2020 free agency / beyond GB FA's

[Shinesman]

I think two guys Green Bay should really look at are Robbie Anderson WR NYJ, and Michael Pierce IDL BAL. Neither would break the bank, and they provide needs at what should be great value. This allows the Packers to possibly move up to grab Murray as a Martinez replacement in the draft. They should also have some good choices left at other positions of need in the mid rounds.

I think Anderson is going to get overpaid by someone.  I think Gute will get involved if Anderson hits the market, but wont go overboard on him.

I agree its not worth going overboard, and someone may pay him hoping that his speed translates to a huge skill increase, but I'm sure Gute does his part like you said.

[dannobanano]

Last year at this time Green Bay had $36.5M of cap space to play with as free agency rolled around.

This year, IF they end up releasing Graham and Taylor, they will have $36.2M.

So why do so many folks think that Gute can't be a player in FA like he was last year?

With those numbers I could honestly see Gute being able to sign 2 splash FA's, like he did with the Smith Bros. last year, and still have plenty of room to extend Kenny Clark.

[ricky]

Last year at this time Green Bay had $36.5M of cap space to play with as free agency rolled around.

This year, IF they end up releasing Graham and Taylor, they will have $36.2M.

So why do so many folks think that Gute can't be a player in FA like he was last year?

With those numbers I could honestly see Gute being able to sign 2 splash FA's, like he did with the Smith Bros. last year, and still have plenty of room to extend Kenny Clark.

Not sure how relevant this is, but the team has a lot of FA's in 2021. Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, Linsley, and Jamaal Williams. The first two in particular will be more expensive, while Linsley should be upgraded. Williams? I really like the guy- excellent blocker, can run for tough yards, and can catch the ball. And he's healthy. My favorite "non-famous" Packer by far. The question being, if they spend a lot of money this year, will they have enough next year to re-sign their priority FA's? Isn't that why they roll over money from one season to the next? I'm more than willing to be educated on this topic if my perceptions are wrong.

[dannobanano]

Last year at this time Green Bay had $36.5M of cap space to play with as free agency rolled around.

This year, IF they end up releasing Graham and Taylor, they will have $36.2M.

So why do so many folks think that Gute can't be a player in FA like he was last year?

With those numbers I could honestly see Gute being able to sign 2 splash FA's, like he did with the Smith Bros. last year, and still have plenty of room to extend Kenny Clark.

Not sure how relevant this is, but the team has a lot of FA's in 2021. Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, Linsley, and Jamaal Williams. The first two in particular will be more expensive, while Linsley should be upgraded. Williams? I really like the guy- excellent blocker, can run for tough yards, and can catch the ball. And he's healthy. My favorite "non-famous" Packer by far. The question being, if they spend a lot of money this year, will they have enough next year to re-sign their priority FA's? Isn't that why they roll over money from one season to the next? I'm more than willing to be educated on this topic if my perceptions are wrong.

Right now, without adding any free agents in 2020, the Packers have $142M on the books for salaries in 2021.

Their current cap for 2020 is at $182M.

So that's $40M without factoring in any increase in the cap going forward.

At the moment, I could see them pass on extending Linsley and look to draft another C/G while they still have Patrick under contract.

That would mean the key 2021 FA's they would need to sign would be Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, and Kevin King. While I like Williams, he is a 2nd tier player, and keeping him would depend on what he's looking for in a contract extension. There's always RB's to draft and plug/play.

The only other 2021 UFA I haven't mentioned here is Montravious Adams, and I doubt he's in the future plans. He may not even make the 2020 squad.

In 2021, they have 4 RFA's that could eat up $6M - $8M of space if they decide to tender them all, and 13 ERFA's who average about $450K-$500K per player.

Based on this, I don't see a lot of problems in managing these next two years.

[RT]

Jim Owczarski

@JimOwczarski


Potential #Packers FA options at inside linebacker:
          Player A        Player B
40         4.73              4.71
Vert      29.5              28.5
Broad   114               113
3cone   7.11              6.98
20yd     4.32              4.20
Wholly w/out context. Fun!

[bmaafi]

It's Martinez and Littleton.

[RT]

It's Martinez and Littleton.

Correct, only it is (A)Littleton and (B)Martinez.

[bmaafi]

It's Martinez and Littleton.

Correct, only it is (A)Littleton and (B)Martinez.

While I wasn't staying which was A and B, yes you are correct.

[ricky]

It's Martinez and Littleton.

Correct, only it is (A)Littleton and (B)Martinez.

The question: can Littleton cover in space? Because Martinez, like Hawk before him, couldn't cover a guy in a phone booth, much less a football field.

[bmaafi]

He's been one of the best coverage linebackers in the league so the answer is yes.


Also, Which one is Martinez and which is Littleton doesn't really matter. It wasn't the point of the tweet.

[ricky]

Right now, without adding any free agents in 2020, the Packers have $142M on the books for salaries in 2021.

Their current cap for 2020 is at $182M.

So that's $40M without factoring in any increase in the cap going forward.

At the moment, I could see them pass on extending Linsley and look to draft another C/G while they still have Patrick under contract.

That would mean the key 2021 FA's they would need to sign would be Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, and Kevin King. While I like Williams, he is a 2nd tier player, and keeping him would depend on what he's looking for in a contract extension. There's always RB's to draft and plug/play.

The only other 2021 UFA I haven't mentioned here is Montravious Adams, and I doubt he's in the future plans. He may not even make the 2020 squad.

In 2021, they have 4 RFA's that could eat up $6M - $8M of space if they decide to tender them all, and 13 ERFA's who average about $450K-$500K per player.

Based on this, I don't see a lot of problems in managing these next two years.

I disagree on the Williams opinion, but then he's probably my favorite "lunch pail" player on the team. However, you calculations don't take into account any increase in salaries for guys already on the team (or do they?). Not trying to over-argue this, but if the team really wants to look into getting some cap space, they'd have to be radical/realistic, and look at moving on from Rodgers after 2021 (next year), when they'd save over $25 million in cap space- enough to sign a stop gap QB, and develop a longer term replacement. A gutsy call by Gutey, but that's why he gets paid the big bucks. And for a possible replacement, if not Boyle, how about bringing in Josh Rosen? Or having both on the roster, and see if they can be developed into viable QB's? As the old saying goes, better to get rid of a guy a year too early...

[RT]

Their has been a fair amount of talk about bringing in Littleton, but I doubt he is on the Packers radar. He would just fix one issue and create another, he has no interest in playing the run. This is from PFF's FA write-ups.

Littleton has quietly become one of the best coverage linebackers in the league, capable of running the seam with tight ends and closing quickly on running backs underneath. He has 18 pass breakups and six interceptions over the last two seasons, and he's posted a 90.6 coverage grade that ranks third-best in the league. However, while potential suitors are going to love Littleton’s ability to affect the passing game, he has had his struggles against the run. His 50.8 run-defense grade ranks just 103rd out of 126 qualifiers over the last two years, so that could hurt his value for teams looking for an all-around three-down linebacker.

 

[OneTwoSixFive]

Not sure how relevant this is, but the team has a lot of FA's in 2021. Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, Linsley, and Jamaal Williams. The first two in particular will be more expensive, while Linsley should be upgraded. Williams? I really like the guy- excellent blocker, can run for tough yards, and can catch the ball. And he's healthy. My favorite "non-famous" Packer by far. The question being, if they spend a lot of money this year, will they have enough next year to re-sign their priority FA's? Isn't that why they roll over money from one season to the next? I'm more than willing to be educated on this topic if my perceptions are wrong.

A new contract for Bakhtiari shouldn't impact the cap room significantly because he is already on a big contract. The cap hit comes from (relatively) small-wage players taking a big hike in pay. You could extend Aaron Jones late this year, so the cap hit doesn't come into play until 2021. I'd keep Linsley this year despite a (if memory serves) $8.5m saving if he is cut, then the Packers could see how he does in 2020 before making a decision on whether to re-up him or let him go, move Elgton Jenkins to center and either draft a guard as direct replacement, or put Lucas Patrick in there and draft a backup interior lineman. Jamaal Williams is another guy who can simply have his contract extended (the start of a bigger cap hit coming in at 2021).

Even so, when you account for a few smaller veteran contracts (like Kyler Fackrell and maybe Tramon Williams), add the big one for Clark, have some money put aside for the draft picks and a small working kitty for later in the year, there is about enough for one good (not huge) contract.

Of course when 2021 rolls around the Packers cap will probably be even tighter.  Is one cap free year likely to happen in the future ?

[OneTwoSixFive]

Their has been a fair amount of talk about bringing in Littleton, but I doubt he is on the Packers radar. He would just fix one issue and create another, he has no interest in playing the run.

While the Packers would need a run-stopping ILB to go with Littleton, he could fix the coverage aspect of ILB. I think part of the reason that Martinez was so often the only ILB on the field is that there wasn't a credible alternative that was better than a fifth DB. A better combo of ILBs could see two of them on the field much more often.

I agree that Littleton's cost might make double-dip drafting at ILB more likely (most likely in the 3rd and 4th rounds). The coverage ILB could be addressed with Patrick Queen in the first round, but more likely with Troy Dye or Akeem Davis Gaither in round three, or maybe Justin Strnad or Mohamed Barry in the fifth. If you are lucky enough to get a good coverage guy, they are cheap for 4 years.

The run-stopper ILB could be addressed with Kenneth Murray (a pretty good all-rounder) in the first, or more realistically with one of Jordyn Brooks, Malik Harrison, Evan Weaver Markus Bailey, Kamal Martin, David Woodward, Joe Bachie, Shaquille Quarterman, Jacob Phillips somewhere in rounds 3-6. I rather like Shaquille Quarterman as a later pick, even though all others I mentioned (except Jacob Phillips) are rated above him on TDN.

Even this isn't an exhaustive list. You could look for a safety who might be able to play as a hybrid S/coverage ILB. Options with decent size (over 200lb) are Kyle Dugger (round 2), Brandon Jones (round 3), Jeremy Chinn (round 4) or Antoine Brooks and Reggie Floyd (round 5). Just because Josh Jones (round 2, 2017) flamed out, doesn't men the next one will.

[bmaafi]

Their has been a fair amount of talk about bringing in Littleton, but I doubt he is on the Packers radar. He would just fix one issue and create another, he has no interest in playing the run. This is from PFF's FA write-ups.

Littleton has quietly become one of the best coverage linebackers in the league, capable of running the seam with tight ends and closing quickly on running backs underneath. He has 18 pass breakups and six interceptions over the last two seasons, and he's posted a 90.6 coverage grade that ranks third-best in the league. However, while potential suitors are going to love Littleton’s ability to affect the passing game, he has had his struggles against the run. His 50.8 run-defense grade ranks just 103rd out of 126 qualifiers over the last two years, so that could hurt his value for teams looking for an all-around three-down linebacker.

He is also going to cost a lot, probably more than gb can afford.