Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Camaraderie may help keep players
Editor’s note: This story was published Feb. 19, 1997.
The Green Bay Packers have carried their tremendous home-field advantage at Lambeau Field to the free-agent market, and it might allow them to survive the attack upon their Super Bowl throne.
It at least helped them overcome the forces of evil in the case of nose tackle Gilbert Brown. Even though the Jacksonville Jaguars had a longer, more lucrative deal on the table, the Packers were able to persuade Brown to stay.
“This was a nice one for us,” Packers negotiator Mike Reinfeldt said Tuesday. “This was very important to us.”
Of course, the $3 million signing bonus flashed at Brown didn’t hurt Green Bay’s cause, but a non-taxing practice style, a champion’s camaraderie and the leadership of stars such as Brett Favre and Reggie White helped lure Brown back.
And then there’s the possibility of being part of another Super Bowl championship.
“I don’t know if it’s any easier, but it gives us an advantage,” Reinfeldt said about the Packers’ current standing in the league. “We have an environment where the players feel comfortable and they like their teammates and coaches.
“That’s a big advantage. I’m not sure it’s the ultimate tie-breaker. But they (Brown and his agents) made it clear that we had that advantage.”
Whether that advantage will allow the Packers to fit linebacker Wayne Simmons and returner Desmond Howard under their salary cap remains to be seen. Both of those players have indicated they, too, would like to return, but it appears there is not enough money left to re-sign both.
General manager Ron Wolf did not express confidence that the team could keep both players, although he did not rule it out. They would have to sign salary capfriendly deals for the Packers to have even a shot at retaining both.
“We’ll try to work them into our framework, and if we can, fine,” Wolf said. “But we’re prepared to lose people. We know we’re going to lose people. We’d like to keep them all. But we’re no different than anyone else. We’re realistic enough to know we’re going to lose some guys.”
Wolf refused to prioritize the Packers’ free agents. He said if people wanted to assume that the team had given up on signing Simmons, the team’s highestpriced free agent, then they could go ahead and do so. But he said he was not going to divulge the team’s strategy now that Brown was signed.
“We’re going to try to protect the basic structure of this team,” Wolf said. “We have certain guys who are slotted and that we want to protect. That’s foremost to us. We’ve got to protect our football team. But I’m not going to say who’s No. 1, 2, 3 or 4.”
Given that the Packers are expected to cough up $12 million up front to Favre in the next month or so and have paid out bonuses of $3 million to White and Brown, they’ve exhausted an enormous portion of their reserves.
Having to pay Simmons an expected $3 million up front might be too much to ask. Tack on Howard, who could wind up pulling in $2 million up front himself, and it’s obvious that it’s at least an either-or proposition.
Both players are valuable, but the Packers want to also fit in center Frank Winters, running back Dorsey Levens, defensive end Gabe Wilkins and kicker Chris Jacke. Signing three high-priced free agents - Brown, Simmons and Howard would jeopardize the re-signing of the other players.
“We’ve said all along it will be hard to keep all of our free agents,” Reinfeldt said.
Nevertheless, it appears the Packers’ championship does have its benefits. If their own players are yearning to return, it would figure that other players around the league would be interested in playing for the Packers, as well.
Since the first order of business is resigning their own, the Packers identified Brown as the most important piece of their free-agent puzzle and focused on retaining him. It cost them a big chunk of money, but they were able to make it cap friendly until next season, when revenues are expected to increase because of a new network television package.
“It was in our range cap-wise,” Reinfeldt said of Brown’s three-year, $8.25 million deal. “It’s a lower cap figure (in ‘97), and then it goes up. We’re working on that assumption (that the revenue will increase). But we’re being conservative. I don’t think we’re getting caught up in that like some teams.”
Neither Wolf nor Reinfeldt expressed concern that Favre’s deal had not been completed. Reinfeldt said he expected talks to pick up in the next week or so after the team completed pressing business.