
The Green Bay Packers were one of a handful of teams over the salary cap when the lockout ended, but they’re now more than $12 million under it.
After a flurry of moves that included releasing highly-paid veterans like [intlink id=”139″ type=”category”]Nick Barnett[/intlink], [intlink id=”224″ type=”category”]Mark Tauscher[/intlink], [intlink id=”222″ type=”category”]Brady Poppinga[/intlink] and [intlink id=”79″ type=”category”]Brandon Chillar[/intlink], the Packers were able to sign their draft picks and a few of their own free agents to reasonable contracts.
With $12 million in cap room, the Packers rank 12th in the NFL. The [intlink id=”158″ type=”category”]Kansas City Chiefs[/intlink], who top the list of cap space, have a whopping $32.9 million available. Six other teams have more than $20 million.
Out of the teams with more cap room than the Packers, only three had winning records last season — the Chiefs, [intlink id=”68″ type=”category”]Tampa Bay Buccaneers[/intlink] (2nd, $29.9 million) and [intlink id=”13″ type=”category”]Chicago Bears[/intlink] (8th, $19.3 million).
You’re probably thinking to yourself, why didn’t the Packers go out and sign some big-name players with that money like the [intlink id=”374″ type=”category”]Philadelphia Eagles[/intlink] did?
That would have made the short offseason more interesting, but the Packers have other business to take care of. The organization is seriously looking at contract extensions for tight end [intlink id=”209″ type=”category”]Jermichael Finley[/intlink], guard [intlink id=”90″ type=”category”]Josh Sitton[/intlink] and receiver [intlink id=”22″ type=”category”]Jordy Nelson[/intlink].
All three players are in the final year of their contract.
If — and it’s a big if — the Packers are able to sign all three players to contract extensions this year that $12 million is as good as gone.
Finley and Sitton have to be signed on!!
Nelson is different because we have Jennings, Jones and Cobb so we might not be able to hokd onto him.
I tend to disagree at the moment. Sitton and Nelson have proven themselves very valuable to the team and I would definitely sign them first. Finley has the potential to be a monster, but until he stops getting injured, I wouldn’t invest a whole lot into him. yes Jordy Nelson tends to have butterfingers at times, he can also make extraordinary plays too. and with Driver getting older, they will need him more than ever. Also, Packers have how many badass mofo tight ends atm? but we’ll see how the season goes…
Don’t forget Scott Wells. He is also on the last year of his contract.
Sitton is absolutely the #1 priority. The Packers finally have an offensive line that can stop AR from getting killed, and Sitton is the best player on that line. The Packers won the Super Bowl without Finley and he might want Antonio Gates money. While I would love for the Packers to lock him up to a cap friendly deal I don’t see it happening. Obviously they can’t be signing Finley and Nelson at the expense of Raji and Matthews next season. Those guys are way more important than anyone but Sitton
The Packers are also going to clear about 8 million when Grant and Wells contracts are up, and possibly another 5 million if Clifton retires at the end of the season. I think the Packers are grooming Nick McDonald to take over at center and obviously Grant is not getting another big deal from the Packers.
With the number of tight ends on the team right now it is a sign that if Finley wants crazy money he can walk. If he gets hurt again we can get him for like $50 and a spray tan for his wife.
Sitton will be top priority. He his one of the knights in shining armor protecting Rodgers, enough said.
Nelson I feel will be signed this year without flashy contract. He seems like the kind of guy who will take an average contract despite being on a team with so many playmakers.
They’ll probably wait until end of the season for Finley. It’ll most likely come down if he lasts a whole season, but if he produces well, the Pack will lock him up.