SteelKing728 Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 Are these the right moves for Green Bay? It seems like their young guys really stepped up this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire12 Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 22 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said: Are these the right moves for Green Bay? It seems like their young guys really stepped up this year. In a year with a drop in salary cap, these are moves that are "necessary". Hard to move on from veterans that played significant snaps, but clearing cap is a must for many teams in 2021. Barnes and Martin were getting late season play at ILB, so cutting Kirksey at a savings of $5.6M is the right call. Wagner does push an OT higher up the need list....unless GB sees an option of Jenkins playing OT going forward. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 11 hours ago, SteelKing728 said: Are these the right moves for Green Bay? Good lord, no. I'm utterly confused at what their end game is, here. First time I've been flummoxed by Green Bay personnel moves. WTF? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWood21 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 11 minutes ago, Heinz D. said: Good lord, no. I'm utterly confused at what their end game is, here. First time I've been flummoxed by Green Bay personnel moves. WTF? Good thing you're not the GM. Overpaying for veterans who are worse then their younger counterparts is a Bears move... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoleINGout Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 12 hours ago, squire12 said: unless GB sees an option of Jenkins playing OT going forward. I have little doubt that Jenkins is capable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 13 hours ago, CWood21 said: Good thing you're not the GM. Overpaying for veterans who are worse then their younger counterparts is a Bears move... Is Kirksey's backup better than he is? I was under the impression that Kirksey was a good contributor. And--didn't they just sign him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zycho32 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 4 hours ago, Heinz D. said: Is Kirksey's backup better than he is? I was under the impression that Kirksey was a good contributor. And--didn't they just sign him? They did, last year. Specifically, they signed him to be their defacto 'Play Caller' and 'MLB' on defense(yes, they play a 3-4 but a lot of times it's just one ILB left on an island) after Blake Martinez left via FA. Only, Kirksey turned out to be just as marginal as Blake was, and by the tail-end of the season, his Green Dot was taken by an UDFA* and he was relegated to the #2 spot at ILB. He held up a little better without that responsibility, but even then there was another UDFA* who could be used for significantly less money. *I'm really only saying this stuff off the top of my head, so I don't remember if the LBs in question are really UDFAs or rookies to begin with. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 13 minutes ago, Zycho32 said: They did, last year. Specifically, they signed him to be their defacto 'Play Caller' and 'MLB' on defense(yes, they play a 3-4 but a lot of times it's just one ILB left on an island) after Blake Martinez left via FA. Only, Kirksey turned out to be just as marginal as Blake was, and by the tail-end of the season, his Green Dot was taken by an UDFA* and he was relegated to the #2 spot at ILB. He held up a little better without that responsibility, but even then there was another UDFA* who could be used for significantly less money. *I'm really only saying this stuff off the top of my head, so I don't remember if the LBs in question are really UDFAs or rookies to begin with. Cool. I wasn't aware of the specifics. And I understand it's a cap move, but wow. Not a good call by Gutekunst. Big gamble, bad optics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonKarman Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 It makes total sense. We had no starting ILBs, and didn't have much cap space. So we signed Kirksey to a 2Y/13M deal (that turned into a 1Y/7.4M deal) as he was familiar with Pettine system. Krys Barnes (UDFA) played better than him and earned the green dot, and Kamal Martin (5th round rookie) showed some flashes. He was a clear cap casualty (and he would have just been that even without the COVID situation). For better or worse, GB hasn't spend much resources in the ILB position. The Rick Wagner (2Y/11M deal that turned out to be a 1Y/6.8M deal) cut is more painful to the the team, as he was our backup OT. He played through some injuries and was quite valuable to us (specially after Bakhtiari's injury), though his body is not in a good shape and is considering retiring. My guess is he goes the Veldheer route where he waits till the last weeks of 2021 RS to sign with a contender. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire12 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 57 minutes ago, Heinz D. said: Cool. I wasn't aware of the specifics. And I understand it's a cap move, but wow. Not a good call by Gutekunst. Big gamble, bad optics. Yeah. Hard to know later round pick /UDFA would play well and the salary cap that might drop by 10-15M. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWil23 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Kirksey had next to nothing left in the tank after he left Cleveland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 29 minutes ago, squire12 said: Yeah. Hard to know later round pick /UDFA would play well and the salary cap that might drop by 10-15M. Hard to know if they can keep it up. I guess Gutekunst is focused on the few free agents the Pack has, so Kirksey and Wagner become expendable. But...yikes!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWood21 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 6 hours ago, Heinz D. said: Is Kirksey's backup better than he is? I was under the impression that Kirksey was a good contributor. And--didn't they just sign him? Starter*. But yes. By the end of the year, Krys Barnes was a clear upgrade over and when healthy Kamal Martin was as well. And the Packers played a LOT of 1 ILB look last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWood21 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 1 hour ago, Heinz D. said: Cool. I wasn't aware of the specifics. And I understand it's a cap move, but wow. Not a good call by Gutekunst. Big gamble, bad optics. Bad optics? What in the hell are you talking about? He was a veteran who was signed to a backloaded contract who likely wasn't going to see Y2 of the deal unless you saw prime Kirksey in 2020. He was neither healthy, nor prime Kirsey and an easy cap casualty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Buck Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 20 hours ago, CWood21 said: Good thing you're not the GM. Overpaying for veterans who are worse then their younger counterparts is a Bears move... Wow. What a nice guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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