While Rivals Spent, Packers Pinched Pennies

The NFL free-agent spending numbers are rather incredible and go a long way toward explaining the shifting tide in the NFC North.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
May 19, 2023 9:25 PM EDT

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – If you want to know why the sportsbook money suggests the Green Bay Packers will finish in last place in the NFC North, look at the money spent in NFL free agency.

In terms of total guaranteed money spent in free agency, the Packers’ NFC North rivals were spending money like it was burning holes in their pockets. The Chicago Bears (fourth), Minnesota Vikings (eighth) and Detroit Lions (ninth) ranked in the top 10 in guaranteed money, according to Spotrac.

The Packers? They were last. It was literally pennies on the dollar by comparison.

The specifics are rather incredible. In guaranteed money, the Bears spent $101.4 million, the Vikings spent $66.3 million and the Lions spent $65.6 million.

The Packers? Just $2.7 million.

By total value, the Bears spent $164.2 million – fifth-most in the league. The Lions (11th; $107.8 million) and Vikings (13th; $101.4 million) also cracked $100 million.

The Packers were 31st with $15.2 million, well ahead of the Los Angeles Rams’ last-place total of $6.8 million.

The past couple seasons, the Packers and Rams aggressively built their rosters in hopes of winning a Super Bowl. It worked for the Rams, making the lean times that are ahead much easier to swallow.

It didn’t work for the Packers, and now they’re paying the price. Rather, they didn’t pay.

Green Bay signed or re-signed eight players in free agency, led by retaining All-Pro returner Keisean Nixon. They also re-signed safeties Rudy Ford and Dallin Leavitt and linebackers Justin Hollins and Eric Wilson. They added three free agents with long snapper Matt Orzech and safeties Tarvarius Moore and Jonathan Owens.

All eight players signed one-year contracts. Nixon’s $1.85 million signing bonus made up most of Green Bay’s guaranteed spending.

The Packers, obviously, are stuck financially because Aaron Rodgers is counting $40.3 million against the salary cap even while not on the roster.

General manager Brian Gutekunst could have waited until after June 1 to make the trade with the Jets. Doing so would have given the Packers an additional $15 million in cap space in 2023 at the cost of having Rodgers count about $24.5 million on the cap in 2024.

However, by making the trade before the 2023 draft, Gutekunst got immediate draft assets – a big deal to him – and will be free and clear of Rodgers’ contract next offseason.

“Very excited about that,” Gutekunst said before the draft. “I think you always want to have as many avenues to help your football team as you can. I think over the past three years or so, as we’ve pushed things out down the road to help the team in those particular years chase a championship, at some point you’ve got to figure that out.

“I think this will help us do that. It’s not everything. It’s not like we’re getting clear of everything, but it’ll certainly help us next year. But, yeah, we’re excited to kind of move passed this particular piece and have some assets for next year.”

Given the offseason comings and goings, expectations are unusually low for the Packers.

At DraftKings Sportsbook, Green Bay has the longest odds to win the Super Bowl among NFC North teams and the longest odds to win the NFC North, and their most-likely finishing spot in the division is last place.

(You think the Packers are going to win the NFC North? DraftKings is offering a great special, so long as you live in a state where sports gambling is legal.)