What do you think is better.... To spend all the cap you have each year. Maxing out potential yearly ... Or have a larger ebb and flow of "rebuild" with a cap surplus. And a good 4-5 year push, splurging the extra cap on higher free agents, and dropping big bucks on signing more big home made stars... And then mortgaging the future to have a couple more Superbowl runs.... All followed by a 2-3 year rebuild?
IMO, it depends on a lot of factors, that are changing every season, even sometimes mid-season.
- Do you have roster that realistically is a top 10 team?
- How many high end expiring contracts do you have, that you will want to redo in the next year or two?
- Cap outlook for the following years?
- Age of roster?
I'm sure I missed factors that weigh into a GM's mind on how much cap to spend each season. Prior to last season and this, the Packers were over cap leveraged and almost "all in" to win with Rodgers. Not a scenario that I personally like. Very little margin for error. A major injury, bad luck, injuries can topple that house of cards quickly and then it takes a few seasons to get cap healthy again.
I know there is a lot of optimism about the Packers 2024 and I share it. However, I don't think this team will compete for a SB this season, unless all the stars align. Love and his young receiving group need another year together to develop, get experience and gain confidence. The new look defense, while talented, with a new coach, probably needs the same thing, a year of jelling. For those reasons, I hope Gute leaves plenty of cap ammunition in the chamber for 2025. Much like he did this offseason, fill a major hole (or two) with a top notch player like McKinney and keep hitting on the draft. He may have this roster set up to compere for a number of years.
