The Green Bay Packers are in no hurry to make a decision on the futures of veterans Jimmy Graham and Lane Taylor, two prime candidates to be released for salary cap relief this offseason.
GM Brian Gutekunst told ESPN’s Rob Demovsky on Friday that the Packers will wait until after the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis to make decisions on the construction of the roster.
“After we get through free-agency meetings, after we get through draft meetings and then we get back from the combine, the picture starts to get a little clearer,” Gutekunst told Demovsky. “And certainly with the CBA thing in flux, that’ll help, too. So I’m going to be patient there and get to the other side of the combine before we start making any decisions.”
Neither Graham nor Taylor has a roster bonus due, and the team is currently under the salary cap for the new league year, so the Packers have no financial incentive to make the decisions before aspects of free agency and the draft become more clear. Much of the clarity of both fronts will be achieved in Indianapolis during the combine.
Graham, who caught only 38 passes in 2019, would enter the final year of his three-year, $30 million deal in 2020. His cap hit would be $11,666,667 next season, but the Packers could save $8 million on the cap by releasing him.
More relief could be found by releasing Taylor, who missed all but two games in 2019 with an arm injury. His cap hit is scheduled to be just under $6 million in 2020, but the Packers can save over $4.6 million of the charge by releasing him.
The Packers can assess different free-agent scenarios and get a better handle on the draft at several positions at the combine before deciding to part ways with the two veterans. Gathering information on the market values of in-house free agents such as Bryan Bulaga, Blake Martinez and Mason Crosby, plus the values of potential outside targets in free agency, will likely make Gutekunst’s decisions easier.
It’s possible the Packers could project a scenario in which Graham or Taylor return in 2020 on a restructured contract.
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