One minicamp invite so far, per Acme Trading.
Alex McNulty, K, Buffalo
Signings:
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Re: Jennings.
Jennings is an interesting UDFA candidate. According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, the Packers signed him to $110,000 guaranteed with $10,000 of that coming in the form of a signing bonus. Per Wilson, that bonus is more than they gave to any undrafted free agent player in the 2023 class and they didn’t guarantee any salary to any undrafted free agent last year. Jennings’ big game on his resume was against Alabama last year, when the Bulls nearly upset the Crimson Tide. In that game, Jennings held Minnesota Vikings first-round pick Dallas Turner to virtually no wins as a pass-rusher. He also had a pre-draft visit with the Packers.
Signed:
Trente Jones (OT, Michigan) and Mason Tipton (WR, Yale), reportedly.
@Herschel posted:Trente Jones (OT, Michigan) and Mason Tipton (WR, Yale), reportedly.
Others say Tipton is signing with the Saints.
Our messiah has arrived! Signed him too.
Messiah Swinson, TE, Arizona State
Another invite to tryout minicamp.
Signed.
Rodney Matthews, DL, Ohio
Has every Michigan senior been drafted or signed as a UFA?
@TomSilverstein: UW #Badgers LS Peter Bowden is signing undrafted free agent deal with the #Packers, source said.
This could be big. Packers’ current long snapper, Matt Orzech, to put it politely, sucks.
Two more invites.
@ilcuqui posted:@TomSilverstein: UW #Badgers LS Peter Bowden is signing undrafted free agent deal with the #Packers, source said.
This could be big. Packers’ current long snapper, Matt Orzech, to put it politely, sucks.
Before a few minutes ago 99.99% of Wisconsin football fans never heard of him.
@Pikes Peak posted:Before a few minutes ago 99.99% of Wisconsin football fans never heard of him.
He had gotten some decent pub from being at the Senior Bowl and doing well, also, but yeah, long snapper isn't what most would consider attention worthy. he's not a big guy, either. More linebacker-sized than burly IOL size.
He also had a year of eligibility left, but I'm guessing there isn't much NIL money for long snappers either.
$100,000 guaranteed! WTAF?!?!?
#Packers are signing South Florida OT Donovan Jennings to an UDFA contract. He's receiving a $10K SB and $100,000 guaranteed.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) April 28, 2024
@Boris posted:$100,000 guaranteed! WTAF?!?!?
#Packers are signing South Florida OT Donovan Jennings to an UDFA contract. He's receiving a $10K SB and $100,000 guaranteed.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) April 28, 2024
https://packerswire.usatoday.c...nus-to-sign-as-udfa/
"Jennings, 24, started 47 games for USF across six seasons. His 55 appearances set a school record. Of his 47 starts, 45 came at left tackle, with the other two at right guard. At 6-4 and 323 pounds, Jennings is built like an NFL guard and could move inside for Green Bay."
Apparently there was quite a bit of competition for his services. Here's a piece from Huber about his pre-draft visit.
"In that game, Jennings held Minnesota Vikings first-round pick Dallas Turner to virtually no wins as a pass-rusher."
I love this kid already!
I didn't realize that since we ended up with 11 draft picks, we don't have that many UDFA spots.
@Boris posted:$100,000 guaranteed! WTAF?!?!?
#Packers are signing South Florida OT Donovan Jennings to an UDFA contract. He's receiving a $10K SB and $100,000 guaranteed.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) April 28, 2024
Saw another player with 200k guaranteed and a 25k bonus.
This is why Gutey keeps amassing 6th & 7th rounders. Just draft the guys you had targeted in the UDFA class. Plus it costs less as you can see from that OT, Jennings.
The #Commanders gave former Colorado State CB Chig Anusiem a whopping $50,000 signing bonus and a $300K base salary guarantee, per source. Half the league wanted Anusiem after he went undrafted, and Washington paid up to lock him in.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 28, 2024
This is just dumb...... Why wouldn't you just draft the guy with a 6th or 7th rounder if you wanted him that bad?!?!
Some of these guys are getting more guaranteed money than AJ. Dillon got to play this Year.
Yeah, I don't get it. A 6th or 7th round salary has got to be cheaper, doesn't it?
No
@YATittle posted:I didn't realize that since we ended up with 11 draft picks, we don't have that many UDFA spots.
We can have 90 players on the team.
@Pikes Peak posted:Before a few minutes ago 99.99% of Wisconsin football fans never heard of him.
Which is good because it means he never screwed up a snap.
@Boris posted:This is just dumb...... Why wouldn't you just draft the guy with a 6th or 7th rounder if you wanted him that bad?!?!
Some of these guys are getting more guaranteed money than AJ. Dillon got to play this Year.
Because they wanted other guys more. The draft used to be 30 rounds long. These UDFA used to be drafted back in the day.
@Boris posted:This is just dumb...... Why wouldn't you just draft the guy with a 6th or 7th rounder if you wanted him that bad?!?!
Some of these guys are getting more guaranteed money than AJ. Dillon got to play this Year.
Bonus money and guarantees are negotiable among all rookies, drafted or not. The salaries for all rookies (drafted or UDFA) is set and cannot be changed.
The last pick in the 7th round gets a 4 year, $4.1m contract (or about $1m/yr)
All UDFA contracts are 3 years, $2.5m (basically league minimum, ~$800k/yr)
Both late round picks and UDFA's can negotiate signing bonuses and guaranteed money. Certainly a draft pick is a much more captive audience than a UDFA and probably has less leverage with negotiations, but the contract value a draft pick signs is significantly more than any UDFA will.
Another invite to tryout minicamp.
Roje Stone, DE, International Player Pathways
Just glad there will be legit LS competition this fall. Last year the LS play was erratic at best, which I believe led to part of our kicking troubles. The kid from WI we added was supposedly a good Long Snapper.
@vitaflo posted:The salaries for all rookies (drafted or UDFA) is set and cannot be changed.
The last pick in the 7th round gets a 4 year, $4.1m contract (or about $1m/yr)
Ok, but none of that money is guaranteed, correct?? Here's what AJ Dillon signed for. The dude in Jacksonville got $200k
A.J. Dillon signed a 1 year , $2,742,500 contract with the Green Bay Packers, including $167,500 signing bonus, $2,742,500 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $2,742,500. In 2024, Dillon will earn a base salary of $2,575,000 and a signing bonus of $167,500, while carrying a cap hit of $1,292,500.
@Boris posted:Ok, but none of that money is guaranteed, correct??
Correct, guaranteed money is negotiated just like signing bonus is.
So with Dillon's contract you detailed above, he did get less of a signing bonus than that UDFA but his $2.7m contract is also fully guaranteed which the UDFA's is not.
Barring injury, AJ Dillon will be on the Packers roster to start the season.
@Goalline posted:We can have 90 players on the team.
But we are 2 over by my spreadsheets count with the draft picks we haven't signed yet. If we are going to keep all of our UDFAs two others that were on the roster pre-draft will have to go.
2 people getting cut??
https://www.packers.com/team/players-roster/
I currently count 72 and they can cut 2 of those guys pretty easily.
I came across some additional info on UFDA contracts/guarantees that was interesting and informative.
It's clear UFDA signing bonuses and guarantees are a trend. Perhaps not as much over the last year or two, but still a significant number.
I was trying to confirm if a UFDA with guarantees makes the PS and is claimed by another team means the original teams loses that money (I'm assuming if they are placed on the PS, they are subject to the same rules as other PS players).
I'm not sure if it offers any more "protection" against other teams wanting to sign them if they are on the PS, but I would think the team making that acquisition would have to offer a higher than typical contract. That would seem to limit some team's ability to do so.
There's a good chance one of the undrafted free agents the Packers sign in 2024 will turn into a gem down the road, like these players did. https://t.co/OC9R33j8un
— Packers News (@PGPackersNews) April 30, 2024
@michiganjoe posted:There's a good chance one of the undrafted free agents the Packers sign in 2024 will turn into a gem down the road, like these players did. https://t.co/OC9R33j8un
— Packers News (@PGPackersNews) April 30, 2024
My money is on Donavan Jennings. As is the Packers.
