While I liked Gutekunst signing Fuller to an pffer sheet at that point I'm glad the Bears ended up matching it and the Packers ending up with Alexander and Jackson.
I'm on board with that. Getting that second 1st. rounder in the bargain was especially slick. I came at this from the standpoint that roster building to a legitimate Super Bowl contender was not going to be a one year project. I've not seen anything to change my mind, Rodgers' knee or otherwise. With Fuller, at least you would have a second contract shut down guy for the long haul, bad hands or not.
The point to which you responded was to intended to observe that had that offer sheet been landed then the draft and subsequent FA signings would have pivoted significantly with a ripple affect particularly in light of Fuller's $13.5 mil cap number in 2019 which would have driven the current 2019 top 51 cap number (assuming the other moves made since) to over $160 mil before re-signing or replacing any of these players:
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/green-bay-packers/
While some moves are narrowly confined, such as Nelson out, Graham in, and Allison promoted, with cap allocation to the receiver group somewhat lower than in 2017 post-Adams extension, it seems every name brand FA that comes down the pike gets some interest here as a move taken in isolation when in fact one major move can set up a ripple affect under cap considerations. Fuller would have been one of those signings.
At the extreme, and as noted before, signing Mack to a contract on par with what he got from the Bears, the current 2019 top 51 cap committments would have jumped to over $170 mil, more than $10 mil over the 2017 cap number right now, with something like Mack's $22 mil cap number with the Bears, while not counting any of the cost to resign or replace those 2019 FAs in the above link.
That situation would have been compounded by the trade terms, essentially two first round picks (or more depending on Oakland's view of CHI vs. GB vs. NO 2018 winning prospects) in exchange for a 2020 2nd. rounder.
After we add it all up, Mack would have crunched the 2019 cap to intolerable levels in leaving little cap flexibility while foregoing the top 2 picks to replace a couple of those FAs while leaving a whole bunch of holes.
In light of these facts, there's no way Gutekunst's interest in this trade was more than preliminary to guage the possible cost. The ripple affect would have been prohibitive. The media echo chamber exaggerated Packer interest, perhaps based on "leaks" of Packer "seriousness" from Oakland or Mack's agent to drive up the price. The math is too compelling to believe otherwise.
