Packers trying to trade Barnett; will cut him if they can't
By
Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
Updated: July 26, 2011 11:24 a.m. |(23) Comments
Linebacker Nick Barnett walked into the Packers facility this morning and within an hour was on his way out.
Now we know why.
Barnett Tweeted: "Just met with Ted, Thanks for the great 8 years. Very blessed 2 be apart of such a great tradition and great fans.."
Barnett followed that up with: "Happy I was able to be here for the great xlv run... I will always keep a Special place in my heart for this team and city.."
Barnett said in a short statement afterward that the club was trying to trade him, but if it couldn't they would release him.
He said his chances of being with the Packers are "slim to none."
By releasing Barnett, the Packers will gain that $5.9 million minus $850,000 of pro-rated signing bonus from 2012 against their salary cap. The Packers are right about at the $120 million salary cap limit and in order to sign their rookies, they needed to clear some room.
The writing was on the wall for Barnett when GM Ted Thompson signed inside linebackers Desmond Bishop and A.J. Hawk to long-term contracts. Thompson could have gone through training camp with Barnett on the roster and then made a decision before the season started, but he apparently needed the salary cap room.
Teams cannot start cutting players until July 28 at 3:01 p.m.
The Packers still have some work to do.
With the Packers around $5 million under the cap, they'll have to make some moves to get their draft picks signed, not to mention re-sign free agents like WR James Jones, K Mason Crosby, RB John Kuhn and OG Daryn Colledge.
Some potential cap money they could recoup right away would be:
- $1.25 million from the release of DL Justin Harrell, who is coming off a torn ACL.
- $2.35 million from the release of LB Brady Poppinga, who is coming off a torn ACL.
- $4.38 million from the release of OT Mark Tauscher, who is coming off a shoulder injury.
- $2.3 million from the release of LB Brandon Chillar, who is coming off a third shoulder surgery.
- $1.75 million from renegotiating a roster bonus due to RB Ryan Grant, who is coming off an ankle injury.