Rookies and quarterbacks report to Halas Hall today. Football is coming. It’s in the air. Well, that and humidity if you’re in the greater Chicagoland area. But the football is what we’re really into right now.
As the only publicly owned team in the NFL, the Packers are the only team required to report its yearly financial earnings. And when they pulled back the curtain, it made my eyes pop:
The Green Bay Packers’ revenue and profit soared above pre-pandemic levels over the last year as the team capitalized on the opportunity to play in full stadiums again. https://t.co/6y2YOgh2lc— AP NFL (@AP_NFL) July 22, 2022
If you’re curious as to how much NFL teams make in a given year, monitoring Green Bay’s situation should give you a good idea of what the other 31 teams are working with (give or take) in their respective markets. The Packers reported more than $77 million in operating profit in a year in which the franchise generated $579 million in revenue. According to the AP, the Packers’ total revenues are up 56% over last year’s total and a 14.2% jump over where things were in 2020. In other words, the Packers have rebounded nicely after the pandemic-altered 2020 season. Having butts in seats in 2021 after not having any in 2020 due to restrictions probably helped matters. And I imagine the rest of the books for teams around the league share a similar story.
In case you’re wondering about it: Green Bay’s reported revenues do not account for the nearly $65 million the team raised from selling team stock. Who knew pieces of paper declaring your ownership (which I’ll remind you doesn’t have value like stock you’d buy in another business … or even team) could bring in big bucks? I’d bet the NFL’s other 31 teams are scheming up ways to do something similar. Heck, one Chicago alderman was kicking the idea around last year.
Closer to home, it appears as if the Bears and second-round pick Jaquan Brisker are squabbling over $100,000 or so. Brisker, the second of Chicago’s two second-round selections in the 2022 NFL Draft, isn’t expected to show up with the rest of the rookies as they begin reporting to training camp today. That’s because there has been a stall in contract negotiations (Tribune, Sun-Times) stemming from how much in guarantees Brisker will get from the team in Year 3 of his deal. It seems so trivial. And you’d think it would be easy to get done. But this is the Bears, and we should know better by now. Nothing comes easy for this franchise. Not even something as seemingly simple as second-round contracts.
Perhaps it is as simple as Johnathan Wood puts it here: The 46th pick (Lions DE Josh Paschal) got $275,000 in guarantees for Year 3. One pick later, DT Phidarian Mathis was given $111,000 by Washington. Brisker was the 48th pick, so it is feasible to think that $100,000 in guarantees closes the book on this situation. And if that is the case, then it should get done with the swiftness. The Bears should be running to the table to get this done. This team can’t afford to have holdout situations with perceived defensive building blocks. Don’t get me wrong. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. But the optics of the Bears groveling over $100K for a draft pick who figures to be a Day 1 starter isn’t a good look.
Let’s give this additional perspective, shall we? The Bears have $57,701,513 in dead money as of this morning. That means they are paying more than $57 million to players who won’t suit up for them in 2022. If you’re willing to bite down and swallow hard on that as you start your rebuild, then what’s $100,000 to a player you chose in the draft to be a core piece of your secondary? (Pause for dramatic effect). Exactly. Hurry up and get the deal done, Bears. We want to see how nice this defensive backfield can be:
Madden’s ratings are not too kind to the Bears. But the players at the bottom of the barrel are really feeling it:
Since everyone jumps on the top-rated players on Madden for the Bears, here are the bottom 10:
Pat Scales 31 Nathan Peterman 49 Pig Simmons 57 Sam Kamara 57 Willie Wright 57 Shon Coleman 58 CJ Avery 59 LaCale London 59 Michael Joseph 59 Caleb Johnson 60— Matt Eurich (@MattEurich) July 22, 2022
Halas Hall is cool. But nothing beats like a morning road trip to Bourbonnais with the windows down (because my AC wasn’t working too good) and some Taylor Swift bops turned up on the open road.
Six of these maulers are on the Bears’ schedule this season:
Another update from Packerland, where Fields Yates (ESPN) reports nine Packers will begin the summer on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list. Among them are second-round receiver Christian Watson, offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins (a Pro Bowler in 2020), and kicker Mason Crosby. As a reminder, PUP players on the list *BEFORE* training camp can come off at any time. So, there is no reason for overreaction to seeing some notable names join the list in the summertime. Even still … no team wants to see its players on the PUP list at this (or any) time of the year.
Another day, another NFL team rocking with black helmets:
Am I the only one wondering what it would look like if the Bears had black helmets/uniforms? As alternates. I’m not sure they can rock black as a main uniform color. That might be too much, too soon.
Ben Roethlisberger saying today’s young players are being coddled made my eyes roll so hard into the back of my head that it is a minor miracle that they made it back to their original position for me to write this post. (PFT)
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