The Green Bay Packers will keep Sam Shields in place next year as they try to revamp a beleaguered secondary. Pass defense was not exactly the Pack’s strong suit, and perhaps retaining Sam Shields will be a step in the right direction towards improving that. At least it does augment the concept of continuity on the defense.
According to various media reports, Shields is getting a four-year contract worth $39 million. The agent of Sam Shields, Drew Rosenhaus broke the story first by tweeting out news of the signing.
Sam later tweeted:
“Sooooooo happy to be back with my family #GoPack!!!!!! #turnup.” on his account.
Teams can start signing free agents from other teams Tuesday at 3 p.m. CST, but were legally able to start talking to players as of 11 a.m. this morning. Of course, discussions sort of unofficially began during the final week of February as teams began conversing and sending their feelers out during the NFL Scouting Combine.
The 26-year-old Sam Shields would have definitely commanded a lot of money on the open market and the franchise tag was an option for Green Bay. However, more and more NFL GMs seem to not be going that route this offseason.
Packers General Manager Ted Thompson, the value GM of all value GMs, now has $33 million in cap space left to work with this offseason.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An MBA and Fulbright scholar, he’s also a frequent analyst on news talk radio; with regular segments on ESPN, NBC, CBS and Fox. A former NBC Chicago and Washington Times writer, he’s also been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)