Free Agent Targets

[Mondio]

I could definitely get behind a line of Clark, Hicks and Keke. I think they'd make a lot of people playing behind them look good.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Akeim Hicks to GB makes so much sense. MLF gushed over him last season and with the Packers entire Dline depth consistent of only Clark, Keke and Lowry he would be a much needed upgrade. I would probably prefer him over a CB at this point.

I have been an Akiem Hicks fan for quite awhile, but I don't see him in in Green and Gold for several reasons.

• Bears won't trade him to the Packers. The last time there was a trade between the two teams was August of 1999. The Bears got Glyn Milburn in exchange for a 7th round pick. Which the Packers used to draft Donald Driver.
• Contract: Hicks only has 1 year left on a contract that would cost a team $10.5 M. Probably a fair price for his talent, but a one year rental, at that price, might not be justifiable for the cap strapped Packers.
• Age: At 31, Hicks has to be seen as potentially on the wrong side of 30 for a DT his size.

 

[RepStar15]

I have been an Akiem Hicks fan for quite awhile, but I don't see him in in Green and Gold for several reasons.

• Bears won't trade him to the Packers. The last time there was a trade between the two teams was August of 1999. The Bears got Glyn Milburn in exchange for a 7th round pick. Which the Packers used to draft Donald Driver.
• Contract: Hicks only has 1 year left on a contract that would cost a team $10.5 M. Probably a fair price for his talent, but a one year rental, at that price, might not be justifiable for the cap strapped Packers.
• Age: At 31, Hicks has to be seen as potentially on the wrong side of 30 for a DT his size.

Given what the trade market has been, you do not project him getting released in the coming days? Similar to Fuller I think the bears announce a trade to try and control where he goes before inevitably releasing him.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Given what the trade market has been, you do not project him getting released in the coming days? Similar to Fuller I think the bears announce a trade to try and control where he goes before inevitably releasing him.

As a Free agent? Yes, much more plausible of a scenario. Will the Bears release him? I would say if they did, Pace has all but thrown the towel in on the 2021 Season. The Bears were a better team last year with Hicks on the field. Of course, some might say signing Andy Dalton has already sealed Pace, Nagy's and the Bears future. Was interesting to read that Fuller and Hicks were the 2 players, plus a truckload of draft picks that Pace offered up to the Seahawks for Russell Wilson. I like Russell, for his sake, I'm glad the deal didn't come to fruition.

 

[Pkrjones]

Akeim Hicks to GB makes so much sense. MLF gushed over him last season and with the Packers entire Dline depth consistent of only Clark, Keke and Lowry he would be a much needed upgrade. I would probably prefer him over a CB at this point.

The Bears defense was completely different without Hicks vs with him. He'd be a great addition but as dumb as the Bear's front office is they won't allow a trade directly to GB. Wonder if Gute could pull off a 3 team trade duping Pace?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Exactly, they're only forgoing 2.26 m in 2021 cap savings if they pay the bonus.

First of all the Packers would have saved $4.53 million of cap space for this season solely by converting Rodgers' roster into a signing bonus.

Gutekunst not doing that makes absolutely no sense at all, especially considering the move wouldn't negatively affect the cap in any way no matter when the Packers actually move on from Rodgers.

In addition it signals that the team doesn't plan in going all-in for the 2021 season.

Hence why I said day 3. We had more pressing needs than HB and QB last year, yet here we are.

It seems I missed the part about you advocating for the Packers to only spend a day three pick on a running back. I would definitely be fine with that.

Given what the trade market has been, you do not project him getting released in the coming days? Similar to Fuller I think the bears announce a trade to try and control where he goes before inevitably releasing him.

It's probable Hicks would ask for too much money as a free agent for it to make sense for the Packers to make a move for him.

 

[sschind]

I wasn't necessarily expecting you to but I think we could all reasonably agree that if the roster wouldn't change creating the most amount of cap room makes sense.

Only if you are prepared to kick the most amount possible down the road. The piper will have to be paid eventually and there is something to be said for caution.

It might be nicer to have 20 million to spend this year rather than 16 but if that means you have to trim even more next year maybe its better to take the bite on the extra 4 million this year.

Planning on the cap exploding every year to take up the excess you keep pushing back is not always a good strategy.

I'm not even going to bring up the idea that by moving Rodger's numbers back it makes it even harder to move on from him if that's the eventual plan.

 

[RepStar15]

The Bears defense was completely different without Hicks vs with him. He'd be a great addition but as dumb as the Bear's front office is they won't allow a trade directly to GB. Wonder if Gute could pull off a 3 team trade duping Pace?

Browns trade a 6th for Hicks
Packers trade a 5th and MVS to the Browns
Browns trade Hicks

Packers extend Adams and lower Lowry’s contract (if he doesn’t agree then release)

 

[sschind]

Gutekunst not doing that makes absolutely no sense at all, especially considering the move wouldn't negatively affect the cap in any way no matter when the Packers actually move on from Rodgers.

How could it not impact the cap in the future? They have to account for it eventually. If it lowers the hit this year it has to raise it at some time in the future doesn't it?

 

[Pkrjones]

First of all the Packers would have saved $4.53 million of cap space for this season solely by converting Rodgers' roster into a signing bonus.

Gutekunst not doing that makes absolutely no sense at all, especially considering the move wouldn't negatively affect the cap in any way no matter when the Packers actually move on from Rodgers.

ANY money converted to a Signing Bonus gets spread out for the remaining years of a contract. AR's roster bouns ($6.8Mil) converted to a Signing Bonus would've spread out $2.667Mil over '21, '22, and '23 year. True it would've saved $4.533Mil in '21 but would've ADDED 2.667 to his cap hit in '22($42.519Mil) & '23 ($31.019Mil).

IF GB chooses to start the Jordan Love era in '22 would've added $4.53Mil to the '22 dead money.

IF they move on in '23 would've added $2.667Mil to the dead money in '23.

 

[Schultz]

Snead like most everyone else will not be getting their market value this year. Put Lazard on Baltimore and Snead on the Packers and those numbers are no longer comparable.

McKinnon- when he played last year he looked good. But then everyone SF runs the ball with looks good. I have to believe he would be on the cheap this year. If a vet is on the roster on the cheap then you don't have to draft a RB before the 6th round and can take care of other needs.

 

[Dantés]

The Bears cut Fuller and he immediately signed a 1/9.5M deal with the Broncos.

Getting back to Fangio seemed to be his biggest priority.

I guess he has a thing for terrible teams.

Remaining options at corner:

• S. Nelson, PIT
• A. Jackson, TEN
• M. Butler, TEN
• X. Rhodes, IND
• B. Breeland, KC

 

[bigbubbatd]

The Bears cut Fuller and he immediately signed a 1/9.5M deal with the Broncos.

Getting back to Fangio seemed to be his biggest priority.

I guess he has a thing for terrible teams.

Remaining options at corner:

• S. Nelson, PIT
• A. Jackson, TEN
• M. Butler, TEN
• X. Rhodes, IND
• B. Breeland, KC

Rhodes didn't excite me because he was pretty bad at the end of his time in minnesota but he his numbers were solid last year. I don't know enough about the 5 listed there but butler and rhodes would be solid additions.

Does anyone see a chance of Kevin King returning?

 

[Dantés]

Rhodes didn't excite me because he was pretty bad at the end of his time in minnesota but he his numbers were solid last year. I don't know enough about the 5 listed there but butler and rhodes would be solid additions.

Does anyone see a chance of Kevin King returning?

I guess he could and they could draft competition/replacement.

I wouldn’t be very excited about it. Even when he was “good,” he wasn’t very good.

Rhodes is a lot better than King if you’re playing him in a zone— cover 2 or quarters. In man, he’s a liability.

But at least he’s good at something. King was poor at virtually everything last year.

 

[Dantés]

Colts as bringing back X. Rhodes on a 1 year deal per Pelissero.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

I think King coming back on a 1-Yr vet minimum deal is becoming more and more a possibility. Sure, the longer FA drags on without a signing the CB position will probably go up higher on the list of needs for the Packers in the Draft; I see a minimum of 2 CB selections, possibly 3. But the Draft is unpredictable, knowing what you have in King isn't. And like we've said so many times before in other evaluations of the roster, having Kevin King at CB was good enough to make it to the NFCCG back-to-back. This isn't a justification of him being a quality CB, but based on what we have at this point in time, he could be an asset.

 

[Dantés]

Another idea for the cornerback position would be to trade a pick to Baltimore for Jimmy Smith.

He's soon to be 33, and with Tavon Young coming back, he'd be their 4th corner.

With one season left at just 2M, he would be an easy contract to absorb.

He apparently was still playing well last season.

 

[PackerDNA]

I'm going to add having King back right up there with Lowry and Lancaster starting next to Clark for a third year in a row as a sure sign of trouble. I wouldn't even consider bringing him back.

 

[Dantés]

Another cut that might by worth considering is Kareem Jackson.

He converted to safety a couple of seasons ago and has been a slot/safety the last two seasons in Denver. He's done really well in Fangio's defense. He's older, but apparently didn't look to be slowing down last season.

If the Packers are going to use a lot of three safety looks, he would be a nice addition.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The piper will have to be paid eventually and there is something to be said for caution.

I don't think there's any reason for caution with Rodgers' championship window closing pretty fast.

It might be nicer to have 20 million to spend this year rather than 16 but if that means you have to trim even more next year maybe its better to take the bite on the extra 4 million this year.

You might have a valid point if the Packers actually had $16 million to spend. At this point they will still have to make some moves to even sign their draft class and fit players #52 and #53 as well as the practice squad under the cap.

Planning on the cap exploding every year to take up the excess you keep pushing back is not always a good strategy.

With the new TV deals signed the salary cap will most likely explode in 2023. The NFLPA is already pushing for the league to use part of that money to increase the cap next offseason as well.

I'm not even going to bring up the idea that by moving Rodger's numbers back it makes it even harder to move on from him if that's the eventual plan.

That's where most of you are completely wrong. The Packers converting Rodgers' base salary and signing bonus in a roster bonus this week wouldn't have made any difference on the total cap hit he would have accounted for no matter when the team decides to move on.

Let's take a look at the numbers if the Packers move on from him next season in both cases.

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The total cap hit allocated to him would be exactly the same but the Packers would have gained much needed $14 million in cap space for this season.

That is true for whenever the team actually decides to move on from him.

How could it not impact the cap in the future? They have to account for it eventually. If it lowers the hit this year it has to raise it at some time in the future doesn't it?

In total it wouldn't have made a difference.

ANY money converted to a Signing Bonus gets spread out for the remaining years of a contract. AR's roster bouns ($6.8Mil) converted to a Signing Bonus would've spread out $2.667Mil over '21, '22, and '23 year. True it would've saved $4.533Mil in '21 but would've ADDED 2.667 to his cap hit in '22($42.519Mil) & '23 ($31.019Mil).

IF GB chooses to start the Jordan Love era in '22 would've added $4.53Mil to the '22 dead money.

IF they move on in '23 would've added $2.667Mil to the dead money in '23.

I fully understand the way a signing bonus is accounted for.

You have to acknowledge the cap space saved this year as well instead of just taking a look at the increased dead money down the road though.

 

[ARPackFan]

I've always felt that the first few days of NFL free agency is a suckers bet where you end up over-paying for someone that underperforms their big contract. I really didn't expect much movement by the Packers but I'm still bit surprised. Will we see any movement this coming week or will the Packers wait until the dust settles and get some reliable backups, role players, or if lucky an actual starter?

If you are keeping score on the number of FA signings by team.

https://www.nfl.com/news/2021-nfl-f...ings-trades-contract-details-for-all-32-teams

Packers - 1
Rams -2
Colts, Eagles, Falcons - 3

and at the other end -

Patriots - 19

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I've always felt that the first few days of NFL free agency is a suckers bet where you end up over-paying for someone that underperforms their big contract. I really didn't expect much movement by the Packers but I'm still bit surprised. Will we see any movement this coming week or will the Packers wait until the dust settles and get some reliable backups, role players, or if lucky an actual starter?

If you are keeping score on the number of FA signings by team.

https://www.nfl.com/news/2021-nfl-f...ings-trades-contract-details-for-all-32-teams

Packers - 1
Rams -2
Colts, Eagles, Falcons - 3

and at the other end -

Patriots - 19

What Free agent did the Packers sign?

 

[Pkrjones]

What Free agent did the Packers sign?

They're counting re-signing Aaron Jones as a FA signing.

 

[sschind]

I don't think there's any reason for caution with Rodgers' championship window closing pretty fast.



You might have a valid point if the Packers actually had $16 million to spend. At this point they will still have to make some moves to even sign their draft class and fit players #52 and #53 as well as the practice squad under the cap.



With the new TV deals signed the salary cap will most likely explode in 2023. The NFLPA is already pushing for the league to use part of that money to increase the cap next offseason as well.




That's where most of you are completely wrong. The Packers converting Rodgers' base salary and signing bonus in a roster bonus this week wouldn't have made any difference on the total cap hit he would have accounted for no matter when the team decides to move on.

Let's take a look at the numbers if the Packers move on from him next season in both cases.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

The total cap hit allocated to him would be exactly the same but the Packers would have gained much needed $14 million in cap space for this season.

That is true for whenever the team actually decides to move on from him.



In total it wouldn't have made a difference.



I fully understand the way a signing bonus is accounted for.

You have to acknowledge the cap space saved this year as well instead of just taking a look at the increased dead money down the road though.

Its a trade off. Yeah he will count the same overall but whatever is gained this year will be lost next year. The salary cap is calculated every year not on average.

The 16 million figure I mentioned was the amount they could still gain by converting his salary only rather than salary and roster bonus. It may not be 16 million but it is still significant.

If they have 29 guys counting 200 million against the cap next year and they converted Rodgers money to a SB they save money this year but now they have 29 guys counting 205 million next year. Now they have to cut even more next year. Note the 5 million is just for illustration, I'm not sure what the exact number would be.

Again, you are right the overall cap hit is the same but you simply can't gain cap space this year by converting salary to SB without losing cap space in the future. That's what puts teams like the Saints in cap hell this year. Pushing all the money out into future years. I'm not sure pushing every dollar possible into the future just to have more to spend now is the smartest thing to do.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

They're counting re-signing Aaron Jones as a FA signing.

Ahhh....Tomato...tomatoe. I guess I never view a resigning of one of your own, especially before Free Agency even starts, as a "Free Agent" signed. Good thing the NFL doesn't factor it into the compensatory pick equation either.