Saturday, March 08, 2014

Packers Gone Wild: Shields For Four Years and $39 Million

What do CB Darrelle Revis and CB Sam Shields have in common? They're soon to be the two highest paid cornerbacks in the NFL. That doesn't make any sense.

If the Packers hadn't re-signed Shields, then they would have had a big roster spot to fill. They could have replaced him with CB Davon House, or maybe CB Casey Hayward could have take over for Shields and CB Micah Hyde could have played in the slot. But Hyde might be needed at safety, Hayward still has to prove he's healthy, and House was inconsistent last season. Re-signing Shields, or replacing him with a similar player, was a priority. Having said that...

For the first time that I can remember, GM Ted Thompson overpaid for his man. Thompson is usually good at re-signing guys at market value with less guaranteed money than similar players, but not this time. Comparable cornerbacks like Tim Jennings and Sean Smith were signed for four-years and $22 million. Brent Grimes, who's a better player though a few years older, recently re-signed for four-years and $32 million. The salary cap is going way up in 2014. Maybe it's going to be a crazy free agent market. Maybe the Packers are getting ahead of the curve and the numbers that are going to be offered to cornerbacks like Vontae Davis, DRC, and Alterraun Verner are going to be even higher. But that's a lot of maybes, and maybe prices will skyrocket only because the Packers overpaid for Shields in the first place.

This contract looks bad. It's like something Jerry Jones would do; overpay to re-sign his own player because he's gotten too attached and he believes that his player is only going to get better. I'd be really surprised if Shields lives up to this contract.

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