[tps_title]Charles Woodson[/tps_title]
Total contract: 5 years, $55 million
Average salary: $11 million
2013 cap number: $9.4 million
2012 stats: 38 tackles, 1 INT, 1.5 sacks, 1 FF
The issue with Charles Woodson isn’t really the contract as much as it is with his age and declining skills. Woodson’s deal was the going rate for a player of his caliber at the time he signed it. He earned every cent of the $55 million deal he signed in 2010… for the first two seasons. Then he got injured in 2012. At 36, we’re finally starting to see some chinks in Woodson’s armor. Although he’s still a solid contributor and a great leader, he’s lost a step, but he’s currently the highest-paid safety in the NFL. Under his current deal, the Packers will pay Woodson nearly $20 million over the next two seasons. That’s way too much money to be paying a guy who’s almost 40 and no longer playing at an All Pro level. The good news is Woodson received just $500,000 as a signing bonus and that was paid in the first year of the deal. Therefore, there’s no dead money for the Packers to absorb if they decide to move on without Woodson. Clearly, that’s why the contract was set up as it was, but it puts the Packers in the unenviable position of potentially being forced to part ways with one of their core guys and a future Hall of Famer.