)
Talanoa Hufanga (signed with Broncos: three years, $45 million)
Aaron Banks (signed with Packers: four years, $77 million)
Jaylon Moore (signed with Chiefs: two years, $30 million)
Elijah Mitchell (signed with Chiefs)
Leonard Floyd (released, signed with Falcons: one year, $10 million)

Most of those guys are going to be hard to replace this season with anything close to comparable value. Fortunately they have 11 picks in this year's draft (roughly 1 of every 21 picks in the Top 150), because they just got 4 comp picks (and a fairly high draft slot at #11), but most of those guys aren't going to quickly be replaced by rookies. And they can't spend much on free agency, because they only have about $40 million in cap space, and Brock Purdy is patiently waiting outside John Lynch's door expecting a roughly $40 million extension.

And that still leaves George Kittle, who they may not even decide to extend at all, considering the fact that by the time they seriously contend again he'll have played out the extension and probably considering retirement.

They're carrying $89 million in dead money, meaning over 25% of their salary cap is being used by players no longer on their roster. They have a serious rebuild ahead of them, and I think it's going to be a couple of years before we have to worry about beating them in the NFCCG again. I remember that 3 or 4 years ago, the last time they beat us in the NFCCG, most of us saw this coming and called it. The way their payroll and roster were structured, there was simply no way it could be avoided.

In fact, I'm surprised it took as long as it did - I thought it would happen in 24, but then again I guess you could say the disintegration started last season, because that roster wasn't even close to contending.

The good news for them is that they'll probably be drafting higher again next year than they're used to drafting, and they'll probably have lot of picks again because they'll collect a bunch of comp picks from this free agent exodus. But, Packer fans, we got our wish - we no longer have to worry about getting past the Niners in the NFC! Just as we all knew was coming!

Except I don't think any of could have remotely expected that the Lions and Vikings were going to become 2 of the toughest teams in the league, the Bears were going to become a club that we actually have to seriously fear, and the NFC North would (top to bottom) become the strongest division the NFL has seen in a generation or more.

Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

I didn't know they had such a big cap problem. How did they get there? And that doesn't include Purdy yet, well I think. I think he's still playing on his rookie deal.

It seemed like the Eagles lost quite a few FAs as well. Josh Sweat to the Cardinals is the only one that comes to mind, but I think there were others.

Gotta appreciate the job Gluten and Ball do managing the cap. The transition from Rodgers dead money seemed to go well, and FA signings and solid mid to late round drafting helped a lot.

 

[gopkrs]

The Norse division did good. Grades I saw which made sense to me were: bears A, vikes A-, with detroit and Green Bay getting Bs.

 

[SudsMcBucky]

Our longtime nemesis, the Niners, are just getting gutted. So far they've lost or released 12 players (most of them starters), including Dre Greenlaw, Deebo Samuels, Kyle Jusczyk, and of course Aaron Banks.

Kyle Juszczyk (released)
Maliek Collins (released)
Dre Greenlaw (signed with Broncos: three years, $35 million)
Charvarius Ward (signed with Colts: three years, $60 million)
Talanoa Hufanga (signed with Broncos: three years, $45 million)
Aaron Banks (signed with Packers: four years, $77 million)
Jaylon Moore (signed with Chiefs: two years, $30 million)
Elijah Mitchell (signed with Chiefs)
Leonard Floyd (released, signed with Falcons: one year, $10 million)

Most of those guys are going to be hard to replace this season with anything close to comparable value. Fortunately they have 11 picks in this year's draft (roughly 1 of every 21 picks in the Top 150), because they just got 4 comp picks (and a fairly high draft slot at #11), but most of those guys aren't going to quickly be replaced by rookies. And they can't spend much on free agency, because they only have about $40 million in cap space, and Brock Purdy is patiently waiting outside John Lynch's door expecting a roughly $40 million extension.

And that still leaves George Kittle, who they may not even decide to extend at all, considering the fact that by the time they seriously contend again he'll have played out the extension and probably considering retirement.

They're carrying $89 million in dead money, meaning over 25% of their salary cap is being used by players no longer on their roster. They have a serious rebuild ahead of them, and I think it's going to be a couple of years before we have to worry about beating them in the NFCCG again. I remember that 3 or 4 years ago, the last time they beat us in the NFCCG, most of us saw this coming and called it. The way their payroll and roster were structured, there was simply no way it could be avoided.

In fact, I'm surprised it took as long as it did - I thought it would happen in 24, but then again I guess you could say the disintegration started last season, because that roster wasn't even close to contending.

The good news for them is that they'll probably be drafting higher again next year than they're used to drafting, and they'll probably have lot of picks again because they'll collect a bunch of comp picks from this free agent exodus. But, Packer fans, we got our wish - we no longer have to worry about getting past the Niners in the NFC! Just as we all knew was coming!

Except I don't think any of could have remotely expected that the Lions and Vikings were going to become 2 of the toughest teams in the league, the Bears were going to become a club that we actually have to seriously fear, and the NFC North would (top to bottom) become the strongest division the NFL has seen in a generation or more.

Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

It'll be real interesting what they do with Purdy. Is this the situation where a team actually stands up to a QB and says "yeah, we like you as our QB, but not at $50MM." If there ever was a QB that played on a good team that was replaceable, this would be it. I wouldn't pay him top QB money. JMHO.

 

[AmishMafia]

The Norse division did good. Grades I saw which made sense to me were: bears A, vikes A-, with detroit and Green Bay getting Bs.

That makes it an even 20 years of the Packers not winning the offseason in the NFC Norris.

 

[milani]

Bears signing Drew Dalman to complete their OL overhaul. $42M three year deal. Solid move by our North rival.

We were 1-5 in the division last year. The Eagles were not much tougher.