USAT: Packers Wire audio clip

USAT: Packers Wire

Feb 16, 2022

The new league year for the NFL starts in a month, and it’s possible no team will be as busy over the next month as the Green Bay Packers. - The team awaits Aaron Rodgers’ decision on his football future. But the quarterback is just the tip of the iceberg for general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president Russ Ball. - The Packers are roughly $50 million over the 2022 salary cap and have 23 pending free agents, including 14 soon-to-be unrestricted free agents. And the team will probably have to make decisions on the immediate futures of nine other veteran players, including Rodgers. There are eight realistic cap casualty candidates for the cap-strapped Packers entering the offseason. - All in all, the Packers will probably need to make as many as 30 individual decisions on the future of players in the next month or so, and the decisions must fit within the framework of the salary cap. The team needs to find the delicate balance between shedding salary cap dollars and keeping together a talented roster. - Rodgers is the first domino, and it will fall soon. Once the Packers know his intentions, the team’s plan can go into action. He can either return on a new deal, retire from football or request a trade elsewhere. - The Packers must also decide what’s next for Davante Adams. Using the franchise tag would keep him out of free agency and provide an option to either trade for premium draft capital or extend the negotiating window for a new, long-term deal. - The Packers will have to make cuts, restructure contracts and extend contracts. And most of the heavy lifting needs to be done before the start of the new league year so the Packers can get under the cap in time. - Buckle up. A busy month of decisions awaits. - - List - - 13 most reasonable ways the Packers can create salary cap space this offseason - - - - - - - Unrestricted free agents - WR Davante Adams - LB De’Vondre Campbell - OL Lucas Patrick - WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling - CB Chandon Sullivan - CB Kevin King - TE Robert Tonyan - CB Rasul Douglas - OLB Whitney Mercilus - P Corey Bojorquez - DL Tyler Lancaster - OL Dennis Kelly - WR Equanimeous St. Brown - LB Oren Burks - Restricted free agents - WR Allen Lazard - Exclusive rights free agents - LB Krys Barnes - OL Yosh Nijman - S Henry Black - TE Dominique Dafney - OLB Chauncey Rivers - WR Malik Taylor - C Jake Hanson - OLB Randy Ramsey - Potential cap casualties - OLB Za’Darius Smith - OLB Preston Smith - WR Randall Cobb - S Adrian Amos - DL Dean Lowry - OL Billy Turner - TE Marcedes Lewis - K Mason Crosby - - List - - 8 potential salary cap casualties for the Packers in the 2022 offseason - - - - - - - As Ken Ingalls told Packers Wire: “There are no absolutes – only choices. The Packers can bring back any player you want them to, they just can’t bring them all back.” - The Packers have a million different ways that they can put all these puzzle pieces together and it will be fascinating to watch how Gutekunst and Ball execute the plan. - Rodgers’ decision obviously represents a crossroads for the franchise. If he departs, a new era begins. If he returns, another run is possible. - But the quarterback is just one puzzle piece. The Packers have 30 other important decisions to make over the next month. The look of the 2022 team will be mostly decided over the next few weeks. - - List - - Important dates to know for Green Bay Packers 2022 offseason - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Packers Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Packers Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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