After the Packers re-signed Rodgers and Adams, Marcus Spears and Damien Woody give their next steps. There is a time and a place for it. The text had a lot of exclamation points. A member of the coaching staff replied to a message asking how happy he was on Tuesday, after the Packers retained Davante Adams on the franchise tag. So happy! The Packers can really start the off season. The top 100 free agents.
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They don't have to worry about whether they have to implement Plan A, B or C.
Brian Gutekunst can narrow down his list of players to keep, cut or restructure and make his plan for free agency, which begins in a week.
Russ Ball is the vice president of football operations.
There is no way to know how much work Ball still needs to do on the cap. The Packers were over their salary cap before Tuesday's developments. The Adams franchise tag has a value of $20.145 million.
Rodgers and Adams make up 25.4% of the Packers salary cap.
How can Green Bay field a competitive roster when it has more than 50 million dollars over the cap a week before free agency? When teams must be under their cap, those numbers don't matter.
The new deal Rodgers is going to sign will lower his cap number significantly from the $46.144 million he is currently on the Packers. Ball can structure the deal so that the cap charge comes in well below that $46.144 million mark, which would cut the Packers' cap charge by 40%.
Ideally, Adams will agree to a long-term deal with a lower cap charge than the franchise tag.
The structure of both deals might show if Rodgers is just playing year to year or if he will retire in Green Bay at the end of it.
When Rodgers returned from his discontent, he said he wanted to be involved in conversations that affect his ability to do his job.
After the season, Rodgers said they had regular meetings to share ideas, after he praised Gutekunst for his moves.
With Rodgers back, the Packers will try to reload rather than rebuild. After last season, Rodgers said he didn't want to be part of a rebuild.
They might have to do it without veterans. A source said Za&Darius Smith believes he will be released. The Packers would gain $15.75 million in cap space by cutting Smith, who played only 18 snaps in the regular season.
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If they let him go now or after June 1, he would have $8.25 million in cap space and Billy Turner would have $3.142 million in cap savings.
They might not have to release all of them. Some veterans, such as Adrian Amos, could be candidates for restructures if they are not in danger of being released. Jaire Alexander, who is scheduled to play on his fifth-year option of $13.294 million, will almost certainly sign an extension that will lower his cap number before the start of the season.
All of that should allow the Packers to retain at least some of their key free agents. Campbell should get a contract worth $10 million per year, Tonyan $7 million, Douglas $5 million, and Valdes-Scantling $5 million, according to agents familiar with the market. Allen Lazard is a restricted free agent who is likely to receive a second-round tender.
It won't be known if there's any room left to sign free agents from other teams until all this work is done. It can get started now.
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