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Last week Clay Matthews III signed a new 5-year extension with the Packers that made him the highest paid linebacker in the history of the NFL.  The press release announced that Matthews was awarded a $66 million extension that averages $13.2 million yearly, which just barely eclipses Dallas Cowboy outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware’s 2009 extension that averaged $13 million yearly. However, as the title has mentioned I personally don’t feel that the contract signed by Matthews is worth it.  Furthermore, I’m a little surprised that so many Packers fans are okay with the deal.

What Packers fans should be doing is jumping up and down with joy.

For all intents and purposes, the Packers just got away with “grand theft Matthews”.  While initially it looks like Matthews was rewarded handsomely for his services and now can claim to be the highest paid linebacker in NFL history, if you dive deeper into the structure of the deal, it’s pretty obvious that general manager Ted Thompson and lead contract negotiator Russ Ball really got the better end of the bargain.  Read more... (1520 words + 2 images, estimated 6:05 mins reading time)

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Desmond Bishop is one player the Packers have drafted and developed.

An interesting discussion about the Packers draft and develop philosophy broke out in the comments section of this post the other day.

The basic question that came out of the discussion was this: What does draft and develop mean to you?

Draft and develop might mean different things to different people. The various meanings appear to include:

• Having players on the roster who can immediately and adequately fill in when a starter is injured.
• When an upper-echelon player leaves the team (for whatever reason), there’s another player on the roster than can immediately play at a similar level of the departed star.
• Accumulating as much young talent as possible.

There is no right answer to the question, but if I had to select one of the above, I’d select the third option. However, that answer is a little broad. There isn’t a team in the league that doesn’t want to accumulate as much young talent as possible. That franchise goal isn’t unique to the Packers.

Perhaps I need to add a fourth option: Accumulating as much young talent as possible and having the patience to stick with that philosophy and actually make it work.

Draft and develop has paid off for the Packers because they didn’t ditch it at the first sign of trouble. It’s also worked because the front office appears to be on the same page as the coaching staff, which is a lot more rare than we think. (It’s also worked because the Packers have Aaron Rodgers.)  Read more... (481 words + 1 image, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

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Packers OLB Clay Matthews

Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews has reached an agreement on a contract extension to keep him in Green Bay, according to his Twitter account.

The deal will be a five-year extension worth slightly more than $13 million per season, according to Jay Glazer. Matthews now becomes the highest-paid linebacker in the league, passing DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter had previously reported that Matthews would likely get around $13 million per season.

Coming out of the University of Southern California, Matthews was the 26th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, after the Packers used the No. 9 overall pick on B.J. Raji.

In four seasons with the Packers, Matthews has racked up 42.5 sacks in 58 regular-season games. He registered 13 sacks last season.

Matthews is the first domino to fall in what will likely be multiple blockbuster contract extensions for the Packers this offseason. He shares the same agent (David Dunn) as Raji and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Raji is entering the final year of his contract, and Rodgers is expected to sign an extension that will make him the highest-paid player in NFL history.

This was not a matter of if; it was a matter of when.

And now that Matthews has been locked up for the foreseeable future, the team can focus on putting the finishing touches on an extension for Rodgers. It’s been a quiet offseason for the Packers, but that’s due in large part to these upcoming extensions.  Read more... (275 words + 1 image, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

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Packers center Evan Dietrich-Smith

Evan Dietrich-Smith signed his restricted free agent tender worth $1.323 million, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. He’s expected to be the Packers’ starting center next season after Jeff Saturday retired.

Dietrich-Smith, 26, was handed the lowest possible restricted free agent tender with no compensation. If a team wanted to sign him, they simply would have had to make an offer that the Packers couldn’t match.

But that never happened, and Dietrich-Smith will remain in Green Bay next season.

The only restricted free agent to receive an offer sheet is Pittsburgh wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders from New England. The Steelers have a week to match the Patriots’ offer.

Dietrich-Smith is now slated to participate in the Packers’ offseason conditioning program. Green Bay’s other restricted free agent, Sam Shields, has yet to sign his tender worth $2.023 million for the upcoming season.

Now that Dietrich-Smith is in the fold for at least another season, the Packers figure they have their starting center in place. But that doesn’t mean the Packers won’t consider adding a young player at the position relatively early in this month’s draft.

California’s Brian Schwenke or Wisconsin’s Travis Frederick will likely be the first center off the board at some point on Day 2. Alabama center Barrett Jones will likely start 2013 on the PUP list due to medical concerns. He was on the same level as Schwenke and Frederick prior to the medical issues becoming public, but he’s now expected to come off the board on late Day 2 or early Day 3.  Read more... (286 words + 1 image, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

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Packers TE Matthew Mulligan

Tight end Matthew Mulligan agreed to a one-year deal with the Green Bay Packers, according to WCSH TV 6 in Portland, Maine.

Mulligan, a four-year veteran out of the University of Maine, played with the St. Louis Rams in 2012 after spending three years with the New York Jets. The Packers, having lost reserve tight end Tom Crabtree to Tampa Bay earlier this offseason, are looking for some depth at the position.

Mulligan was credited with 18 starts the past two years, catching a total of 13 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown over that span.

Behind starter Jermichael Finley, Mulligan will compete for playing time with the likes of Andrew Quarless, Ryan Taylor and D.J. Williams. If healthy, Quarless is likely the frontrunner to be No. 2 on the depth chart, but he missed the entire 2012 season after tearing his ACL and MCL in December of 2011.

Brandon Bostick, an undrafted free agent from Newberry College, stuck on the team’s practice squad last season after an impressive training camp. Bostick played wide receiver in college and could threaten for a spot on the Packers’ 53-man roster this season.

For depth and special teams purposes, the Packers typically carry multiple tight ends on the roster. Brining Mulligan into the fold is a minor move that could help mask the loss of Crabtree, while adding another capable veteran to a young group of tight ends.  Read more... (268 words + 1 image, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

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Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews

Through free agency, Ted Thompson’s Green Bay Packers have been Ted Thompson’s Green Bay Packers. Deafeningly quiet.

But in the coming weeks, the Packers will look to lock up their two most important players—Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews.

According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the Packers are closer to a deal with Matthews than they are with Rodgers. But ideally, the team would extend both contracts before offseason workouts being April 15.

Packers beat writer Wes Hodkiewicz joined me and PackersTalk.com contributor Jacob Westendorf Wednesday to talk about the team’s impending contract extensions.

“Rodgers is going to be the highest paid quarterback in NFL history,” Hodkiewicz said. “I think that’s all but established. It’s just a matter of when they’re going to get that done.”

ESPN insider Adam Schefter suggested that Matthews is expected to get about $13 million per year on his new contract. Hodkiewicz says Rodgers should receive a contract worth between $22-25 million per season.

So with over $30 million potentially being tied up into two players, B.J. Raji could find himself in an interesting position.

After being selected with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, Raji has been moved around the team’s defensive line. He enjoyed perhaps his best season in 2010, racking up 6.5 sacks before being named to his first Pro Bowl a year later.

But Rodgers and Matthews are clearly the Packers’ top two long-term priorities, leaving Raji’s future in question.  Read more... (431 words + 1 image, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

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One of the hardest things for the average fan to comprehend is how NFL contracts work and how they apply to a team’s salary cap. There are many complicated elements, rules, and exceptions that can be hard to sort out. In this series, my goal is to help you better understand how this whole system works, plus what it means to the Green Bay Packers’ current salary cap and contract concerns.

Before reading, make sure to check out the previous article(s) in the series:

• Part 1: An Introduction to the Basics
• Part 2: A.J. Hawk and Contract Restructuring
• Part 3: Jermichael Finley and the Two-Year Deal
• Part 4: Clay Matthews and Incentives
• Part 5: B.J. Raji and the Escalator

Our sixth and final article focuses on Aaron Rodgers and the “big contract.” Ted Thompson has been preparing for this moment for a long time now, and we’re going to attempt to scratch through the surface of this major negotiation.

Across this series, we’ve talked about a lot of things concerning NFL player contracts and the salary cap. Now is when the rubber meets the road, though, and we try to put this knowledge to use. I’m also going to introduce a few new things that will keep it interesting, such as general cap economics and the concept of “option bonuses.” Fair warning: there is going to be a lot to digest here.  Read more... (1915 words + 5 images, estimated 7:40 mins reading time)

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