Trade Deadline Thread

[Cheesehawk]

1 hour ago, Cheech said:

A tentative approach to free agency is still important, IMO.  

For every Woodson or Pickett there are seemingly 3 or 4 Steven Jackson's or Marty Bennett's out there.  Ted made a lot of very good non-moves.  He also left some positions undermanned when the SB window was wide open.

One of the ones that sticks out to me the most that kind of sums up the handling of the roster under TT, we were rolling into Atlanta in the NFC Championship game with a defensive backfield that resembled the cast of the golden girls and there were FA CBs sitting there on the market that were clearly better options such as Charles Tillman literally begging to come play for a chance at a championship. We rolled into that game with Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins, and Ladarius Gunter at CB. That trio looks even worse now then it did at the time. Player acquisition doesn't end with the start of week 1. TT treated it that way throughout his tenure, Gute has clearly shown a willingness to shake things up and make some changes.

[Striker]

12 minutes ago, Cheesehawk said:

One of the ones that sticks out to me the most that kind of sums up the handling of the roster under TT, we were rolling into Atlanta in the NFC Championship game with a defensive backfield that resembled the cast of the golden girls and there were FA CBs sitting there on the market that were clearly better options such as Charles Tillman literally begging to come play for a chance at a championship. We rolled into that game with Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins, and Ladarius Gunter at CB. That trio looks even worse now then it did at the time. Player acquisition doesn't end with the start of week 1. TT treated it that way throughout his tenure, Gute has clearly shown a willingness to shake things up and make some changes.

Charles Tillman had been out of football all of 2016 and I'm *mostly* certain he was joking in those Tweets to Rodgers.

 

[Cheesehawk]

Just now, Striker said:

Charles Tillman had been out of football all of 2016 and I'm *mostly* certain he was joking in those Tweets to Rodgers.

He had retired that previous offseason. Hadn't even been out of football a year. My point still stands, we did nothing throughout the season when we trotted that group out. 

[Lodestar]

19 minutes ago, Cheesehawk said:

He had retired that previous offseason. Hadn't even been out of football a year. My point still stands, we did nothing throughout the season when we trotted that group out. 

That's not exactly true. We signed Bené Benwikere in the midst of that playoff run.

[Golfman]

5 hours ago, TheBitzMan said:

Gute is going to have to spend in free agency unless he is going to leave $25-$30M in cap space unused. That's with resigning Mo, one of Cobb/CMIII and the entire draft class. 

I see no way Cobb or Matthews are back next year. Wilkerson only if the one year prove it deal is about half what he got for this one. 

[Cheesehawk]

1 hour ago, Lodestar said:

That's not exactly true. We signed Bené Benwikere in the midst of that playoff run.

To the practice squad, sure. 

[tfalkgopack]

18 minutes ago, Golfman said:

I see no way Cobb or Matthews are back next year. Wilkerson only if the one year prove it deal is about half what he got for this one. 

Agreed. Wilk I would offer 1 for 3 mil. 

Cobb is relatively young. I’d offer 3/24. 12-15 guaranteed, mostly up front. 

Clay 2-3 years at about the same rate as Cobb, with the understanding that he will be playing whatever position Pettine sees fit MLB/OLB as needed

Would they accept those numbers? Probably not but I’m ok with letting them walk if need be 

[MantyWrestler]

22 minutes ago, tfalkgopack said:

Agreed. Wilk I would offer 1 for 3 mil. 

Cobb is relatively young. I’d offer 3/24. 12-15 guaranteed, mostly up front. 

Clay 2-3 years at about the same rate as Cobb, with the understanding that he will be playing whatever position Pettine sees fit MLB/OLB as needed

Would they accept those numbers? Probably not but I’m ok with letting them walk if need be 

I think 3mil for Wilk is close but 8mil per for Cobb and Clay with 24-30mil guaranteed!!! Are you crazy? 

[Golfman]

23 minutes ago, tfalkgopack said:

Agreed. Wilk I would offer 1 for 3 mil. 

Cobb is relatively young. I’d offer 3/24. 12-15 guaranteed, mostly up front. 

Clay 2-3 years at about the same rate as Cobb, with the understanding that he will be playing whatever position Pettine sees fit MLB/OLB as needed

Would they accept those numbers? Probably not but I’m ok with letting them walk if need be 

How do you give either of those guys 8 million a year? Cobb is going to be passed by both MSV and St. Brown on the depth chart, probably by the end of the year. He's way too slow at this point of his career. 

Matthews just doesn't have it anymore. I can't possibly give him 8 million. The offer I'd make to either of them would be insulting so I'd rather they just seek greener pastures somewhere else. 

Honestly, I don't think we have a must re-sign free agent hitting the market this year. 

[Dsibly]

I actually think that Clay could still be useful in select roles at the right price. He just can not be the #1 option.

But if he's not double teamed and there's a force on the other side (that they need to find somewhere), Clay could get some pressure. I mean, we all say he's done. But it seems like he's getting into the backfield on a weekly basis.

[packfanfb]

41 minutes ago, tfalkgopack said:

Agreed. Wilk I would offer 1 for 3 mil. 

Cobb is relatively young. I’d offer 3/24. 12-15 guaranteed, mostly up front. 

Clay 2-3 years at about the same rate as Cobb, with the understanding that he will be playing whatever position Pettine sees fit MLB/OLB as needed

Would they accept those numbers? Probably not but I’m ok with letting them walk if need be 

Cobb doesnt even get an offer from me if I'm Gute. You drafted Moore, ESB and MVS because you didnt intend to bring back Cobb unless all 3 busted. That hasn't happened. Packers will be comfortable moving on.

[TransientTexan]

4 hours ago, Packerraymond said:

Yes but clearly the aggression is in favor of Gute in that regard. Don't use Ted last year of scraping the barrel (something he had to do because he was losing his ability to draft) as being equal to Gute. 

This just betrays a lack of understanding about the entire NFL talent acquisition process. Draft & FA aren't 2 independent parallel paths, they are 2 sides of the same coin. Obviously, whenever a team has a poor draft, when it comes time to re-sign players in that draft class, they'll have more money to spend on "outside" FA's, which fans like to arbitrarily single out for some reason. 

It's like all the fans that envied Atlanta's "aggression" in recent years when the only reason that was possible for Atlanta was because they basically struck out on 3 straight drafts before that. There was literally a 3 year period when the only good players they drafted were Julio Jones and a kicker. so obviously, that ended up allowing them to be more aggressive 4 years down the road when they have a bunch of cap space being freed up, and nobody internally to spend it on. 

Or the fans that envied Seattle's "aggression" by observing how they got guys like Avril to help what turned out to be their championship run. And then once Seattle had to extend their QB & core players in their secondary (as a result of successful drafts), that aggression dried up.   

Same thing will likely happen with the Rams. In 2019, the Donald/Cooks/Peters cap hits will jump by 26m. Then in 2020, Donald/Gurley/Goff cap hits will jump 24+m. Rams won't have has much space to replace expiring decent players like Saffold & their activity in FA & trades will dry up and overall roster talent will regress and depth will thin out and they won't be able to withstand it as much when one starter or another has a poor year. And casual fans will just be busy somewhere else envying whatever the next young team is that's hitting their window with cheap talent. But every once in a while they'll glance back at the Rams and wonder what happened to them. They'll still probably be a threat, but why are they no longer dominant front-runner? Meanwhile the answer was apparent to those who know where to look. 

 

Team actions are as much a product of circumstance as any supposed dogmatic adherence to a strategy. Look at when GB signed Julius Peppers, which propelled them to the brink of a championship. Part of the reason they were able to do that was because their 2011 draft class was bad and they knew they wouldn't have to earmark as much money for re-signings. 

Or even the recent 2017 signings. They happened due to a confluence of circumstances that allowed GB the cap space. Peppers & Lang were departing, clearing 16.7m. GB had to cut Shields due to concussions, so that cleared another 8.5m. And current team talent at S (HHCD & Burnett) and C (Linsley) allowed them to pass on Hyde and Tretter, when they might otherwise have re-signed them if the rest of the team talent hadn't developed in the way it did. People like me stated ahead of time that GB would likely be buyers in FA, but so many in the fan base were surprised by the signings because they don't pay attention to the cap and they develop myths about how GB operates and disregard the impact of yearly circumstance on a team's ability to bring in "outside" players. 

And foreseeably Gute won't be as active in bringing in "outside" guys in 2020 & 2021 because they won't have 40+m in space to be used exclusively for "outside" guys like they will this coming offseason. He'll be constrained by circumstance like other teams & gm's, and inevitably certain members of the fanbase will think his operating strategy somehow changed.

 

[packfanfb]

14 minutes ago, Dsibly said:

I actually think that Clay could still be useful in select roles at the right price. He just can not be the #1 option.

But if he's not double teamed and there's a force on the other side (that they need to find somewhere), Clay could get some pressure. I mean, we all say he's done. But it seems like he's getting into the backfield on a weekly basis.

He can't rush from the EDGE period. Average, even backup tackles handle him one on one pretty much all game. If you want to keep him as an inside backer or rover type player who plays on the EDGE in a very limited fashion, then I'd be game but that type of player shouldn't be getting any type of big contract offer. 

[TheOnlyThing]

16 minutes ago, Golfman said:

How do you give either of those guys 8 million a year? Cobb is going to be passed by both MSV and St. Brown on the depth chart, probably by the end of the year. He's way too slow at this point of his career. 

Matthews just doesn't have it anymore. I can't possibly give him 8 million. The offer I'd make to either of them would be insulting so I'd rather they just seek greener pastures somewhere else. 

Honestly, I don't think we have a must re-sign free agent hitting the market this year. 

100% agree Golfman.

Clay's role at this point should be similar to that of Chris Long, who is 1 year older, used to be a featured pass rusher, and for the last 3 seasons has been nothing more than a situational pass rusher (in NE and now Philly). 

Long, who has 3 sacks on the season, is on a 2 year $4.5M contract (total). Clay ain't staying in GB for that kind of money.

As for Cobb, he has been injured and has not produced much for several years now. He is not worth anything more than a veteran minimum. We have youngsters who need to see the field. Time to move on.

[TransientTexan]

47 minutes ago, tfalkgopack said:

Agreed. Wilk I would offer 1 for 3 mil. 

Cobb is relatively young. I’d offer 3/24. 12-15 guaranteed, mostly up front. 

Clay 2-3 years at about the same rate as Cobb, with the understanding that he will be playing whatever position Pettine sees fit MLB/OLB as needed

Would they accept those numbers? Probably not but I’m ok with letting them walk if need be 

I don't think anyone in the league will offer Cobb or Clay that much.