The Green Bay Packers took their financial lumps in 2023, opting to have the entirety of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ $40 million dead cap hit impact their 2023 cap room last year after trading him to the New York Jets.
That move forced the team to get young in a hurry, but that development yielded strong results in 2020 first-round pick quarterback Jordan Love’s first season as Rodgers’ successor. The Packers offense put up the most catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns on a single team from first and second-year players in a season in NFL history, Love’s 32 touchdown passes were the second-most in the entire NFL, while Green Bay became the youngest team to win a playoff game since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger (average age of 25 years and 214 days).
This offseason, the Packers had money to spend with Rodgers’ burden off of their books combined with the releases of a couple of players who dealt with injury issues (left tackle David Bakhtiari’ and Aaron Jones’ cuts freed up an additional $32 million or so in room) left Green Bay with legitimate financial flexibility for the first time since the 2019 offseason. Just like back then, when general manager Brian Gutekunst spent big money on edge rushers Za’Darius and Preston Smith, safety Adrian Amos and offensive tackle Billy Turner, Gutekunst utilized that cap room to be an immediate player at the start of free agency this offseason.
His two high-dollar deals this time were for 24-year-old safety Xavier McKinney, formerly of the New York Giants, (four years, $67 million) and 26-year-old running back Josh Jacobs (four years, $48 million), who previously played for the Las Vegas Raiders. Gutekunst also retained two-time first-team All-Pro returner and cornerback Keisean Nixon on a three-year, $18 million contract.
Here is how each of those and all of their moves graded out as they had one of the better offseasons in the entire NFL…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/grading-all-of-the-packers-moves-in-2024-nfl-free-agency-green-bay-shows-its-ready-to-contend-with-signings/
Author : Garrett Podell
Publish date : 2024-03-23 15:06:03
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