Inside the Impacts of Broncos Releasing Russell Wilson, Packers' Post-Aaron Jones Locker Room | Mailbag
The NFL Free Agent Frenzy Kicks Into Hyper-Speed
The first week of NFL free agency is one of the most frenzied and exciting weeks on the sports calendar, and the past four days have exceeded all of the hype and expectations promised by a historic $255.4 million salary cap.
Derrick Henry is a Raven, in arguably the best fit of free agency, Saquon Barkley is an Eagle, following an epic coup by general manager Howie Roseman, and the Chicago Bears dropped Keenan Allen into their future quarterback’s supporting cast. Likewise, pass-rushers Danielle Hunter and Jonathan Greenard and defensive tackles Chris Jones and Christian Wilkins cashed in.
Still, there were moves made this week that risk long-term negative ramifications from future salary cap concerns and upsetting the fabric of a locker room.
We tackle those concerns and much more inside this week’s Between The Hashmarks Mailbag!
Q: How much does it matter or impact locker room dynamics when a team makes smart business decisions, but cuts a player who was a strong leadership presence? This is an Aaron Jones question.
As someone who spent over a decade inside NFL locker rooms covering two franchises, the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants, as well as five Super Bowls, I can tell you that there is a distinct hierarchy and leadership matters. Significantly.
In cases such as how the Packers handled the running back situation by signing Josh Jacobs and later releasing Jones after talks broke down on a reworked deal to lower his cap number will reverberate less off the walls of Green Bay’s locker room than the New York Giants’ decision to pay Daniel Jones upwards of $40 million per season but using the franchise tag on Barkley for one season before letting him and ascending safety Xavier McKinney walk. Barkley carried real clout and respect in that locker room, and his departure to a division rival could create a wound between the players and the decision-makers upstairs.
However, while I’ve covered locker rooms through hours of conversations with players, I’ve never resided in one.
Eagles and Washington legend Brian Mitchell has.
So, I reached out to Mitchell to pose this question. Because, after all, he once signed a free agent deal with the Eagles after becoming a pillar of Washington’s franchise, to take his temperature on how facing Jones twice per season with the Vikings might impact the fabric of the Packers’ locker room.
“Those guys in Green Bay will understand,” Mitchell tells me. “They know it’s a business. It will take some time, but if the replacement comes in and plays well, they’ll get over it. If he struggles, the sting may linger.”
The Packers swapped out Jones for Jacobs, who is two years removed from winning a rushing title with the Las Vegas Raiders and has logged 5,545 rushing yards and 46 career touchdowns.
If Jacobs is fully healthy, he could be a significant upgrade in emergent star quarterback Jordan Love’s supporting cast as well as a key piece to a possible Packers playoff run.
But, getting the players to buy in may require Jacobs to show that he can make an immediate impact upon arrival.
“I was in Jones’ shoes when I was released by Washington and signed with the Eagles,” Mitchell explains. “And there were players who were still calling me months later for guidance. I told them that they had to find a new leader on their team, I had to lead the Eagles.”
Q: Just how badly is the cap hit from releasing Russell Wilson going to hamper the Denver Broncos?
The aftershocks of the disastrous earthquake of Russell Wilson’s colossally disappointing two-year tenure with the Denver Broncos will reverberate over at least the next two seasons.
Releasing Wilson, who regressed dramatically the past two seasons, carries a $53 million dead-cap hit this offseason as well as an additional $32 million dead-money charge in 2025.
Ouch.
“It’s a big time problem for them,” an NFL Personnel Executive who is also a former general manager tells me. “Especially considering they still don’t have a starting quarterback.”
After releasing Wilson, who settled for a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers in hopes that 2024 will be a rehabilitation year for his image and production, the Broncos still have around $25.2 million in cap space. However, Denver risks descending into quarterback purgatory.
The Broncos might be the only game in town where Justin Fields can walk in as the Week 1 starting quarterback. But, if the Broncos are looking to draft a quarterback, the fact that they won’t pick again after the No. 12 overall pick until Round 3, limits their ability to climb the board to get one of the top prospects. That might be the bigger problem here than the cap hit from moving on from Wilson.
George Paton should still be able to compete for free agents the next two offseasons, if he and Sean Payton figure out the identity they want the Broncos to assume. But, finding Wilson’s long-term successor could prove more difficult and consequential.
Q: What team in free agency so far has made you think ‘What the hell are they doing?’
The Dallas Cowboys have drawn a lot of criticism for not being active in free agency, but, what exactly were they supposed to do?
Jerry Jones and the Cowboys only have $2 million in cap space. I’d say that allowing Dak Prescott restructure talks to linger this late into the offseason is the bigger blunder than sitting out the bidding wars and spending sprees of free agency’s first few days.
But, it’s another contender that’s making me scratch my head.
Like, what exactly are the Buffalo Bills doing?
Understanding that the Bills were squarely in salary cap hell, Brandon Beane deserves high marks for restructuring deals for the likes of Von Miller, Rasul Douglas, and Josh Allen to create even minimal financial breathing room.
However, Gabriel Davis is now going to catch passes from Josh Allen. Allen gets to stare across the field at Jordan Poyer twice per season against the Dolphins, now. Leonard Floyd will be terrorizing quarterbacks in the same front seven as Nick Bosa. Meanwhile, Tre’Davious White and Micah Hyde will likely also be changing zip codes.
I took some serious flak across social media last August when I suggested that the Dolphins could win the AFC East and that Buffalo’s Super Bowl window had closed. I’m not sure the Buffalo radio station I was a frequent guest of has called for an appearance since that bold prediction.
Perhaps, I was just a summer early.