The money thrown around by the Green Bay Packers over the past week is staggering.
All told, the Packers committed more than $74 million in new contracts to Nick Collins, Ryan Pickett and Chad Clifton. Even if those players dont finish their deals, the Packers will pay them $31.5 million in first-year pay.
General Manager Ted Thompson clearly believes his team is capable of great success, and hes putting up the money to prove it.
Paying aging left tackle Chad Clifton $7.5 million up front and almost $20 million over three years is an indication Thompson doesnt want to mess up a good thing with the offense. Its a top-10 unit, Aaron Rodgers is blossoming and the Packers cant afford to leave their quarterback unprotected.
In the past, Thompson was reluctant to rain dollar bills on a player nearing the end of his career, but with Clifton, he appears to be displaying some urgency.
Thompson also likes his defense, which ranked No. 2 in the NFL last season and No. 1 against the run. Collins and Pickett are important cogs in defensive coordinator Dom Capers 3-4 scheme and were rewarded accordingly.
Through the years, Thompson smartly has avoided bidding for overpriced free agents from other teams. Opening the vault for his players makes more sense because the Packers know what theyre getting.
Despite writing some awfully big checks, Thompson maintained Saturday while attending Packers Fan Fest that hes conducting business as usual.
As best we can, wed like to be able to sign our own players, he said. This is not unlike what weve done in the past. Weve always tried to do that.
But never has the team doled out so much money in such a short span. And the spending spree might not be finished. Thompson confirmed the Packers are speaking with tackle Mark Tauschers representatives.
You never stop moving, Thompson said. Youre always trying to do some things.
Were never going to stop pushing the envelope.
Although there is an appearance that Thompson has an unlimited pile of cash at his disposal without an NFL salary cap, thats not the case.
We dont have a cap now, but were operating with a budget, Packers president Mark Murphy said.
Nevertheless, that budget isnt stopping the Packers from lavishing some of their coveted players with sweet deals.
Its certainly uncharted waters were in, a lot of uncertainty, but Im really pleased, Murphy said. What youve seen over the last week or so is a positive for the organization. I think its also an indication we feel pretty good about our team.
Thompson is so high on his team that hes willing to invest major dollars to lock down some of the core players.
I thought we had a good team, Thompson said. In fact, I thought we had a team that could play a few games in the playoffs and we just got in a shootout and couldnt get out of it.
Translation: Thompson believes he has a Super Bowl contender on his hands and is willing to pay big bucks to keep it together.