4 Cuts That Could Create Cap Space for the Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are in good shape heading into free agency in regard to the salary cap. The team is already projected to have $25.5 million in available cap room for the 2015 season, counting their top 51 contracts (ESPN Stats & Information puts that figure closer to $18.3 million). 

Nonetheless, Green Bay also has 16 players who are set to become free agents in March, including mainstays Bryan Bulaga, Tramon Williams and Randall Cobb. Any cuts the team can make prior to the start of free agency increases its chances of being able to bring those key players back. 

The following four players are not set to be free agents in 2015. They could be feasibly cut without crippling their respective positions, either because there is adequate depth behind them on the roster or their position is a projected need that Green Bay expects to address early in the draft.  

Coming off one of the better performances of his career in 2013, A.J. Hawk struggled in his ninth season with Green Bay.

His combined (90) and total tackles (53), sacks (0.5), forced fumbles (0), fumble recoveries (0) and interceptions (0) were all down from previous years and in fact largely below his per-season averages (102 combined tackles, 69 total tackles, 2.1 sacks, 0.3 forced fumbles, 0.6 fumble recoveries and one interception). 

Granted, the decline in Hawk's play in 2014 no doubt was exacerbated by the inconsistent play next to him at the middle linebacker position. Brad Jones started just one game—Week 1 at Seattle—at the position and played 70 of 70 total defensive snaps before seeing his snaps decrease to an average of just 14.8, per Pro Football Focus, in the other games in which he played.

Jones also missed three games due to a quadriceps injury. 

The remaining starts were split between Sam Barrington and Jamari Lattimore, and while both earned overall higher grades from Pro Football Focus than Hawk or Jones, neither finished among the top 75 inside linebackers in the league. 

While Hawk was missing a solid starter next to him, his play still speaks for itself. It spoke to his coaches too. Per ESPN Stats & Information, while Hawk played 94 percent of the defensive snaps over the first 11 games of the season, he played just 31.1 percent over the final seven games including the playoffs.

Hawk will count $5.1 million against the cap in 2015, and cutting him would open up $3.5 million in cap savings. Though the 31-year old has had a solid career in Green Bay, his decreased speed in recent years has been problematic for a struggling run defense. Though Hawk's 40-time was a considerable 4.59 seconds (the worst linebacker in his class ran it in 4.89), his speed has fallen off.

General manager Ted Thompson hasn't made a habit of keeping players over the age of 30 throughout his tenure in Green Bay, for the most part, and Hawk may be the next to go.

Inside linebacker projects to be one of the Packers' top needs in the draft, so it's likely that Green Bay will be adding talent at the position this offseason to offset a potential cut there. 

For all intents and purposes, Brad Jones' season was over almost as soon as it began. 

Though Jones played every defensive snap in the Week 1 matchup against Seattle (his only start of the season), he wouldn't play more than 40 in another game all season, and in fact he averaged fewer than 15 per game on the season, per Pro Football Focus.

He did miss three games at the beginning of the season after he injured his quad against Seattle, but his snaps didn't increase when he was healthy. His first game back, in Week 5 against Minnesota, he played just seven of 80 defensive snaps. 

Eventually, Jones' role was diminished to being on the field solely in the dime package, per ESPN's Rob Demovsky, and he didn't redeem himself in the decreasing opportunities he was given. 

Though Jones didn't play a defensive snap in the championship contest against Seattle, he still made headlines for the wrong reason on his botched special teams play. According to Robert Klemko of TheMMQB.com, the Seahawks made the decision to run the fake field goal because on film, they had noticed that Jones always aggressively rushed inside from the edge, which allowed Jon Ryan to roll out and make the throw for the score. 

Of course, a team can't cut a player for one egregious gaffe, but Jones' play has been declining since 2012. He finished the season 116th out of 125 inside linebackers, according to Pro Football Focus, and he was one of the worst middle linebackers in the league in run defense.

That's not acceptable for a team that struggles against the run to begin with; Green Bay needs to build a stouter middle. 

If Ted Thompson decides to cut Jones, who is scheduled to count $4.75 million against the cap next season, prior to the final year of his contract, Green Bay would gain $3.75 million in cap savings. (The additional $1 million is owed as a remaining signing bonus.)

There are two things to know about Julius Peppers' contract with the Packers. The first is that after the season he had (seven sacks, four forced fumbles and two interceptions for scores in the regular season with 2.5 more sacks and two forced fumbles in the playoffs), Green Bay would certainly like to see him on the field in 2015.

But the second is that Peppers' deal as originally structured was not built to be friendly to the team after the first year. In 2015, he has a cap hit of $12 million, the third-highest on the team after Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews, and the Packers could gain $7 million in cap room by cutting him, after his remaining $5 million in signing bonuses. 

There's no question Peppers was a difference-maker for the Packers in 2014. He emerged as a leader both in the locker room and on the field, and he played 73.8 percent of the defensive snaps, per ESPN Stats & Information.  

But $7 million could go a long way for Green Bay in re-signing other talent, and it's a steep price to pay for a player who just turned 35. It's hard to imagine Ted Thompson jeopardizing the team's chances of keeping homegrown phenom Randall Cobb to re-sign an aging vet who was acquired in free agency.

Peppers might also choose to retire, saving Green Bay from the decision of whether to cut him. Or, he may decide that winning a ring is more important than earning a large payday and consider restructuring to stay with Green Bay while still freeing up more cap space for them. But if the Packers want to open up a lot of cap space fast, this contract is looming large on the payroll.  

Now, let's be clear: It would be ridiculous for the Packers to cut Brandon Bostick as a reactionary measure against the botched onside kick against Seattle—a play on which he was never even supposed to attempt to catch the ball but block for Jordy Nelson. 

But if the Packers wanted to free up $585,000 by letting Bostick go before the final year of his contract, they likely wouldn't be worse off at the tight end position. 

Last season, the 2012 undrafted free agent was thought to be the closest thing to a Jermichael Finley replacement the Packers had on the roster. "The truth is, however, Bostick could very well be the team's future at tight end given the likelihood that Finley will not return to the team next season," Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote in November 2013, noting that Bostick's physical abilities most matched Finley's. 

Finley did not return to Green Bay in 2014, and Bostick did not rise to the height of his potential either. He played just 34 snaps in 2014, per Pro Football Focus, after sliding to the third roster position behind Andrew Quarless (645 snaps) and rookie Richard Rodgers (491 snaps).

He caught two passes for three yards and scored one touchdown against the Chicago Bears in Week 10. 

Green Bay could draft a tight end early in the 2015 draft, looking for a star to assume the No. 1 role. Or it could take someone promising for depth in the mid-to-late rounds, hedging its bets (which it would do well to) on Quarless and Rodgers sharing the load.

In either situation, there's not much of a role for Bostick, except for on special teams. Sure, a little over half a million isn't much to free up in cap space, but there's also no use keeping a player on the roster if he's not going to contribute just because he has one more year on his deal. 

All cap and salary information via Spotrac.com unless otherwise noted.