Finally got this monster back on track:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=479561
Fiscal responsibility: Packers' salary cap in good shape
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 2, 2006
Green Bay - Cash isn't the problem. Finding players worthy of receiving it is.
With every player on the roster now under contract, the Green Bay Packers still are $7.751 million under their adjusted salary cap of $103.954 million and have no major appropriations scheduled before the end of the year.
"We feel comfortable," general manager Ted Thompson said Wednesday. "We spend a lot of time working and trying to manage that."
Making the Packers' financial position even stronger is the fact there isn't even one player among the 13 scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March that at this point fits the break-the-bank, absolutely-must-re-sign category.
Running back Ahman Green, defensive tackle Kenderick Allen and linebacker Ben Taylor are the only starters on the list. However, there's no telling if Green's surgical thigh will hold up and neither Allen nor Taylor currently is much more than a nominal starter.
Tight ends David Martin and Donald Lee are in the second year of two-year deals and defensive end Kenny Peterson is playing for a restricted tender. Of the 10 others headed for unrestricted status, all are in the midst of one-year contracts that expire at season's end.
There are five players headed for restricted free agency but perhaps just one, center Scott Wells, might conceivably attract a substantial offer from the club in the next few months.
Thompson acknowledged that he's constantly thinking about whom to extend next. Although defensive tackle Cletidus Hunt represented a brutal miscalculation by Mike Sherman, the Packers generally have fared well deciding which players to re-sign early.
"As we've shown in the past, we'll always look to be pro-active if the right situation arises to extend a player prior to the end of the season," vice president of player finance Andrew Brandt said.
Cornerback Al Harris wasn't bashful in June with his request for more money even though his contract doesn't expire until after the 2009 season. Linebacker Nick Barnett won't become unrestricted until after the '07 season but if he keeps improving the club might approach him in the near future.
"It's got to make sense to the players and it's got to make sense to the Packers," Thompson said. "Sometimes it takes two to tango."
Both coach Mike McCarthy and Thompson have seen players in the past perform to a higher level when a new contract is in the offing. Hunt was an example of that when he had his finest season in 2002, then signed a six-year, $25.35 million deal three months later to stay in Green Bay.
"Motivation comes in many different forms," McCarthy said. "I definitely think it's a form of it. There truly is a business side of (pro football) and you need to respect that."
The Packers have a healthy cap situation for several reasons, not the least of which is their status as a 4-12 team. There have been times in the last 12 months when Thompson had trouble finding players deserving of the team's largess. Thompson pinched pennies during 2005 free agency, too.
Last winter, the Packers were so well off financially that they were able to adopt the unusual strategy of front-loading the contracts of cornerback Charles Woodson, defensive end Aaron Kampman and defensive tackle Ryan Pickett.
Because of their enormous cap room, the Packers structured deals that put Woodson second on the team behind Brett Favre in 2006 cap salary at $6.709 million, Kampman third at $6.005 million and Pickett sixth at $5 million. In all, the three players were guaranteed a stunning $28.4 million this season.
As a result, all three players actually will count substantially less ($7.73 million) against the cap in 2007 than they are now. Woodson's cap number slips to $3.488 million in 2007, Pickett's to $2.5 million and Kampman's to $4 million.
"We've spent a good amount of salary cap this year to protect any future downside," Brandt said. "But, fortunately, we have flexibility going into the 2006 season."
The Packers' cap space would increase significantly if Favre doesn't come back in '07. In that event, his $11 million base salary would be stricken and just $1.2 million, the final unamortized portion of his bonus money, would count against the team's cap in '07.
A total of 22 players are counting $1 million or more against the Packers' cap, and already four of them won't play a down.
"It's crying over spilled milk," Thompson said. "That's past. I couldn't even tell you who those dollars are tied to."
The aforementioned Hunt, who ranks eighth among cap salaries at $3.6 million, accounts for almost 50% of the team's "dead money" total. He's followed by wide receiver Terrence Murphy ($1.18 million), who was forced to retire in April because of a spinal condition; and linebacker Na'il Diggs ($912,500); fullback Nick Luchey ($550,001), defensive tackle Donnell Washington ($177,500) and safety Mark Roman ($175,000), all of whom were released in the last 11 months.
Traded to Denver in April, wide receiver Javon Walker still counts $855,000 against Green Bay's cap.
The only two players on the Packers' injured reserve list, backup tackles Adrian Klemm and Kevin Barry, rank 16th and 17th against the cap. Klemm counts $1.7 million; Barry counts $1.556 million.
Green Bay was able to carry over $1.954 million in cap space from the end of 2005. Nine teams found means to carry over more, led by Minnesota at $7.6 million (anyone surprised?
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Green Bay's cap situation
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