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Injuries and inconsistency were the culprits this time last year. When outside linebacker Nick Perry hit the free agent market a year ago, he drew little interest from around the NFL. The day after free agency began, he signed a one-year, $5 million contract to return to the Green Bay Packers, in the hopes of having a breakout year and cashing in with a big contract in 2017.
That's exactly what happened.
The gamble workout to perfection, as Perry is now locked up for up to five more years and just received an $18.5 million signing bonus. The Packers must be pleased with the deal as well; they have easy outs after three years, and they can avoid hamstringing themselves against the salary cap, as the first-year cap hit is just $6 million.
All told, it's a great deal for both sides, and one that shows that betting on yourself with a one-year deal can pay off in a big way. Now the Packers appear to be working on a deal with another player who spent 2016 on a one-year deal with the team: tight end Jared Cook.
There are a few other teams in play for Cook, and the tight end market continues to demand higher and higher salaries; for example, Dion Sims - primarily a blocker in Miami - just got $6 million per year from the Chicago Bears over the next three seasons. Cook projects to get a deal more expensive than that, so stay tuned to see if that happens on Friday or in the coming days.
Perseverance pays off for Nick Perry | Packers.com
After several tough seasons working through injuries, Perry finally had his breakout last season. Wes Hodkiewicz talks to the young pass-rusher, who now is set financially and will spend at least the next several years with the Packers.
Nick Perry may be just getting started for Green Bay Packers - ESPN
Perry also says that having the entire offseason last year to work on his game and prepare for the season was a big part of his success. Now he has 500,000 reasons to make sure he's present and accounted for throughout each of the next five offseasons.
Packers don't offer Elliott, Tripp, Crockett | Packersnews.com
A trio of players are on the market now, after the Packers chose not to offer them tenders. Tripp is probably the least surprising name, but we thought that Elliott might be a good bet to get the low RFA tender and Crockett to get a league minimum tender.
Chargers beat out Vikings to land Russell Okung - NFL.com
The Vikings made runs at numerous offensive linemen, but have been unable to land Okung, Kevin Zeitler, and a handful of others. However, late on Thursday afternoon they came to an agreement with former Lions tackle Riley Reiff, and today they will meet with former Panthers tackle Mike Remmers.
The Browns’ Wild Osweiler Trade: Moneyball in Action | The MMQB with Peter King
This may have been a brilliant move by the Browns; they get to approach the cash spending floor by taking on Osweiler's contract, and pick up a second-round pick in the process. If they can split his salary with another team and add another late-round pick, that would be even sweeter for Cleveland.
Washington fires general manager Scot McCloughan - NFL.com
McCloughan was absent for most of the major events of the past few weeks, including the Scouting Combine. It must be fascinating to work in that front office right now.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s cryptic goodbye post to New England was probably a hack - SBNation.com
Well this was a fun thing to wake up to: Garoppolo's Instagram saying "So grateful for my time in New England. Peace out Boston." But yep, as far as we can tell at this point, somebody hacked him.