Spotrac Projects Contracts for Six Packers Free Agents

Spotrac crunched the numbers to create contracts for Davante Adams and five other Packers starters. Which one is absurdly undervalued?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams are only the really big tip of the Green Bay Packers’ free agent iceberg.

The Packers have several starters who are set to be free agents next week. Spotrac projected the contracts for six of them. We asked a simple “too high” or “too low” to a high-ranking executive who plays a major role in his team’s free-agent game plan.

WR Davante Adams

Spotrac: Five years, $129.33 million ($25.87 million average).

Executive: “That’s about right.”

Our thoughts: The Packers used the franchise tag on Adams on Tuesday, buying time to hammer out an extension that would tie Adams to Green Bay for the long haul while lowering his Year 1 cap number.

In terms of annual pay, Arizona’s DeAndre Hopkins is the league’s highest-paid receiver, his two-year contract averaging $27.25 million. Adams is a better player than Hopkins and rightly wants to beat that number. The challenge is Hopkins’ average is $5.25 million than No. 2 on the list, Tennessee’s Julio Jones. Perhaps the solution is to go between those averages, as Spotrac did, while beating Jones, who ranks No. 1 in guarantees ($64 million), and Dallas’ Amari Cooper, who ranks No. 1 in terms of total contract ($100 million). Or, perhaps the final year of the contract is a bloated base salary to give the appearances of a record-setting contract while protecting the Packers should Adams’ play suffer when he’s 34.

LB De’Vondre Campbell

Spotrac: Three years, $18.86 million ($6.28 million average).

Executive: “Not a chance.”

Our thoughts: Campbell is coming off an All-Pro season in which he stuffed the stat sheet unlike any other linebacker in the NFL. It was by far the best season of his career, but it’s not as if Campbell’s a one-year wonder. To compare his contract to the likes of Nick Kwiatkoski and A.J. Klein, as Spotrac did, is laughable. For reference, when Blake Martinez left Green Bay following the 2019 season, he signed a three-year contract with the Giants that was worth $30.75 million, or $10.25 million annually. Miami’s Jerome Baker ranks 10th among off-the-ball linebackers with a $12.5 million average.

CB Rasul Douglas

Spotrac: Four years, $36.93 million ($9.23 million average).

Executive: “Too high.”

Our thoughts: Douglas wasn’t a one-year wonder for the Packers. He was a two-thirds year wonder. In 60 career games over with Philadelphia and Carolina from 2017 through 2020, he had five interceptions. In 12 games with Green Bay, he had five interceptions. During those first four seasons, he averaged 0.57 passes defensed. Last season, he averaged 1.08. In a quarterback-driven league, high-quality cornerback play is a necessity. Will a dozen sublime games vault Douglas into the top 20 among cornerbacks in annual pay, as that projection would do?

TE Robert Tonyan

Spotrac: Four years, $43.21 million ($10.80 average).

Executive: “Way too high.”

Our thoughts: The contract would make Tonyan the sixth-highest-paid tight end in the NFL in terms of total pay. If he had come close to repeating his 2020 success, this deal might have made sense. But his production was down in 2021 even before he suffered a torn ACL. The Packers really missed his production last season; maybe the injury will work in their favor in free agency.

WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Spotrac: Three years, $26.38 million ($8.79 million average).

Executive: “Maybe too high.”

Our thoughts: In 2020, Valdes-Scantling led the NFL in 40-yard receptions and was one of the team’s best players in the championship loss to Tampa Bay. Last year was sabotaged by injuries. While his production was down, he also didn’t drop any passes. Maybe he’s a bit of a one-trick pony but, at 6-foot-4 and with 4.37 speed, that one trick can win football games.

WR Allen Lazard

Spotrac: Three years, $23.26 million ($7.75 million average).

Executive: “Probably too high?”

Our thoughts: Lazard is a restricted free agent. The Packers figure to give him the second-round tender of $3.986 million, a move that should ensure his return. If a team signs Lazard to a contract and the Packers decide not to match it, they’d get a second-round pick in return. Presumably, the team would like to extend Lazard at some point. For his production and toughness, this contract might be right in the ballpark.