Packers' Biggest Keys to Having Successful NFL Offseason

The Green Bay Packers fell short of realizing their Super Bowl aspirations in 2021, but they will be right back in the race in 2022 with the right moves in the offseason.

General manager Brian Gutekunst and the Green Bay front office face a pivotal offseason. The roster has a ton of key pieces in place to be a contender once again, but the Packers are $48.6 million over the cap, per Spotrac.

Navigating this offseason will mean making some difficult decisions. They obviously need to get under the cap but have committed to spending as close to it as possible, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

These decisions will likely determine whether the Packers have the roster to avenge their early playoff exit or whether they will find themselves in a less-than-ideal situation heading into next season.

The Packers' stock rises and falls depending on whether Aaron Rodgers returns to play in Lambeau Field next season. After all of the offseason drama last year, the quarterback's future is once again up in the air.

In January, Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show that "everything is on the table" for next season. That could include suiting up for another team, returning to Green Bay or hanging up his cleats for good.

Rodgers has not made a formal announcement of his plans. However, he did create headlines Monday night with a cryptic Instagram post. He posted a series of pictures from his career with a long thank you message in which he thanked several teammates for the past year.

If the Packers are to be taken seriously as contenders, they will have to bring back Rodgers. The greatest advantage they have is that they are the only team in the NFC North with an elite quarterback. The Chicago Bears are developing Justin Fields, the Detroit Lions are biding their time while Jared Goff plays out his contract and the Minnesota Vikings have not made a playoff run with Kirk Cousins at the helm.

Going from Rodgers to Jordan Love would put the Packers in a questionable quarterback situation for the first time in more than a decade.

Whether or not Rodgers is back, the Packers need to do what they can to retain Davante Adams. It's just not good business to let a player of Adams' caliber go.

Adams was second in receptions, third in receiving yards and fifth in touchdowns this season. This year also happened to be the final year of his current contract.

None of those numbers are out of the ordinary for Adams. His chemistry with Rodgers is huge, but he's a top-five wide receiver regardless. That's why he wants to be paid like the best receiver in the league. Contract talks were cut off the night before training camp started because Adams wanted a deal that overtook DeAndre Hopkins' $27.25 million annual average value, per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.

It's in the Packers' best interest to sign Adams to a long-term extension. In a piece from The Athletic, Spotrac founder Michael Ginnitti projected what a five-year, $125 million extension for Adams would look like. The cap hit for Year 1 was $9.1 million.

The other option is the franchise tag. Over the Cap projects the receiver tag will be $19.1 million. That's significantly more expensive and could strain the relationship between the team and its star wideout.

That's still preferable to watching a top-five player at his position walk. Even without Rodgers, he is good enough to prop up the Packers passing game and needs to be kept at all costs.

No team was better at identifying and acquiring difference-making bargain options in free agency. While many teams in the league struggled to find impact players because of the depressed salary cap last season, the Packers were able to get a couple of difference-makers for next to nothing.

Rasul Douglas came to the team on a one-year deal for less than $1 million and ended up holding opposing passers to a 44.5 passer rating and snagging five interceptions.

De'Vondre Campbell was signed to a one-year, $2 million deal and ended up being named to the All-Pro team.

Both players were cast-offs who couldn't find a true market who wound up being key players. That's not an easy thing to do, but it's something the Packers are going to have to try to replicate if they are to have a successful offseason.

Both Campbell and Douglas are going to be hard to bring back. With the Packers' lack of cap space, they are better off trying to find alternatives rather than paying to bring back Campbell and Douglas.

The draft will be important too. But relying on multiple rookies to come through on a team with Super Bowl aspirations is tough. Finding these cost-effective late free-agency deals will be crucial.

Advanced stats according to Pro Football Reference.