A weird dynamic

There is a weird dynamic happening with our 3 high picks from 22. Breece, Sauce, and Garrett are basically in contract years, which are seasons players really ball out for a giant bag. But instead it feels like there is more quit in them than balling out. This is a terrible business decision and I'm trying to make sense of it?

Could it be that the last few seasons have left our future cap to thin for them to believe they can actually get a good second contract from us this offseason? Maybe they feel like their contract years will be next year because next offseason we wont have the money to hand out bags? Or that we will be rebuilding again and wont pay them? But even still it affects the offers they will get from any team down the road.

Here is my take:

IMO Garret isn't really doing this, and he has the most reason to. He's in what should be a contract year for a good WR and we bring in Mike Williams, which is okay for #2, then we bring Adams in the middle of the year. That is a threat to a WR in a contract year. Yet his targets haven't suffered so far. If Rodgers starts going Adams heavy it might be an issue later though. I think Garret is a good team player and would be sad to see him want out.

Sauce is an issue. The guy is a 2X all pro. He probably already has his bag set. He is going to get way more money than the value he brings. No rebuilding team would give him that, unless the GM is really stupid, which is a possibility with us. If you think a cover corner who can't tackle or catch is a core player - more power to you.

Breece is the biggest mystery. Especially since RBs are judged the toughest when it comes to big contracts. The hard truth is RBs are disposable in todays NFL. There are always tons of quality ones coming up and they wear out fast. Maybe 10% stay elite after their rookie contract, and even then most only have a few top years left. Its easier and sometimes smarter to draft a hot young RB with fresh legs than pay a huge chunk of cap to someone whose production is on an alarm clock that could ring at any time. There are very few Barkleys, and even he has missed a lot of games. Its most important for Breece to shine this season. Breece is in the least secure position and I cant explain what he is thinking.

This is going to be an interesting offseason in a lot of areas. One of them is which one (or more) of these 3 holdout for a big 2nd contract, which they already know we cant really afford.

IMO we can count on it from Sauce. He is a two time all pro and he cant risk injury. Its basically Jamal Adams all over again. We cant afford Sauce and he wont be worth it anyway. So clearly a trade is on the horizon, and he will net a good return, though less than he would've last offseason. In this situation its going to make sense for Sauce to play soft the rest of the year. The season is tanked and the team is funked. Its sadly a smart business decision for Sauce now.

Breece may try to holdout, but his production this season so far wont warrant a big deal. It will be interesting to see what he thinks he's worth. Because he's a 2nd round pick there is no 5th year option. I can also see our new GM trading him for rebuilding in the offseason. But his value really decreases from last year, not just in production, but only having one year left on the rookie deal.

Garrett is a little bit concerning to me, because I want to keep him the most. If his targets suffer going down the stretch will his attitude change? Will he want to be paid top dollar, or second teir? IMO, we cant start rebuilding by backloading big contracts again. I can see us riding him to the 5th year extension. But how will he feel about it?

One thing is for sure. JD should not be allowed to move any of these players. The season is tanked, and we need to leave the options for these players open for the next GM. Not have them shoe horned into JDs last attempt at relevance.

So I guess there is some explanation for the lack of fire were seeing in some of these guys. But its still a strange thing to see. But then...we are a strange organization.

 

That's how I see it also. He doesn't have Chase of JJ numbers. I hope his attitude doesn't go south because he can be a great core player for the next regime.