No doubt you’re familiar with The Packer Way. The Green Bay Packers have never been shy about sharing their strategy of almost fanatical devotion to their draft-and-develop mantra, all while keeping their wallets in their pockets during free agency. Former Packers general manager Ted Thompson was reluctant to shell out money to free agents when he ran the team. But that changed somewhat when Brian Gutekunst became the GM. Gutekunst spent money on the Smiths, among others. But the Packers seem to be reverting back to their old, familiar philosophy this season.
Fans may be upset that the Packers didn’t go after free agents to try to help their young quarterback and supplement their young roster. Instead, Green Bay simply re-signed their depth and added special-teams players. While some fans may be frustrated, this is a blessing in disguise.
Thompson occasionally brought in guys, he just did not do it often. But when he did, he went big. Guys like Ryan Pickett, Charles Woodson, Charlie Peprah, and, later on, Julius Peppers were all huge wins. However, a few of Thompson’s chosen free agents made little to no impact. Thompson did not sign more than 20 guys outside the organization in more than a decade running the Packers.
When Gutenkust came into the fold, that changed. He went out and signed big names like Jimmy Graham and Muhammad Wilkerson in 2018. Those moves turned sour, but that did not stop him from then dishing out a boatload of money in 2019 (over $130 million). The Packers signed Za’Darius and Preston Smith to big-money deals, $66 and $52 million, respectively, in addition to swiping Adrian Amos from the Chicago Bears for $36 million. All of these signings were for four years and paid immediate dividends.
Are big-time free agents making splashes in Green Bay? That’s not supposed to happen. What is going on up there? Well, it looked like the Packers were changing their philosophy. That was not really the case. While, yes, the Packers were more willing to open up the pocketbook and cut checks to players outside the organization, it was not a spending spree every year. The free-agent class of Rick Wagner and Devin Funchess is a far cry from that of Amos and the Smiths.
So what has changed since the infamous 2019 class?
The only free agents that the Packers brought in this year were two depth safeties, one who excels on special teams and one who is a depth player. Oh yeah, and a long snapper. I’m not counting on the guys they re-signed like Keisean Nixon, Dallin Leavitt, Rudy Ford, and Justin Hollins.
This year’s free-agent class is weird because in the past the Packers would try to fill some holes in their depth chat with low-end free agents like Christian Kirksey and Jarran Reed. But they didn’t do that this year. Tarvarius Moore and Jonathan Owens are hardly replacement-level players and play the same position. Owens and Moore are in there to provide competition, contribute to special teams, and push the current guys like Ford and Darnell Savage.
The Packers are not counting on them to play a large number of snaps or assume key roles like they may have with other free agents in the past. They brought Kirksey in to be a starting linebacker. Funchess was going to be a second or third receiver. The Smiths started right away, and so did Billy Turner.
I don’t want to include the De’Vondre Campbell and Rasul Douglas signings. The Packers found these guys on the street and other teams’ practice squads. They were just sitting there. They are much different cases than bringing in guys from an NFO roster at the dawn of free agency. The Packers are also kind of lucky with how well these signings panned out.
There are multiple reasons why the Packers chose to approach free agency the way that they did in 2023.
Let the Young Players Play
There are a few position groups that the Packers could add to. In almost every position, you could say the Packers could use more veteran presence. They let several of their own free agents walk: Adrian Amos, Dean Lowry, Allen Lazard, Robert Tonyan, and Randall Cobb. Players like Marcedes Lewis and Mason Crosby remain unsigned, and it doesn’t seem like they will be back.
This clears the way for the young players go out and play. The Packers want to see what they have in the guys on their roster. They don’t want to stunt the development of Jayden Reed, Devonte Wyatt, and Zach Tom with more veterans.
The assets are out there on the market. If the Packers wanted to bring in free agents, they could’ve. They would’ve.
They Broke
Being a successful team means you have to re-sign your good players. Aaron Rodgers was one of those guys, and he demanded one of the richest contracts in history. Therefore, there is not as much money to go around for other players. Then there are Kenny Clark, David Bakhtiari, Jaire Alexander’s contracts to consider, along with the impending Rashan Gary extension on top of Rodgers’ dead cap hit – all of it. It eats up a big portion of the cap and leaves less wiggle room to add other players.
The Packers have a decent amount of cap space remaining (~$15 million) this year, but they are third in dead money with almost $60 million. The dead money drops to zero after this year, and the Packers, I’d imagine, don’t want to sign contracts that could potentially add to that. They probably don’t feel that they need to spend that money this year. No need to waste it on potentially regrettable contacts in a year where they’re rebooting.
The Changing of the Guard
Rodgers had built a bit of a boys club in Green Bay. He demanded that his buddies were on the team instead of allowing management to make logical football decisions. Almost all of those guys are gone. Bakhtiari is the only one that remains.
Brian Gutenkunst probably did not like his quarterback telling him how to do his job, but those days are over. This team is now completely made in LaFleur and Gutenkunst’s image. Drafting Jordan Love was the decision that his entire tenure was going to be judged on.
Well, judgment day has arrived.
While it’s been a boring free agency for Brian Gutenkusnt, very reminiscent of the Ted Thompson-era Packers. This time, it’s for the best.
All stats and data via ESPN and OverTheCap.
