In this series, we are going to hit on each team and give you a brief rundown of how they look going into free agency, what moves are at their disposal, and what you might expect from the team. NFL free agency begins during the legal tampering period on Monday, March 14, 2022, and then players can officially sign on March 16th.  All salary numbers within the article are courtesy of OverTheCap.com.


With this article, we are going to explore all potential options - some of which will obviously be more realistic than others. 

 


Projected Cap Space: ($50,790,970)


OVERVIEW

Conveniently enough, we already wrote a full article on what a bridge-year might look like where the Packers trade Aaron Rodgers, let Davante Adams walk, and do a number of other moves to essentially reset the cap and usher the team into a new era. So we figure this article might be a good time to look at what kind of moves the Packers can make if they go the opposite direction and retain both Rodgers and Adams for another run this year.

On top of the players, there is also a shake-up with some coaching personnel. Offensive coordinator Nathanial Hackett took the head coaching job in Denver and quarterback coach Luke Getsy took a job as the offensive coordinator of the rival Chicago Bears. The Packers have in turn promoted offensive line coach Adam Stenavich to be the offensive coordinator for 2022. That should allow them to attempt to maintain the same offense that’s been successful, assuming they can hang onto the key pieces. Let’s look at some ways to free up some space for that.  

 


CAP MANEUVER OPTIONS

Restructure

The most common way to generate money via restructuring is to convert base salary to signing bonus which can then be spread out over the remaining years of the contract. You can also potentially incorporate an extension to spread that money out further. How favorable that is for both the team and player comes down to the long-term outlook for the player. In certain circumstances, you may even have the leverage to ask a player to take less money.

 


If the Packers are going with Aaron Rodgers again, they likely need to commit to him for more than just this year. If they extend him as part of a restructure, they can free up as much as $21 million dollars which takes a massive chunk out of the hole they are in. Obviously, this is the decision that needs to be made first and foremost in deciding a direction for the team going forward. 

 


Kenny Clark is another guy they like who could help them out (and possibly even himself) by taking some of his base and converting it into a bonus to free up money for this season. The NFL salary cap is expected to spike next year following the start of new television rights deals like the one with Amazon. Clark could help free up as much as $9.5 million for this season with a restructure.    

 


A pretty simple one here really Adrian Amos has a $7,000,000 base salary and you can save around $4.75 million by converting part of it to a bonus this season.  If they are squeezing money out of any place they can to hold them over until next season, this is an easy place to look.
 

Trade

Aaron Rodgers/Jordan Love - We don’t really need to get into speculation on this as there have been endless levels of that out there - including in our other article. But we obviously have to mention that trading Aaron Rodgers is on the table and would send the team in a completely new direction.
 

 


The flip side of that is obviously that they could trade Jordan Love too.  The Falcons traded Brett Favre to the Packers without even seeing him play.  The Patriots traded Jimmy Garoppolo when they recommitted to Tom Brady. Both options are on the table.
 

 


This is out there a bit, but it wouldn’t be completely crazy if they are desperate for money. Jaire Alexander is in the last year of his deal so they can’t restructure his contract - only extend. His contract is fully guaranteed so the only way to clear it is a trade. You could clear all $13 million with zero dead cap by moving him. If push comes to shove and you know there is no way you can resign him (in which case you’d lose him anyway) then it’s not completely crazy to trade him. The Patriots were in a very similar situation with Chandler Jones - they traded him away and still won the Super Bowl that year.  
 

 


Cut

 


ZaDarius Smith/Preston Smith - At this point, the writing is on the wall here - you really can’t afford to keep both these guys AND Rodgers/Adams. In an ideal world, you trade one of them to get a little something back but there is really no difference in the cap implications in trade vs. a cut. Za’Darius, in my opinion, is the more likely one to be cut here and, if you do that, you might be able to figure out an extension/restructure for Preston that frees up at least a little bit of money. The Packers are technically a 3-4 defense but it really looks more like a 5-2 with both Smiths on the outside, so you just need to find help somewhere else at pass rusher. 
 

 


They simply can’t afford to have Randall Cobb as a $9 million cap hit. They went out and got him to play with his buddy Aaron Rodgers. If he wants to saddle up and go after a championship again, he needs to do something to help out the Pack in terms of cap space or he might just need to be cut. Can be cut for $8 million in cap with only $1.4 mil in dead cap with a post-June 1st designation so he and his agent are likely well aware.
 

 


Billy Turner is in a similar camp to Cobb. The numbers are likely going to be making a lot of decisions in this hypothetical world where Rodgers stays. They might seem like difficult decisions from the outside but will have clear monetary implications when all is said and done. The team can save $6 million by cutting Turner and they might need that cash so he might need to play ball with the team to hang around. 
 

 


Any time it’s a guy who has played his entire career with the team - especially one as long as Mason Crosby - it hurts. But, if you are going to have the fifth or sixth-highest paid kicker, he needs to be one of the best kickers in the league and Crosby has not quite been that in recent years. You just might need that money, as sad as it is. They can save $3.4 million by cutting him and a rookie or cheap free agent will cost less than $ million. 

 

IMPORTANT FREE AGENTS

 


If you are keeping Aaron Rodgers, you are keeping Davante Adams. If you want to see what it looks like with them gone, check out this article. But in this timeline, you either put the franchise tag on Adams or you work out some sort of long-term deal that is mutually beneficial. I can’t imagine a world where they keep Rodgers but lose his favorite target. The franchise tag would be slightly less than $20m, so it's no joke. 
 

 


If they are able to clear enough space, this is the guy I’d do my best to keep but he also might have played himself out of an affordable contract. After primarily being a tight end cover guy with Arizona, he popped off this year to be the third-highest graded linebacker per Pro Football Focus. Campbell had a financial deadline this past weekend to figure out an extension before his voided contract kicked in so he’s currently slated to hit the free-agent market unless they work something out. 
 

 


Gone. And if I’m Robert Tonyan, I would take this chance to get paid. He had a monster season, but it was mostly propelled by 11 touchdowns from one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Rather than take a team-friendly deal to stay in GB, I’d parlay that season into a payday while I can. He was an undrafted free agent so he’s already playing with house money.
 

 


They simply don’t have the money to sign a guy of this caliber to the contract that Kevin King would require based on how far in the hole they already are. They are better off taking on a cheaper, riskier deal or just trying another cornerback through the draft. 
 

 


Marquez Valdes-Scantling/Allen Lazard -  The theme is the same for this entire article - if you want to be part of this world where Rodgers stays, you need to do something to help the team. Lazard seems more likely to take a cheap, team-friendly deal than MVS. 

Honorable Mention Free Agents: Corey Bojorquez, Chandon Sullivan, Lucas Patrick, Oren Burks, Tyler Lancaster, Equanimeous St. Brown, Malik Taylor, Dominique Dafney, Rasul Douglas
 

 


POSITIONS OF NEED (FREE AGENCY / DRAFT)

Linebacker - This honestly goes for both inside linebacker and what the Packers call outside linebacker (which is really just edge rusher). They will likely need to replace at least one of the Smiths on the outside and it could be difficult to bring back De’Vondre Campbell. This is somewhere they might need to use early draft capital on an impact player because guys like this don’t come cheap and they don’t really have the money. 

Wide Receiver - If you really want to make Aaron Rodgers happy, you bring back Davante Adams, make it work with Randall Cobb, and go get him another weapon. Preferably someone who can play split end with his foot tethered to the line so that Davante Adams can move all over the place at flanker. They have tried for years drafting WRs that are 6’3” or taller like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Equanimeous St. Brown, Jeff Janis, Geronimo Allison, etc. But most of those guys have come in the later rounds. Just imagine if they ponied up and took someone like Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman, or Chase Claypool when they have the chance?  

Tight End - As the Packers themselves know, drafting tight ends is an inexact science.  Heck, when you look at some of the best tight ends in the league, few of them have come from the early parts of the draft:

As a matter of fact, Darren Waller was drafted as a wide receiver and Andrews wasn’t even the first tight end drafted by the Ravens that year - they took Hayden Hurst before him in the second. So the Packers should keep trying at the tight end position, even if it’s in the third or fourth round.  The offense doesn’t run through the tight end, so you really just need someone capable of catching the ball when the defense is sleeping, much like Robert Tonyan gave the Packers. 

Special Teams - If they cut Mason Crosby and let punter Corey Bojorquez leave in free agency due to the cap squeeze, they will need some cheap specialists. The late rounds of the draft are a decent source of this or they can sign someone cheap from the free agent pool.

 

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