Jordy Nelson deserved better

Most things come down to money in the NFL. But the Green Bay Packers should feel ashamed of the unceremonious way they dismissed Jordy Nelson.

The NFL is a business, and teams often have to part ways with their marquee players because the cap dictates it.

Everyone understands that, from general managers to players to fans. It’s part of the equation.

But the way the Green Bay Packers underwent that process with homegrown talent and fan-favorite Jordy Nelson was insulting at best and disgusting at worst.

When the Packers announced on Tuesday that they were releasing the veteran wideout, fans were shocked, but the writing had been on the wall for awhile.

By releasing Nelson, the Packers cleared $10.2 million in cap space and will carry only $2.3 million in dead cash on the books. The move allowed them to bolster two other positions as they signed tight end Jimmy Graham and defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson.

Initially, the thought was that the Packers had unsuccessfully tried to negotiate an restructure with Nelson and, when the two sides weren’t able to agree, they were forced to let him go for the health of their cap.

But that’s only sort of true.

Jason Wilde reported on Tuesday night that while the Packers did indeed offer Nelson the opportunity to restructure his contract, the terms on the table were in anything but good faith:

The veteran minimum for a player who has been in the NFL for 10 or more seasons in 2018 is $1,015,000.

The Packers asked Jordy Nelson to take an 80 percent pay cut to stay with the team.

Green Bay is the only team for which Jordy Nelson has ever played. His close friendships with Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb have been well-documented. Green Bay is not so dissimilar from the farm community in Kansas where Nelson grew up. His children reside there full-time.

All that being said…if your employer asked you to accept roughly 1/8 of your salary this year, would you be in a position to accept? Nelson was due a base salary of $9.25 million from the Packers in 2018.

“But they offered him a chance to come back,” some will say. “I guess he’s not loyal.”

Take those opinions straight outside, and don’t come back.

The Packers’ offer was insulting and, frankly, a nonstarter. It’s hard to believe Green Bay couldn’t find a way to structure a contract for Nelson that would have paid him even, say, 50 percent of his salary at $4.5 million annually.

It’s also hard to know what the Packers’ offer would have looked like had Nelson not been coming off his worst season in the league. But one guess: It probably would have been more competitive.

In 15 games last season, Nelson totaled 482 yards and six touchdowns on 53 receptions.

Of course, he also had Brett Hundley throwing to him for half the year, and we all know how that turned out.

As things stand, Nelson has to be confident he can expect an offer in free agency in the neighborhood of five or six times as much as the Packers offered, if not more. Teams have been throwing money at wide receivers like Rodgers throws back shoulder passes. Sure, they may not all be 33 years old with a knee injury in their recent past, but someone will pay Nelson like a top-three wideout.

Nelson has reportedly already received interest from the New England Patriots, as well as the Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints:

The Packers had better hope that Nelson lands with a team in the AFC.

Nelson playing a pivotal role in knocking the Packers out of the NFC Championship Game would be a spectre that haunts general manager Brian Gutekunst for the duration of his tenure.