beast
  • beast
  • Select Member Topic Starter
6 years ago
I think this is a very good article for anyone interested in UDFA's contracts and how to get top UDFAs. Also it gives some clues to what other professionals expect from Gutekunst and Ball.

I also think this could become another example where the Packers are slow to change in the contract department... like when they used to demand minimum of two year deals as most lower paid free agents were demanding one year prove it type deals... where it saves them some money, but also cost them some potential talent. While it certainly needs to be noted that saved money adds up, which way is more valuable to the team is more important and I think it depends on how many UDFAs, you're able to hit on.

But simply put, teams that are willing to guarantee a portion of the base salary got first pick/selections of the UDFAs... and GB was among half of the teams were unwilling.

Indications are that the Green Bay Packers weren’t among the 50% of teams in the NFL that guaranteed portions of base salary as an enticement to sign the highest-rated undrafted rookies.

A sampling of the 14 free-agent contracts signed by the Packers revealed a business-as-usual approach followed by Russ Ball, the team’s executive vice president of football operations who sets company policy and negotiates deals.

Possibly as a result, Green Bay ended up with what appears to be a ho-hum collection of talent. Long a leader in production from free agents, the Packers’ 14-man contingent seems down in quality from previous years.

“Nothing exciting about this group,” an AFC executive in personnel said. “A low-budget accumulation.”

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How did the Vikings secure so many of the better undrafted players to join them?

“They bought them,” said a source familiar with the Vikings’ financial practices. “They guaranteed money on the base (salary).”

===================

“More small school than I would have expected from ‘Gutey,’” a personnel man for an NFL team said in reference to GM Brian Gutekunst. “I expect big schools, big guys from him.”

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The decision by Green Bay and Ball not to guarantee any part of their rookies’ free agents shouldn’t be surprising. Their policy has been not to guarantee base salaries for veterans, either.

“Green Bay won’t do it,” said one NFL executive. “Green Bay is way too conservative.”

===================

Ball would like to adhere to his fiscal policies that he established with GM Ted Thompson after they joined forces in 2008. Agents have said Ball doesn’t like setting precedent. He can be stubborn, and team president Mark Murphy forever seemed to have his back until it came down to choosing a new general manager.

Bob McGinn  wrote:


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Cheesey
6 years ago
This is where I think that sometimes it hurts the Packers not having an owner.
A team owner not only wants profit, but wants to win Super Bowls. He (or she) wants the bragging rights.
Green Bay not having a owner means the “higher ups” are most likely concerned with profit over trophies.
That’s what I think, for what it’s worth.
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nerdmann
6 years ago
We don't (necessarily) need that. UDFAs already want to come here, because they have a legit shot at making the team. Guys know that if you come to Green Bay, you will get a fair shot to make the 53. This team has a pretty good record of that.

Whether or not that's enough going forward, remains to be seen.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
isocleas2
6 years ago
The teams guaranteeing base salaries do get higher quality UDFA on average. I can see the argument for it.

However atm the Packers don't guarantee any base salary in any of their deals. Start caving in on rookies and then the vets will want the same no?
beast
  • beast
  • Select Member Topic Starter
6 years ago

This is where I think that sometimes it hurts the Packers not having an owner.
A team owner not only wants profit, but wants to win Super Bowls. He (or she) wants the bragging rights.
Green Bay not having a owner means the “higher ups” are most likely concerned with profit over trophies.
That’s what I think, for what it’s worth.

Originally Posted by: Cheesey 

Don't you think the Packers personal want bragging rights just as much as owners do? ... I feel pretty sure they do, and they don't have a non-football owner getting in the way (Cowboys, Redskins, Bengals) or taking leftover cap money and putting it in his pocket like some teams do (Bengals). Heck the last time I heard the Bengals still refuse to hire half the number of scouts as most of the other teams have.

We don't (necessarily) need that. UDFAs already want to come here, because they have a legit shot at making the team. Guys know that if you come to Green Bay, you will get a fair shot to make the 53. This team has a pretty good record of that.

Whether or not that's enough going forward, remains to be seen.

Originally Posted by: nerdmann 

I think "guaranteed portions of base salary" is relatively new... but even before that, I believe was mostly based on guaranteed signing bonuses with GB's better shot at sticking on the 53 man roster as a GREAT tie breaker.

So I think it's still about guaranteed money, just the Packers aren't (yet) willing to do the new item. I'm just wondering how long until they're willing, just like it took a couple of years, but they finally became willing to do the one year deals too that they were against at first.

The teams guaranteeing base salaries do get higher quality UDFA on average. I can see the argument for it.

However atm the Packers don't guarantee any base salary in any of their deals. Start caving in on rookies and then the vets will want the same no?

Originally Posted by: isocleas2 

I agree with your point, if you open the door for some then more will want it open for them too. But at the same time, some of those vets are getting millions of dollars in signing bonuses, where these UDFAs have gotten $6,000 at most from the Packers in signing bonuses... so it's not quite apples to apples there either.

Russ Ball, the team’s executive vice president of football operations who sets company policy and negotiates deals.

Ball would like to adhere to his fiscal policies that he established with GM Ted Thompson after they joined forces in 2008. Agents have said Ball doesn’t like setting precedent. He can be stubborn

Article in the first post wrote:

I'm also wondering if Rodgers' agent and Ball are butting heads and if that is the only reason there isn't a new contract in place, after all, rumors have it that Rodgers wants to have a new type of contract (most rumors have suggested one where the amount he makes can adjust) where as "Ball doesn’t like setting precedent."
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