Packers One of Two Teams Sitting on Sideline in NFL Free Agency
GREEN BAY, Wis. – What do the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams have in common, other than they played each other in the 2020 NFL playoffs?
They are the only teams to not sign a player in free agency.
Some of that is semantics. Green Bay and Los Angeles made huge moves in advance of the free-agent signing period, which kicked off with the start of the league-year at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The Packers kept Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones last Sunday, the day before the negotiating period, and the Rams retained outside linebacker Leonard Floyd on Monday, a couple hours into the negotiating period. Technically, Jones and Floyd never were free agents.
However you want to define free agency, Green Bay, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay are the only teams to not sign an outside free agent through Sunday morning.
That Rams did acquire premier quarterback Matthew Stafford in a trade with Detroit. The Buccaneers have spent the eighth-most money in free agency to keep their Super Bowl-winning team together. Considering those factors, the Packers' offseason silence has been deafening.
OverTheCap.com tracks all the free-agent moves since the Super Bowl. The busiest team has been the Houston Texans, who have signed 19 players as new general manager Nick Caserio attempts to overhaul a roster that plunged to a 4-12 record last year. For context, only three other teams have signed more than 10 players.
The biggest spenders, by a wide margin, have been the New England Patriots. With Tom Brady’s departure sending Bill Belichick’s dynasty veering into a ditch with a 7-9 record, the Patriots have signed 15 players to a total of $290.1 million worth of contracts. Those deals included almost $160 million in guarantees. That’s more than the total contracts from all but three teams.
The San Francisco 49ers ($198.4 million), Dallas Cowboys ($182.3 million) and Jacksonville Jaguars ($161.7 million) have been the league’s other big spenders. The Cowboys (Dak Prescott; four years, $160 million) and 49ers (Trent Williams; six years, $138 million) spent lavishly to retain a key player, while the rebuilding Jaguars have added eight players.
In terms of total money spent on free agents since the end of the Super Bowl, Green Bay’s $48 million spent on Jones is more than the money spent by 11 other teams – including NFC North rivals Chicago ($40.9 million) and Minnesota ($35.6 million).
Since the official start of free agency on Wednesday afternoon, the Packers and Rams have made zero moves. Every other team has signed or re-signed at least two players, according to Spotrac's tracker, which only includes moves made since the start of the league-year.
The reason for Green Bay's inactivity, maddening as it might be for fans craving a move or two to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010, is obvious. The Packers had to restructure several contracts to sign Jones and get beneath the salary cap. Pending more cost-cutting moves, which would only kick the financial pain down the road, or a contract extension for Davante Adams, there simply is not money to sign anyone of substance.
