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Green Bay Packers have cap room to burn following Sam Shields release

By Freddie Boston

Feb 25, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Green Bay Packers EVP, general manager, and director of football operations Ted Thompson speaks to the media during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Green Bay Packers EVP, general manager, and director of football operations Ted Thompson speaks to the media during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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If the Green Bay Packers are ever going to become bigger free agency players under Ted Thompson, this might be the year.

While Thompson usually opts to spend March fine tuning his draft preparation rather than signing outside free agents, multiple reports surfaced in January suggesting the Packers may approach free agency with rare aggression.

NFL Insider Ian Rapoport said it first with his belief the Packers will “go and get some free agents” this year. Most took the report with a grain of salt, but when Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette echoed his comments, it at least sparked some intrigue.

Nobody truly knows what Thompson’s approach will be, and being more aggressive could simply mean signing an outside free agent in the fourth or fifth wave, just like he did with Jared Cook last year. And that might not be such a bad thing.

READ MORE: Replacing Sam Shields is offseason priority

Should Thompson decide to take the free agency plunge, he’ll at least have more ammunition than usual. Following the release of Sam Shields and James Starks, Green Bay has just under $43 million in cap room, according to OverTheCap.com. Only 12 teams currently sit on more money.

Thompson could free up even more cash by asking one, or both, of Clay Matthews and Randall Cobb to restructure their current deals. The pair are set to account for $27.75 million of the Packers’ cap in 2017, yet their play in 2016 certainly didn’t warrant such a fee. It’s unlikely the Packers will restructure either contract and will simply be happy to absorb the cap hit.

Of the $43 million available to Thompson, a chunk will go on re-signing his own free agents, and approximately $6 million will be spent on the upcoming draft class.

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And make no mistake, Thompson will be busy re-signing his own guys before even flirting with the idea of looking elsewhere. The contracts of Jared Cook, Nick Perry, Eddie Lacy, and T.J. Lang are all set to expire, as well as Datone Jones, Micah Hyde, and JC Tretter.

It’s unlikely the entire group returns to Green Bay, but the majority certainly could providing the value is right. Cook and Hyde feel the safest bets to return, but the others could go in any direction.

Lang is an anchor at the heart of the offensive line, but the veteran turns 30 in September and has been hit with recurring foot and hips injuries. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Packers allow Lang to test the market and leave if offered a lucrative contract elsewhere. Tretter would then likely be a prime candidate to return and grab a starting job along the line.

Eddie Lacy, too, may be allowed to test the waters in March. If another team is willing to throw money at him based on his portfolio of work from 2013 and 2014, so be it. If, as expected, his previous two years scare teams off, especially with an excellent rookie class entering the draft, the Packers may gladly re-sign him to a cap-friendly deal.

What’s left is Thompson’s to spend as he desires. Maybe that will be locking up some of his 2018 free agents to long-term deals. Morgan Burnett, Davante Adams, Corey Linsley and Lane Taylor are free agents a year from now, and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix would too become a free agent in 2018 if the Packers decided not to take his fifth-year option.

The other option would be to grab outside help. It’s not Ted’s style to make extravagant moves in the first week of free agency, but once the first and second waves pass, we may finally see some movement at 1265 Lombardi Ave.

Who those free agents might be is difficult to say. Until franchise tags have been designated and we see who is re-signed, it’s almost impossible to know which players will hit the market. From a Packers perspective, it makes more sense to browse potential cut candidates from around the league. Julius Peppers, Letroy Guion, and Jared Cook were all cut by their previous teams before arriving in Green Bay.

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While it’s unlikely Thompson makes a significant “splash”, the Packers will certainly have the ammunition to be active participants in free agency.

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