Doesn't sound like the Bulaga deal is done yet. There may have been some basic parameters that were agreed on, but getting the deal structured in a way that pleases both sides could be tricky considering Bulaga's injury history. The media jumped the gun on this one, the NFL Network and ESPN shouldn't have been reported this as basically being a done deal until it actually was a done deal.
Please let us know when the reporting gets your seal of approval.
Originally posted by Esox:
So Boss, do the Packers win another SB before you kick the bucket? 
I hope so....they have a shot barring injury, no doubt.
It's not as if Boris is going to die any time soon. At least, I hope not!
It's good to be the king.
@RobDemovsky: By the way, Aaron Rodgers cashed in today, too. Received a $9.5 million roster bonus on 1st day of league year. Had same bonus last year.
I hope AR spent today in a no income tax state.
Originally Posted by Herschel:
Let's face it though, without Favre then Rodgers it's all moot also. As Buddy Nix said 'the difference between a genius and idiot GM is finding a franchise QB'. I do think development time (and protection) is sorely needed for many QBs who simply don't get it. I do think Alex Smith, the elder Carr and a number of others could have been pretty good QBs had they not been thrown to the wolves. Guys like Manning and Luck are the exceptions, not the rule, and guys like Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson, who were pretty well-developed on the college level, didn't have to carry the show early on.
Now, they can maintain stability and work their plan to its fullest while having a bit of leeway. How many teams could get away with a Marshall Newhouse at LT for even a year?
WTF.
Originally Posted by Brak:
Originally Posted by Herschel:
Let's face it though, without Favre then Rodgers it's all moot also. As Buddy Nix said 'the difference between a genius and idiot GM is finding a franchise QB'. I do think development time (and protection) is sorely needed for many QBs who simply don't get it. I do think Alex Smith, the elder Carr and a number of others could have been pretty good QBs had they not been thrown to the wolves. Guys like Manning and Luck are the exceptions, not the rule, and guys like Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson, who were pretty well-developed on the college level, didn't have to carry the show early on.
Now, they can maintain stability and work their plan to its fullest while having a bit of leeway. How many teams could get away with a Marshall Newhouse at LT for even a year?
WTF.
I concur.
You had a point?
@mortreport: Bryan Bulaga has signed his contract with Packers at 5 years $33.75 million...or $6.75 million per season, which team anticipated.
@TomSilverstein: #Packers said they wouldn't do $7M on Bulaga and by golly they didn't. They just didn't want to pay him more than Sitton, their best lineman.
@cheeseheadtv: I love that Ted is not afraid to sign big name free-agents. Brought in one of the top three WR's and top 5 tackles.
Draft & Develop doesn't work if you don't retain your young talent you just DEVELOPED.
Cobb vs The Steely- Eyed Assassin
“Saturday morning, I told Jimmy to get it done. I was scared,” Cobb admitted. “No lie. I didn’t know if Green Bay had given up on me or what, since we hadn’t heard from them in two weeks, since their last offer. I was nervous. I said, ‘Get it done. Whatever I have to do to get back to Green Bay, just make it happen.’
It never ceases to amaze me how little attention teams receive when they sign their own free agents. Signing a new free agent or pulling off a trade moves the media's needle in March.
It can't possibly be overstated enough times how huge it was for this Green Bay team to bring back core guy's like Bulaga and Cobb. Lose them and it's potentially a combination of new guys that don't understand the hurt of 2014 everyone is feeling in camp. Bring the core guy's back and camp instantly starts off as unfinished business.
Last night on NFL Total Access they had a segment about who "won" the opening day of free agency. It's an idea as asinine as grading the draft ten minutes after Mr. Irrelevant has been selected.quote:It never ceases to amaze me how little attention teams receive when they sign their own free agents. Signing a new free agent or pulling off a trade moves the media's needle in March.
Another yutz said something to the effect that Seattle were head and sholders above every other team in the NFC and only made themselves better, and that they were an inch away from being back-to-back Super Bowl champions. They were also an inch away from getting their asses handed to them at home in the NFC Championship Game, but that little tidbit was overlooked.
Let me preface by saying, I doubt this happens, but I wonder if there isn't an agreement with AR, and Cobb or Bulaga or any of the other core players, to "gift" them some money. It could be that nobody knows about it.
But from AR's perspective, he's not stupid, that this size of his contract "could" hamstring opportunities, to keep certain personnel. Therefore, most everyone is getting paid, everyone wants to win, and AR tells Cobb, "sign with us for another 4 years, and I will "gift" you 2 million next year?" It's all under the books, no one knows about it, and everyone is cool?
Wrong team.
No, seriously, the way a team does that is what the Pats and Brady have done. Get your superstar QB or other player(s) to accept a lower contract expressly for the purposes of being able to pay other players more.
And OBTW, who doesn't think Bob Kraft doesn't have an agreement with Brady already for a Murphy-Favre like post-career stipend. Not that Tom needs it.
Originally Posted by Fandame:
Is there a tinfoil hat in your closet? 
Originally Posted by Boris:
Draft & Develop doesn't work if you don't retain your young talent you just DEVELOPED.
Broncos developed Julius Thomas, Orlando Franklin, Raheem Moore, and Nate Irving and it's looking like all four will be leaving. Why? Twofold: Elway splurged on outside free agents and didn't have the money to pay the draft/develop guys, and he created a lockerroom that didn't value continuity and draft/develop.
Originally Posted by PackerRuss:
Let me preface by saying, I doubt this happens, but I wonder if there isn't an agreement with AR, and Cobb or Bulaga or any of the other core players, to "gift" them some money. It could be that nobody knows about it.
The Broncos did this with Elway to beat the Packers in the Super Bowl. It occasionally comes up on Denver sports talk radio and while they don't deny, they all say it was well worth it.
Looks like TT and Russ Ball were pretty damn smert in structuring Bulaga's contract.
http://espn.go.com/blog/green-...bulagas-new-contract
... [The contract] includes a significant amount of money tied into per-game roster bonuses.
As much as $3 million of that total will have to be earned by playing in each game. Given Bulaga's injury history -- he missed all of the 2013 season and half of 2012 -- it provides the Packers with some insurance.
Bulaga received an $8 million signing bonus, which was the only guaranteed money in the deal. The average per year of $6.75 million made Bulaga the 24th-highest paid tackle in the league, according to ESPN Stats & Information salary data. That includes both left tackles and right tackles. It also matches left guard Josh Sitton's average per year, making them the team's two highest-paid offensive linemen.
While Bulaga has relatively low base salaries in the first two years, those figures spike significantly in the last three years, which would allow for the Packers to gain some salary-cap relief if they decided to cut him during the third, fourth or fifth years...
If Bulaga makes the claim he gave the Packers a discount, I'd tend to believe him more than Randall. Like the Cobb deal, the way this is structured makes the "likely to be earned" money fall in the first two years. For Bulaga that totals 14 million (could be less based on the roster bonuses per game active, but Cobb has similar stuff in his deal too). So this could be as small as a 2 year, 14 million dollar deal. As far as potential dead cap space, if Cobb is cut after two years the Packers would be on the hook for 6.5 million dollars and that's based on just two years of the pro-rated signing bonus. If Bulaga is cut after two years the Packers would be on the hook for 4.8 million dollars of dead cap space and that's based on three years of the pro-rated signing bonus. If would figure that this deal would be on the team friendly side considering Bulaga's injury history, but it's even more team friendly than I anticipated.
Nice to have Bryan back in the fold.
Iupati got 5 years $40 million ($22 mill guaranteed)
Pretty easy to think Bulaga gave them a hometown discount after seeing that deal (RT vs. LG)
Pretty easy to think Bulaga gave them a hometown discount after seeing that deal (RT vs. LG)
Good interview with Bryan Bulaga about returning to the team.
Unfinished business. Love it.
Im of the opinion that Bryan and Josh are going to celebrate this contract with a Miller Light case race at some point in the next couple months.
Great moments in Bryan Bulaga history:
Originally Posted by PackerRuss:
Let me preface by saying, I doubt this happens, but I wonder if there isn't an agreement with AR, and Cobb or Bulaga or any of the other core players, to "gift" them some money. It could be that nobody knows about it.
But from AR's perspective, he's not stupid, that this size of his contract "could" hamstring opportunities, to keep certain personnel. Therefore, most everyone is getting paid, everyone wants to win, and AR tells Cobb, "sign with us for another 4 years, and I will "gift" you 2 million next year?" It's all under the books, no one knows about it, and everyone is cool?
It "could" also lose your team draft picks and result in suspensions.
Green Bay is $21 million under the cap and not a lot of $$$ needed to resign the key FA's next year even if they all have monster contract years. GB is in a great spot regarding the cap.
Beyond that. I can't picture an NFL player that's good enough to have earned a big pay day that would allow another player to "gift" them a penny. No one that's woth a damn would accept it and no player in a position of leadership would demean someone by offering it. "I think this organization is going to short side you so I'll cover a couple million" isn't ending well.
If a player wanted to keep a core group together bad enough they'd offer up their current deal to be reworked to keep those guys around. And even then it's not done that often because it comes off as charity. Never underestimate how big pride is to guys playing at that level. The last thing those kind of players want is for someone to help take care of them. Even if no one knows, they know.
Unless Cobb becomes blazing hot this week and in the playoffs, this is going to be a hot topic going into 2017. Part of his lack of production this season is yes, he's hurt. But it's also valid to remember even when healthy, he's not produced nearly enough to warrant 10 mil a year as a slot WR.
Watching GB this season, they are moving Jordy more and more to the slot, the position Cobb plays. And that very well may be Jordy's role moving forward until he hangs it up, ala Wes Welker. It would then make sense for TT to draft a burner on the outside in the 2017 and keep Jordy inside.
Per overthecap, Cobb's cap number in 2017 will be 12,750,000.00
http://overthecap.com/player/randall-cobb/1130/
Packers Question of the day - Randall Cobb; Overpaid?
By Zachary Jacobson on Dec 28, 2016After a career-best season in 2014, the expectations going forward were high for Randall Cobb. So high, that the Packers re-signed him to a 4-year, $40 million dollar deal, with $17 million guaranteed.
What followed was a mediocre season for Cobb, in which he was exposed as someone who can't necessarily be effective without a primary target ahead of him. The Packers were without Jordy Nelson in 2015.
He was once deemed as the league's best slot receiver, but has since fallen behind the pack, and the trend has continued in 2016. Is Cobb overpaid?
Cobb's stat's to date for reference:
Traditional Statistics (2012-present)
| Year | Games Played | Receiving | Rushing | Fumbles | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Total | Lost | ||
| 2012 | 15 | 80 | 954 | 11.9 | 8 | 10 | 132 | 13.2 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2013 | 6 | 31 | 433 | 14.0 | 4 | 4 | 78 | 19.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | 16 | 91 | 1287 | 14.1 | 12 | 11 | 37 | 3.4 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 2015 | 16 | 79 | 829 | 10.5 | 6 | 13 | 50 | 3.8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | 13 | 60 | 610 | 10.2 | 4 | 10 | 33 | 3.3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
His cash jumps from 5.9 mil in 2016 to 9.5 in 2017, this is a contract that was backloaded and likely was meant to be reworked after 2016. Even though the cap is increasing 8%, I'm sure there will be some changes.
He's got to restructure. Ain't worth that...
Well the problem is that cash total is 9th overall in the NFL (probably 10th after Alshon Jeffrey gets his contract) and it's $250K more than Jordy will be making. It's also double what Antonio Brown will be making.
How about we talk about contracts and restructuring and contract value after, you know, the seasons over?
Cobb catches 3 TDs against Detroit on Sunday and next week the discussion will be that Ted will never be able to afford him when his deal expires.
Good point Chilli, we need to stay focused. If us fans start talking about things outside of whats right in front of us, there is no way the team can win.
Much like the locker room cancer who wants to negotiate his contract mid season, we need to jettison the message board cancers who want to talk contract and cap mid season.
haha. mid season. one game left. I see what you did there.
Will be interesting to see if they play Jordy in the slot so much next year. He's been fantastic there and that would limit Cobbs options significantly.
Packdog posted:Will be interesting to see if they play Jordy in the slot so much next year. He's been fantastic there and that would limit Cobbs options significantly.
To me, it's not that complicated. Not under Ted Thompson's school of management.
You keep good young football players, mentors, and leaders, all of which Cobb is. The cap will go up a lot next year, to be sure... Ted will ask Randall to restructure if he thinks it's needed, he won't if it isn't.
If Cobb wants to keep playing with a Hall of Fame QB and have a chance at a ring every year, he'll deal. If he wants to cash in like Greg Jennings and watch his career wither as his skills decline and he plays with a worse offense (the most likely scenario as the bottom feeders are the ones who usually pay out big in FA or the waiver/trade market), he won't deal. Buh bye.
Would Monty have been the stop-gap savior at running back had Cobb not been on the roster to train, mentor, and spell him? Let alone create quality throughout the WR corps making that move more feasible?
You can never have enough "football players". I like having Swiss Army Knife types all over the roster.