Who Will Aaron Rodgers Play For In 2022?

[rmontro]

We pushed cap around A TON to keep a loaded defensive roster

Might have worked out for us too, if it weren't for certain injuries, or if we didn't have a special teams unit riding around in a clown car.

 

[tynimiller]

I mean 20 of 29 for 225 yards would of been fine if 2 of those completions were for tds. I agree there

That brings us to you need at least 2 real wrs to win the Rams and Bengals each had 1 wr equal to Adams and 2 wrs better than anyone the Packers had

The Rams and Bengals both had real deal 1s, real deal 2s, and real deal 3s. The Packers have just a 1

Granted if Rodgers hadnt panicked on that 3rd down he brett favered deep to adams....and hed gine to Lazard the Packers probably win

2011 - We had Nelson, Jones, Jennings, Cobb, Driver + Finley TE
2012 - Nelson, Jones, Jennings, Driver, Cobb + Finley
2013 - Nelson, Jones, Cobb, Boykin (not a great WR but solid #4) + Finley
2014 - Nelson, Cobb, Nelson, Boykin + Rodgers TE
2015 - Jones, Cobb, Adams + Rodgers TE
2016 - Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Allison (again not a great guy but solid #4) + Jared Cook TE
2017 - Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Allison
2018 - Adams, Cobb, Lazard, Allison, MVS + Lewis/Graham TEs
2019 - Adams, Lazard, MVS - the first year we didn't have a bonafide, experienced and trusted #2 WR for Rodgers.
2020 - Adams, Lazard, MVS + Tonyan/Lewis TEs - second year of no true blue #2 WR
2021 - Adams, Cobb, Lazard, MVS - both Lazard and MVS have grown since becoming contributors in 2019 but neither a true #2, and Cobb was past his prime.

Three years one can argue we didn't give Rodgers a true second option out of the WR position specifically... and guess what the first 8 seasons listed above were 0-8 in making it to the Super Bowl. The last three were 0-3 in making it to the Super Bowl.

It is not as simple as a #2WR

 

[thequick12]

Of course it is possible, however had our entire stable of OL not been injured it is quite clear that Newman kept his job purely because of injury not because he was dominating. Again, it happens sure, but to bank on it is ignorance.

I agree about newman but the other 2 are good players. I expect them to both be very good in 2022 while newman is either a solid backup or takes a jump and claims a starting role

Im not banking on 3 of 5 but i am banking on 2 of 5 and hoping for 3 or even 4

 

[OldSchool101]

Yes Rodgers didnt play very good agajnst the 9ers but he certainly played well enough to win had the packers had fieled even an average special teams unit

If the Packers win that game 16-3...the narrative isnt at all that Rodgers didnt play well...

Not to beat a dead horse. But the weather factored against anything past 15-20 yards and it affected both sides. This will sound a little Oldschool but the Packers Offense had more opportunities than needed to put that game away. However the Offense was culpable when it allowed an inferior team to March into Lambeau and hang around long enough for a ST blunder to cost them the game.
Our Defense held SF to 6 points over 4 Quarters! our Offense led by Aaron Rodgers did their part in failing us Yes the ST helped them but in no way is 10 points acceptable for an Offense led by the league MVP.
If Aaron Rodgers Prime has this type performance at home when it matters? What if he doesn’t play MVP level next season? Is Rodgers going to improve from 2021?

 

[thequick12]

2011 - We had Nelson, Jones, Jennings, Cobb, Driver + Finley TE
2012 - Nelson, Jones, Jennings, Driver, Cobb + Finley
2013 - Nelson, Jones, Cobb, Boykin (not a great WR but solid #4) + Finley
2014 - Nelson, Cobb, Nelson, Boykin + Rodgers TE
2015 - Jones, Cobb, Adams + Rodgers TE
2016 - Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Allison (again not a great guy but solid #4) + Jared Cook TE
2017 - Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Allison
2018 - Adams, Cobb, Lazard, Allison, MVS + Lewis/Graham TEs
2019 - Adams, Lazard, MVS - the first year we didn't have a bonafide, experienced and trusted #2 WR for Rodgers.
2020 - Adams, Lazard, MVS + Tonyan/Lewis TEs - second year of no true blue #2 WR
2021 - Adams, Cobb, Lazard, MVS - both Lazard and MVS have grown since becoming contributors in 2019 but neither a true #2, and Cobb was past his prime.

Three years one can argue we didn't give Rodgers a true second option out of the WR position specifically... and guess what the first 8 seasons listed above were 0-8 in making it to the Super Bowl. The last three were 0-3 in making it to the Super Bowl.

It is not as simple as a #2WR

I get that...you need a defense to a really really good defense. Its tough obviously to have it all at the same time

Both the Rams and the Bengals did this year

Defense qb weapons

I was saying packers had everything except the 2nd real deal wr this season

because with say obj and adams...Lazard, mvs and cobb get better opportunities

 

[sschind]

That still leaves us with WR room of Cobb as the only one with actual playing time experience of any measurable sort. Winfree is second and then Chris Blair and Rico Gafford. Lazard is unsigned, MVS unsigned, EQ unsigned...) Lazard being a RFA is going to cost minimum around $2.4M if we bring him back...MVS will run more than that and possibly as high as $7M.

Doesn't even leave us with Cobb as he was released in quicks solution.

 

[thequick12]

Not to beat a dead horse. But the weather factored against anything past 15-20 yards and it affected both sides. This will sound a little Oldschool but the Packers Offense had more opportunities than needed to put that game away. However the Offense was culpable when it allowed an inferior team to March into Lambeau and hang around long enough for a ST blunder to cost them the game. Our Defense held them to 6 points over 4 Quarters! Our Offense failed us. Yes the ST helped them but in no way is 10 points acceptable for an Offense led by the league MVP.

When the packers won the super bowl last they defeated the bears by a score of 10-6 in the nfc championship game and bj raji scored the only td on an int return

 

[thequick12]

Let's say all those figures are exactly what they are for 2022 and clearly we don't care their impact beyond that for the hypothetical situation...

Plan on what $5.5M or so to the draftees....down to $14.5M

That still leaves us with WR room of Cobb as the only one with actual playing time experience of any measurable sort. Winfree is second and then Chris Blair and Rico Gafford. Lazard is unsigned, MVS unsigned, EQ unsigned...) Lazard being a RFA is going to cost minimum around $2.4M if we bring him back...MVS will run more than that and possibly as high as $7M.

That leaves us with zero depth on the OL behind our 5 "healthy" guys of Bakh, Runyan, Myers, Newman and Turner (Yosh is not signed, Jenkins is hurt, Patrick and Kelly are unsigned) Yosh again like Lazard will cost minimum $2.4M...Patrick or Kelly similar even if one year...

That leaves us with basically no ILB, only Summers and McDuffie signed....Campbell and Barnes both not signed....even Barnes will take at least $2/3M to sign...Campbell will take double that minimum.

That leaves us with a Cornerback room that essentially has just Jaire and Stokes.....sure we have SJC (rookie last season), the ever ongoing experiment that is Kabion Ento as well. Resign Sullivan would be cheapest route...but he'd even take a few million....King probably $4M minimum and be a bargain after last year at $5M he did well....Rasul could be closer to $10M than $6M...

This also leaves us with no kicker...well we could just roll with JJ Molson at his $705K figure and not worry about signing any competition or someone more proven to save some cap hit.

Also leaves us with no punter on the roster presently. There's a minimum type hit at least at 70% of a million at bit over $700,000.


That is a TON of holes and costs to cover with just $14.5M


Which is why even beyond ALL the fiscal issues we have that will hit us already, we will have to move more into future hits...just to bring back guys like or sign replacement level guys of similar roles as Lazard, King, Sully, Tonyan, Kelly, Yosh....shoot even EQSB.


Again kick that can down the road it is all possible, and seems they are more than willing to do it too and it is just a matter of days before we learn it confirmed and then a few more days before league releases the details of the contract for us to see what year it all crashes.

Theyre gonna do all that and more and resign Adams just watch...Rodgers is not coming back to the Packers without Adams

 

[thequick12]

Doesn't even leave us with Cobb as he was released in quicks solution.

I said Cobb could be resigned for cheap, like 2/3 million or something

 

[Half Empty]

When the packers won the super bowl last they defeated the bears by a score of 10-6 in the nfc championship game and bj raji scored the only td on an int return

I think you'll find it was 21-14. In any event, as mentioned elsewhere, winning heals all wounds. The Pack did win some very low-scoring games that year, the key word being "win".

 

[tynimiller]

I agree about newman but the other 2 are good players. I expect them to both be very good in 2022 while newman is either a solid backup or takes a jump and claims a starting role

Im not banking on 3 of 5 but i am banking on 2 of 5 and hoping for 3 or even 4

Again though it is rare to find two out of the gate starters, albeit more common if one is OL, just because that is one position where lower in the draft your odds are better still. I was very high on Myers (I had him as one of only two out the gate starting Centers in the draft last year IMO) so I wasn't surprised, but again not something I expect each draft. Not many also envisioned Stokes able to do as well as he did, play for sure, but he looked like a mid range two or three year player by the year's end - impressive.

 

[Cheese Headed Monster]

Drama from media appearances aside, I miss having Greg Jennings as a receiver. Usually we only hear about him negatively but dang he was solid.

 

[swhitset]

Ok theres a difference between "cash" and salary cap. I think youre missing that

I’m not sure what your point is… but the only “cash” a team can spend on a player has to fit under the cap. In other words every team can… and pretty…much does spend up to the limit of that cap. Owners aren’t pocketing extra money by giving out cheap contracts…. If a team offers a low ball contract it isn’t because they are trying to pocket the difference… its because they are trying to save more room under the cap for other players etc…

 

[OldSchool101]

When the packers won the super bowl last they defeated the bears by a score of 10-6 in the nfc championship game and bj raji scored the only td on an int return

Exactly what I was trying to say.

 

[swhitset]

2011 - We had Nelson, Jones, Jennings, Cobb, Driver + Finley TE
2012 - Nelson, Jones, Jennings, Driver, Cobb + Finley
2013 - Nelson, Jones, Cobb, Boykin (not a great WR but solid #4) + Finley
2014 - Nelson, Cobb, Nelson, Boykin + Rodgers TE
2015 - Jones, Cobb, Adams + Rodgers TE
2016 - Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Allison (again not a great guy but solid #4) + Jared Cook TE
2017 - Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Allison
2018 - Adams, Cobb, Lazard, Allison, MVS + Lewis/Graham TEs
2019 - Adams, Lazard, MVS - the first year we didn't have a bonafide, experienced and trusted #2 WR for Rodgers.
2020 - Adams, Lazard, MVS + Tonyan/Lewis TEs - second year of no true blue #2 WR
2021 - Adams, Cobb, Lazard, MVS - both Lazard and MVS have grown since becoming contributors in 2019 but neither a true #2, and Cobb was past his prime.

Three years one can argue we didn't give Rodgers a true second option out of the WR position specifically... and guess what the first 8 seasons listed above were 0-8 in making it to the Super Bowl. The last three were 0-3 in making it to the Super Bowl.

It is not as simple as a #2WR

Come on… let’s be fair here… nothing is decided in a vacuum. Every one of those teams had flaws … mostly on defense. 2021… not so much… but I completely agree with him that a second top WR would have likely made a difference with the offense.

 

[AKCheese]

Haha they got plenty of cash, and theres plenty of ways to manipulate the salary cap... the "salary cap" excuse is for owners who dont want to spend their cash. The Packers owners are the people of brown county and they need to demand that the packers front office representatives including Murphy and the board soend their cash to win a few SB titles before Rodgers retires

Brown County has nothing to do with it. If the Packers are ever sold it’s my recollection there’s some American Legion Post or VFW or something like that’s the benificiary. Regardless you can’t push ALL the money back. Whatever money is guaranteed is prorated over the contract. Yes you can add huge salary years to the back end that you never intend to pay but then the prorated guaranteed money pushes forward. Nobody here knows the real numbers but I don’t see how they can sign both Adams AND Rodgers and I don’t see how either one of them comes back without the other. Everyone acts like the only way Green Bay can get to the Super Bowl is with Arron Rodgers. Well none of the last 22 QBs playing in the Super Bowl have been named Aaron Rodgers. ….Gorropolo, Goff, Foles, Newton, Flacco, Kapernick, Newton, Eli Manning… stop me when I get to the HOF QB (possibly Manning). Stafford ring a bell? The same people who say Brady (7 rings) isn’t really that good but benifitted from his TEAM (although that happened 7 times… strange coincidence) advocate mortgaging the future to lock up a quarterback who has come up short time after time, sometimes not his fault but other times he qets a pass for OBVIOUS shortcomings in big games). Add that he’s getting old, has been injury prone the last 7 or 8 years AND this year became (an even more obvious) headcase. Given the choice of watching a team that is young and upcoming with lots of fresh draft talent and an improving cap situation vs a declining roster with too much money committed to an an aging headcase QB so he can have one LAST “last” dance… I pick the former. How many times have we seen a team (and to be honest a QB) not nearly as good as their hollow regular season record would fake you into believing. Aaron Rodgers FAILED bigtime last year at home against Tampa Bay…. He blamed everyone else, took no accountability for HIS shortcomings, put on a soap opera during the off season, forced Green Bay to hand him a loaded gun (capwise), mandate trades (Cobb)…. (Gee maybe we could have had OBJ if Rodgers had not played GM?) then he has a horrible game at home BLOWS the game with inexcuseable decision making and bad throws… and some people are willing to mortgage the next 5 years to give him ANOTHER “one more last dance”. I’m just relieved I think it’s literally not possible given his arrogant prima donna attitude. “I’m not interested in a rebuild”…. Those words alone reveal that you don’t want this guy leading your team… it’s all about HIM…. Always has been,

 

[Half Empty]

Exactly what I was trying to say.

Just to keep me somewhat same, and since there are two of you, can you please give me a link to something showing that game was 10-6 instead of the 21-14 I keep finding. Thanks.

 

[tynimiller]

Come on… let’s be fair here… nothing is decided in a vacuum. Every one of those teams had flaws … mostly on defense. 2021… not so much… but I completely agree with him that a second top WR would have likely made a difference with the offense.

BANGS HEAD ON DESK...

It is not that easy. Everyone wants to pretend that the magic pill all these past few years has been just having a #2 WR. That is just a **** poor excuse clung to by the ignorant IMO.

I stood screaming that the trade up for Love was for Pittman the night of the draft, I was ecstatic, I was so happy...till the pick happened. I have also advocated for getting a second WR, so trust me it isn't that I believe we have not been in that need because I have.

 

[tynimiller]

Just to keep me somewhat same, and since there are two of you, can you please give me a link to something showing that game was 10-6 instead of the 21-14 I keep finding. Thanks.

It was 21-14 the year we won it all. I am unsure what game they are referring to.

 

[thequick12]

I think you'll find it was 21-14. In any event, as mentioned elsewhere, winning heals all wounds. The Pack did win some very low-scoring games that year, the key word being "win".

Ok yeah i was remembering their recird i guess but rodgers had 2int 0td in that game 244 yards 17 of 30....so a much worse game

 

[pacmaniac]

Rodgers performed at a below average level vs. the Niners but the Packers lost the game because of their special teams.

You could say that the Packers lost because of special teams.

You could also say they lost because of the defense - they would have won if the defense didn't give up those 6 points.

You could also say they lost because of the offense - they would have won if the offense scored just 6 more points.

The question is which unit should get the most blame.

Is it reasonable to put most of the blame on ST? If we had the #1 ranked ST unit, then absolutely. But ST stunk all season long, that's why they were the #32 ranked ST unit. We knew they sucked, the Packers knew they sucked, Rodgers knew they sucked. Many of us on the forum even predicted that there would be a major ST blunder in a playoff game. We knew the offense would need to score enough to compensate for that. You can't really blame a unit for performing terribly when they performed terribly all season.

Is it reasonable to blame a defense for giving up 6 points? Obviously not.

That leaves the offense. This was a Top 10 offense, scoring 26.5 points per game. They even scored 30 points against the 49ers earlier in the season. Rodgers got everything he wanted - not just a home playoff game, but one in the cold! (So no excuses that it was too warm like it was against the Bucs.) But he could only put up 13 points? Any offense that scores 13 points is going to lose 90%+ of playoff games. So the offense should get the most blame.

 

[Half Empty]

It was 21-14 the year we won it all. I am unsure what game they are referring to.

Thanks. At least it's 2 against 2 now.

 

[swhitset]

BANGS HEAD ON DESK...

It is not that easy. Everyone wants to pretend that the magic pill all these past few years has been just having a #2 WR. That is just a **** poor excuse clung to by the ignorant IMO.

I stood screaming that the trade up for Love was for Pittman the night of the draft, I was ecstatic, I was so happy...till the pick happened. I have also advocated for getting a second WR, so trust me it isn't that I believe we have not been in that need because I have.

Maybe you should stop banging your head… because I think you are arguing with yourself lol. If you read what I wrote more carefully… you will see that we really don’t disagree.

 

[thequick12]

Another aspect of the cap going up astronomically is legalized sports gambling. Ridiculous amounts of money is being bet legally. Its already well into the billions

 

[sschind]

I said Cobb could be resigned for cheap, like 2/3 million or something

This is a cut and paste of your post. nothing was said about Cobb being resigned. Maybe you said it in another post but not this one.

Here we go...

Extend Rodgers save 21.1 m
Extend Alexander save 9.8 m
Extend P. Smith save 8.7 m
Extend Amos save 5.1 m
Release Z.Smith save 15.2 m
Release Cobb 6.7 m
Release Crosby save 2.4 m

Total Savings 69 million

That gives you 20 million in cap space and theres other moves that can still be made