The Green Bay Packers restructured the businesses of David Bakhtiari, Adrian Amos, Preston Smith and Billy Turner, rehired Aaron Jones and will soon extend Za’Darius Smith’s contract. Davante Adams will eventually get a new deal.
The last big decision faced by the Packers as the free agency approaches? Aaron Rodgers.
More specifically, the Rodgers contract and how the Packers want to use it or not.
Extending Smith’s business, like Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on sunday, will likely create enough space to close Jones’ new contract below the salary cap at the start of the new league year on Wednesday. The Packers could create even more space by extending Adams, who is entering the last year of his contract in 2021.
But no contract provides Packers with more potential purchasing power at the free agency than the defender’s deal.
According to Over the Cap, Packers could create up to $ 14-17 million in limit space by restructuring or extending the Rodgers business, which includes a $ 6.8 million list bonus and a base salary of US $ 14.7 million in 2021. Both amounts can be converted into a signature bonus to create limit space, or the Packers could add years and money to the business to decrease their success in 2021.
Do the Packers want to push money forward in the Rodgers business and move forward all year long, using the boundary space created to chase one or two important free agents? Or will the Packers abandon the business, knowing that Rodgers owes large amounts of money in future years, and will keep their options financially open as a defender after 2021?
The maximum limit reached by Rodgers will increase to almost $ 40 million by 2022. Adding more money to the business – which is still three years old – is a risky plan for a team with a lot of money already committed to the limit next year. It is possible that the Packers are comfortable with their current situation and do not want to tamper with the Rodgers business. They could be content to sit and wait for any potential bargains after the first waves of free agency.
It is also possible that the Rodgers agreement is the team’s asset. If the team contacts one or two large free agents, the Packers can quickly create the space needed to do something, redoing the Rodgers agreement.
A restructuring or extension could give the 2020 NFL MVP the financial commitment after 2021 that it wants, an added bonus for moving its business now. But every dollar invested in the future also complicates a potential transition for Jordan Love, and the Packers may not be ready to close that door.
Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball did an admirable job of resolving the issue of the team’s roof without spoiling the cast. The core of this team remains. Corey Linsley will probably leave, but he may be the only key player to leave. Incredible result for a team that was handcuffed by the cap entering the month.
With much of the work in the rear view mirror, Packers must decide whether leaving the Rodgers business alone or using it to create free agency spending options is the best plan for 2021 and beyond. It is a complicated multi-layered decision. And it’s the biggest one left for the Packers to do.