Inbox: That's just the way the NFL likes it

Tim from Champaign, IL

So the league New Year struck at 3 p.m. CT Wednesday (3/12). How did everyone in the building celebrate? Did corks pop on bottles of sparkling grape juice? Was there any confetti involved? Was "Horizontal Hold" piped over the building loudspeaker system? Just curious.

I think I heard someone popping popcorn in the microwave.

Mark from Wheaton, IL

Very saddened to see the recent passing of Junior Bridgeman. I remember watching him play for the Bucks when I was growing up near Milwaukee. I have to admit that I was unaware of how successful he was as a businessman post-basketball and what a great mentor and role model he was to so many other NBA players. And only recently becoming a 10% owner of the Bucks. Life is too short.

I remember Bridgeman on those great Bucks teams of my youth, too. What a life, what an individual. RIP to a great, great man.

Luke from Wautoma, WI

In regards to the NFL emphasizing the ineligible man down field penalties, I believe it was a direct response to all the RPOs being called. This gave the offense an unfair advantage. Nice to help defense for once.

Probably true. If the QB chooses pass on an RPO and holds the ball an extra tick rather than throwing right away, there's often a lineman downfield. They've been watching for that.

Mat from Helena, MT

To follow up about Packers players at the draft. I would love to watch our recent HOF inductee, Sterling Sharpe, welcome the next generation of players to Lambeau Field to chase their dreams. The NFL has a tough job deciding what iconic Green Bay stories fit the draft. What story would you choose?

I'd love to see every Packers draft pick assigned his bike kid for training camp right there on the Oneida St. stage. That would be cool.

Mike from Appleton, WI

Which of these would garner a larger reaction from the draft crowd in April...Green Bay drafting a receiver in the first round or announcing that the pick has been traded to CIN for Hendrickson?

I can't imagine a Hendrickson deal not going down until draft night itself, but wide receiver fever always wins. Always.

Gary from Cross Plains, WI

So how do the performance-based payouts and proven performance escalator salary hikes impact the cap? Do they just add to our 2025 obligations? Are there exemptions/spreading out of this? That could seem rough for a team struggling to get under the cap and then the league comes in and says, BTW, here's some more you have to cover.

If I understand the provisions correctly, performance-based pay comes from a separate fund created by the CBA and is essentially back pay that does not impact the cap. But a salary for the subsequent year that rises due to the proven performance escalator does count against the cap.

Andrew from Avondale, AZ

I was very surprised to see Josh Myers only get signed to a one-year, $3.5M deal with the Jets. I figured him leaving would have meant a long-term, high-dollar contract. I would think for that price we would have just kept him here and had a lot of depth and experience on our O-line. I know we can't keep everyone, but that seems like a no brainer/steal. What am I missing?

Once the Packers decided to move on, and sign Banks, there was really no going back for either side. Myers wasn't going to return here to ride the bench. The future of his career hinges on playing. I suspect the market for Myers wasn't what he and his reps anticipated – perhaps because he played through so many injuries in 2024 – so they felt the best move was to take a one-year, prove-it deal where he could start, put a whole new season of hopefully healthy film out there, and hit the market again next year. I wish him the best. Josh is a good dude.

Richard from Caledonia, WI

In your opinion, what are the highest needs for the Packers with the latest personnel changes made with recent free agent losses? Good luck to AJ Dillon with his new team. He was a great player and his youth involvement in the state will be missed!

All the best to AJ as well. Defensive line (edge and interior) and wide receiver rise to the top of the needs list for the draft the way things stand now, with cornerback right behind. The Hobbs signing lessens the acuteness of the need at corner, but I'd love to see more depth built there.

Jeffrey from Eveleth, MN

Once again Gutey makes a key free agent signing with Hobbs. Now he won't be "backed into a corner" during the draft. Sorry. Seeing myself out.

Much appreciated.

Joe from Swansea, IL

So, say a certain QB winds up in Pittsburgh. There's no way the NFL plays that game in the early morning hours on a Sunday, right? Asking for a friend, who isn't sure if you guys would want an Ireland stamp on your passport.

That matchup would be in primetime, guaranteed, not as the sun rises.

Darren from Wakefield, MI

We discussed this in the past with Brett. There is only one way for a QB to beat every team in the league. With AR's options, there is more potential he plays GB. Has AR beaten 31 teams to date? IMO he'd like the 32-team feather in his hat, eh helmet. What is the current list of QBs that have completed that task?

Rodgers has beaten every team but the Packers, to my knowledge. Only four QBs have beaten all 32 teams – Favre, Brady, Brees and Peyton Manning. There's never been a QB lose to all 32 teams, but Derek Carr has lost to 31. The Raiders are the only holdout there.

Brandon from Imperial, MO

Good morning. Talking about the worst Packer drafts in the last 25 years, 2021 doesn't even stack up to 2015, followed closely by 2004. There are a bunch of others that produced at least one great player (see 2007, 2011) which pulls that year back out of the conversation. BG seems to being hitting more than missing (fingers crossed) but that's really all you can ask from a GM and this crystal ball business. What is a reasonable gauge for ranking drafts? Players who got a second contract or … ?

Absent one franchise-changing player, three well-regarded, fulltime starters make a draft decently productive in my book, whether they stay or go after their rookie contracts expire. With Stokes' injuries, Newman's falloff, plus Slaton's and Isaiah McDuffie's part-time status, 2021 didn't measure up, but those other years you mention were more troubling. It is a difficult business, and it's no accident that more picks – especially in the first four rounds (top 150) – helps a draft look a lot better a few years down the road.

Theresa from Sylvania, OH

I saw earlier this week that the center position "pays less" than a guard/tackle position. How much less and why? It would seem to me that having to snap the ball, even while vomiting, is not an insignificant task. The center screws up the snap, the whole play could go haywire. Is it because there are so many centers available? If so, I'm telling my kid to switch over to guard this next season of junior high football!

Generally speaking, top tackles get paid more than interior linemen because they're required to block the more dangerous pass rushers. The gap isn't as significant as it used to be, but it's still there.

Dave from Germantown, TN

Both Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom are entering their fourth year. At the going rate for a starting offensive lineman of $15 to $20M-plus, can the Packers afford to sign both of them?

I think the price tags on both of those guys could be higher than that, but yeah, they could structure the deals to make it work if they want to keep both around, especially if they extend them before the 2025 season starts rather than have them play out their rookie deals. Or maybe it's extend one and wait on the other. We'll see.

Rob from Wilmington, NC

To add to your list of things gone wrong for the Giants GM … Not only did you let Barkley walk, but he went to a division rival and won the Super Bowl. That's even more salt in the wound.

Indubitably.

Ron from Broken Arrow, OK

Mike, once training camp opens up, do you expect Evan Williams, Javon Bullard and Kitan Oladapo to all have a shot at winning the safety spot opposite Xavier McKinney, or has Williams shown enough this past year to be the de facto holder of the position?

I think it'll be Williams' job to lose, but with all the versatile pieces being put together back there for Hafley, I can see some mixing and matching with packages depending on opponents, matchups, etc.

Craig from Sussex, WI

With the very difficult schedule the NFC North plays this year, it is unlikely three teams in our division make the playoffs again. In fact, with this tough schedule, it's likely only the division winner will make the playoffs this year.

I don't know if I'd go that far, but putting three teams in the playoffs again is certainly a tall order with the NFC North matched up against NFC East and AFC North, two divisions that produced four playoff teams plus another above .500 last year.

Paul from Ledgeview, WI

Mike, with the (typical offseason) movement of coaches and free agents across the NFL, 2025 will clearly be a different season. Can any fan reasonably have expectations that there will be carry over? It has become increasingly apparent to me that each season is a reality unto itself. Who knows what we're gonna get?!

And that's just the way the NFL likes it. Every season is indeed its own entity. I've said it many times in this space.

Mike from Glen Allen, VA

Mike, when does the NFL bubble burst, and what do you think will be the catalyst? All of this recent conversation about the rapidly increasing cap and skyrocketing salaries had me relating the NFL to financial markets and industries we have seen suddenly shrink or disappear. There will always be a reckoning, and I wonder what it will be that knocks the NFL back at some point in the distant, or not too distant, future.

I've mentioned before the risk of a gambling scandal seems higher than ever now. Other than that, I have no idea, but let me get to retirement before the reckoning comes, eh?

Jeff from Indian Lake, NY

Man, I want a boss like Spoff. Feels like we haven't heard from Weston in weeks! Guy is really racking up the PTO lately. Don't you deserve a little break from us too, Mike?

Mine starts tomorrow. My biggest break of the year, by far. I'm off the rest of March. Go easy on the Hodster. We'll talk again in April. Happy Friday.