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Juli
2019

Perry released immediatelyImmediate: $3.3M cap reliefJune

GREEN BAY Lance Kendricks Jersey , Wis. (AP) � Matt LaFleur has never been in charge of an NFL team before, and until last year had never called plays for one either.On Wednesday, he took over the Green Bay Packers, who have missed the playoffs two years in a row � and a team with a two-time MVP quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, whom LaFleur must help to get back to playing his best.�I briefly spoke to (Rodgers) prior to accepting the job,� LaFleur said during an introductory news conference at Lambeau Field.�That�s kind of how I had an idea that maybe I was in the running for it.�According to team president Mark Murphy and general manager Brian Gutekunst, LaFleur was by far the best of the other nine candidates who interviewed for the job after longtime head coach Mike McCarthy was fired on Dec. 2, with four games remaining in his 13th season in charge.�Obviously we cast a fairly large net, much larger than the 10 people that we interviewed,� Murphy said. �Went through the nine (interviews) and quite honestly, no one really stood out. There were a lot of strong candidates, but there wasn�t one that just jumped out at us.�Matt was our last candidate, and we�d heard great things about Matt through our vetting process. A lot of the coaches and others that we talked to talked about his background, his experience. So were really excited going into it.�Murphy, Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball then emerged from LaFleur�s interview Sunday in Nashville even more excited � and agreeing that they had their man, despite having planned to host a second round of interviews.After sleeping on it, they offered the job to LaFleur on Monday, and he arrived in Green Bay on Tuesday night to sign his contract.�It�s always been a dream of mine to be an NFL head coach, but to be the head coach of the Green Bay, it is surreal Davon House Jersey ,� LaFleur said.LaFleur comes to the Packers after one season as the play-calling offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, a job he took a year ago because he knew he needed to �challenge myself.�He�d spent the 2017 season as the Los Angeles Rams� offensive coordinator under Sean McVay, and Murphy said he believed LaFleur would have been �the hot candidate. He�d be flying all over the country talking to everybody.�Instead, the Packers were the only team to interview LaFleur for a head coaching job since the season ended.�It would have been easy to stay in L.A. You look at the roster and you look at the success they�re having there this year, it certainly could have been easy to stay there,� LaFleur said, referring to the Rams, who�ll face the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC divisional playoffs on Saturday night.�I took the risk because I knew that I needed to get out of my comfort zone and grow as a coach.�Meanwhile, it�ll be vital for LaFleur to find a comfort zone with Rodgers, who is coming off a down season by his standards. Although he threw only two interceptions in 16 games, he also threw only 25 touchdown passes, the lowest full-season total of his career. He also completed only 62.3 percent of his passes, the second-lowest rate of his time as a starter, and finished with a 97.6 passer rating, well below his 103.1 career rating.Rodgers also played all season with a left knee injury sustained in the season-opener against Chicago and left the season finale with a concussion after three offensive series as the Packers finished 6-9-1.It�ll be up to LaFleur to get Rodgers back to the MVP form he showed in winning the award in 2011 and 2014, and in rallying the Packers from a 4-6 start in 2016 to a berth in the NFC championship game that year.The Packers lost that game to the Atlanta Falcons, led by quarterback Matt Ryan, who won the league�s MVP that season.Ryan�s quarterbacks coach that year? LaFleur.�I�ll tell you what, I cannot wait to get to work with him,� LaFleur said of Rodgers. �I think he�s equally excited. There�s a lot of work to be done in front of us Dean Lowry Jersey , but just looking forward to that opportunity.�At the same time, LaFleur will have to coach the entire 53-man team, not just the quarterback. And the Packers are convinced he can both lead the team and reinvigorate Rodgers.�I think we�ve got the perfect candidate to lead us to where we want to go,� Gutekunst said. �There�s one goal � always has been one goal � and that�s to win world championships. We�re excited to get started.� Plus, here�s how and when cap space would open up if both Graham and Perry are released this offseason."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections The APC PodcastPackers Film RoomFantasy Football Adviceand Perry are released this offseason.CSTShareTweetShareShareJimmy Graham�s salary cap implications for the Packers in 2019 and beyondJeff Hanisch-USA TODAY SportsIn early December, when the Green Bay Packers put outside linebacker Nick Perry on injured reserve, we at APC discussed all the options for what the team could do with him this offseason. Any decision the Packers make � from a conventional release to a post-June 1st cut to keeping him on his current contract for 2019 � will force the Packers to take a substantial hit on the salary cap over the next year or two.At the time, the most palatable option seemed to be cutting him with a post-June 1st designation, which frees up about $10 million in salary cap space for 2019 and another $7 million in 2020. It remains this author�s opinion that this is the best option moving forward.A similar situation is now setting up with tight end Jimmy Graham, however, who is scheduled to have a cap hit of $12.67 million in 2019. As with Perry, the team has three feasible options: a straight-up release, a post-June 1st release, or keeping him through 2019 and dealing with him in 2020. Given Graham�s production � 55 receptions for 636 yards and two touchdowns � his price tag for his age 33 and 34 seasons looks difficult to justify.Below, you will find a breakdown of the financials of each of these situations as well as a discussion of how the decisions with both Perry and Graham could work together.Graham�s ContractThe contract that Graham signed last March is scheduled to pay him $30 million over the three years from 2018 to 2020. That included an $11 million signing bonus, which would apply to the salary cap as a $3.667 million charge each of the three years. Graham�s cap hit in 2018 was just under $6 million, as the deal backloaded significant dollars onto years two and three.The current cap hits are scheduled as follows:2019: $12.667M2020: $11.667MA final note is that $5 million of Graham�s 2019 compensation is in the form of a roster bonus, which is scheduled to pay out on the fifth day of the 2019 league year.Conventional ReleaseThis is simple: if the Packers cut Graham normally, they take a $7.3 million hit on their cap, due to the final two years of his signing bonus deferral accruing in 2019. That frees up $5.3 million in cap space immediately Kentrell Brice Jersey , and it gets him off the books entirely for 2020.2019: $7.3M dead cap, $5.3M cap relief (immediate)2020: no dead cap, $11.7M cap reliefPost-June 1 ReleaseThe post-June First cut option gets slightly tricky, thanks to that roster bonus, but here goes. The move would free up some cap space immediately, some more as of June 2nd, and most (but not all) of his cap hit in 2020.The rule states that a post-June 1 cut puts the current year�s guaranteed money (or signing bonus deferral) on the current year�s cap, and all future years� obligations go on the next year�s cap. Therefore, the Packers take one hit of $3.7M each of the next two years. However, the post-June 1st cut results in the player�s 2019 full cap hit remaining on the books until June 2nd. This means that the Packers would get $9 million of extra cap space � but not until that date. Thus, the schedule looks as follows:2019: $3.7M dead cap hit, $9M in cap relief on June 2nd2020: $3.7M dead cap hit, $8M in cap reliefIf the Packers are going to cut Graham, they may as well do it outright without the post-June 1 designation; that would allow them to use the $5.3M in open cap space immediately for free agent signings rather than leaving it on the books until the summer. This makes even more sense when we add Nick Perry into the mix, as you�ll see shortly.Keep Graham for 2019The other option is, of course, to let Graham remain in Green Bay on his contract for a second season and presumably cut him before 2020. In this case, the Packers keep his $12.67M cap number on their books this year, then take a $3.67M dead hit in 2020 to open up that $8M number that season.The difference here is the $9M in total cash Graham is scheduled to receive in 2019. That�s the amount that the Packers would save by cutting him in 2019 instead of 2020, with the timing of when those savings kick in being determined by the cut designation. Given his production in 2018 Geronimo Allison Jersey , this writer feels that this $9 million could probably be put to better use elsewhere, and a cut is the wiser option.Cutting Graham and Nick PerryPerry�s situation is similar to Graham�s, but the amounts of cap savings are a bit different. As we discussed previously, cutting Perry outright saves the Packers about $3.3M immediately. However, the $10.7 million cap savings over the summer that would result from a post-June 1st cut is a big number, one that could feasibly cover the Packers� entire draft class (which currently has a pool of $10.35M, per Overthecap.com). Thus, the post-June 1 cut makes sense for him. Use the cap savings from Graham to help sign some free agents, then use the Perry savings to sign the draft class.That�s just one scenario. If the Packers were to cut both players, there are four combinations of designations possible: either, neither, or both players could get the post-June 1st designation. Here is how cap space would open up in all four scenarios:Both Graham & Perry designated as post-June 1st cutsImmediate: No cap reliefJune 2nd: $19.7M cap relief2020: $14.9M cap reliefGraham released immediately, Perry post-June 1stImmediate: $5.3M cap reliefJune 2nd: $10.7M cap relief2020: $18.6M cap reliefGraham post-June 1st, Perry released immediatelyImmediate: $3.3M cap reliefJune 2nd: $9M cap relief2020: $22.3M cap reliefBoth Graham & Perry released immediatelyImmediate: $8.6M cap reliefJune 2nd: no additional relief2020: ~$26M cap reliefAgain, given that the Packers will need to sign their draft class this summer, the option of cutting Graham outright and using a post-June 1 designation on Perry appears to be the best. It frees up a nice chunk of space immediately to help sign some free agents, opens up an even bigger chunk over the summer, and gets two albatross contracts off the books with a substantial savings against the 2020 cap. And keep in mind that any unused cap space from this year�s cap will be applied to 2020, so the added flexibility of having more money during the 2019 season can only help.The question now becomes whether Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball see the numbers the same way.