Green Bay Packers paying most in bonuses to lure players to workouts
Aaron Rodgers and 14 other Packers will earn six-figure bonuses for attending voluntary workouts. (John Biever/SI)
The Green Bay Packers know that practice makes perfect, but if offseason workouts are deemed 'voluntary,' how does the team get players to attend?
Money, of course.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, linebacker Clay Matthews and defensive back Sam Shields will all haul in a cool $500,000 for their attendance, while 13 other players will hit at least six-figures for showing up to the workouts, which start Tuesday, April 22.
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That's why, for the second straight season, the Green Bay Packers will lead the NFL in offseason bonuses paid to players in effort to lure them to voluntary offseason programs.
In 2013, the Packers reportedly shelled out more in workout bonuses than any other NFL team ($3,672,500), and according to ESPN, will do so again with another $4.3 million of next year’s $133 million cap allocated to 21 veteran players.
The Packers seem to believe that getting vital players to attend the 'voluntary' programs will be beneficial towards the overall progress and cohesion of the team (hard to argue) and don't seem to mind paying out a little extra cash to make such happen.
