Here's what I think about the Rodgers deal

Ask Vic will publish three times a week, beginning on Monday, Sept. 3.

Jim from Maple Grove, MN
Vic, the deal is done. What does the Packers' cap look like now? Would GM Vic have made this deal?
What does the Packers' cap look like now? Are you serious? The contract is said to include $102.5 million guaranteed? What would your checkbook look like if you bought a boat, make that a yacht? If you love the Packers, and I know you do, now is the time to drop to your knees and pray to the god of collarbones. Would GM Vic have made this deal? GM Vic's father was a frugal man. GM Vic doesn't understand the sense of urgency to do this new deal with two years remaining on Rodgers' previous contract. What was the rush?

John from Fox Crossing, WI
How does Rodgers' new contract compare to what the Patriots have done with Brady's contract?
The difference is the Patriots have restructured Tom Brady's contract annually by converting salary to signing bonus and pushing the money out. In other words, Brady got his new money in annual extensions, while the Packers resisted restructuring Rodgers, opting to go with the big sting at the end. The Patriots are now in the process of unwinding Brady's dead money to prepare for his retirement. His dead money topped out at $40 million in 2016 and is now down to $24 million. Rodgers' dead money is $57.5 million. What's the difference in how the two teams have managed their star quarterbacks' contracts? I'll compare it to colonoscopy prep. The Patriots have done it in several small swallows; the Packers downed the bottle in one big gulp.

Randy from Medicine Hat, AB
Who is the best two-way player you have ever seen?
It's Chuck Bednarik, who was a three-way player.

Jerry from Savannah, GA
Vic, why haven’t you shared your opinion about the Urban Meyer issue? Everyone else has.
Ohio State soiled its name.

Mike from North Hudson, WI
The Packers are going to go through the process of reducing their roster to 53 and developing their practice squad under a first-year GM. What will you be most interested in analyzing?
I'm always most interested in analyzing a team's commitment to youth.

John from Sioux Falls, SD
Did the NY Giants just have a huge case of wide receiver fever? Will it be fatal?
The Giants spent the second pick of the draft on a running back and have agreed to pay quarterback money to a wide receiver. Yeah, that'll work.

David from Liliput, WI
I recently saw Kyle Shanahan’s wonderful explanation to a reporter about the importance of players being able to overcome coaching. In his explanation, he mentioned a player running the same route a different way against different coverages, an example being against cloud coverage. What is cloud coverage?
It's a version of cover three, which is a kind of bend-but-don't-break zone coverage scheme intended to deny completions in the deep third of the field but is vulnerable to completions underneath the coverage. In cover three cloud, a cornerback is employed in the flat area.

Dan from Jacksonville, FL
The Colts from the early 2000's had Hall of Fame players across both sides of the of the ball at multiple positions, yet, they only won one Super Bowl. What happened?
They choked in the postseason, and if it wasn't for that terrible pass interference penalty against Ellis Hobbs in the AFC title game, the Colts of that time wouldn't have won any Super Bowls and Tom Brady and the Patriots would have one more title to their credit.

David from Madison, WI
What’s the next big thing?
The next big thing is the elite quarterbacks that'll emerge from the current crop of young passers. Who will they be and will they be good enough to replace the greats of the last two decades: Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Roethlisberger, etc.?

Wayne from Eau Claire, WI
Vic, you often measure players by how they perform in big games. Bart Starr's postseason record was 9-1 with a passer rating of 104.8. What made him so good in the postseason, or was he just on some very good teams?
He knew how to win. In my mind, that means knowing how to play to the strength of the team around you and how to get it done at crunch time. Starr is not the best quarterback in Packers history, but he is the Packers' greatest player. I'd rather be the greatest than the best.

Phillip from Bradenton, FL
If the Packers start chopping wood, I hope they don’t lose their punter.
I can still see the blood stain on the carpet in the locker room where the tree stump and axe had been positioned. It was gruesome.

Bruce from Las Vegas, NV
How would Vince Lombardi handle preseason games if he were coaching today? He used to put great emphasis on winning those games back when there were six of them.
Everything about Lombardi would be different if he were coaching in today's game. First of all, he wouldn't be running the Packer sweep. It just wouldn't work against gap control defenses because you can't get a seal here and a seal here against a penetrate and disrupt scheme. Also, Lombardi had a strong acumen for football finance and he would know the salary cap importance of limiting his players' exposure to injury. I doubt he would play his regulars more than a few quarters in the preseason.

Rudy from Milwaukee, WI
What was the rationale behind the Steelers trading for Jerome Bettis? Did the Steelers view him as the missing piece, or was the value just too good to pass up?
The Steelers have always liked to pound the ball with big backs. Bam Morris and Barry Foster preceded Bettis. The Steelers needed a big back, Bettis was perfect for the way the Steelers liked to play, and he was affordable. If the Rams had demanded a first-round pick, I doubt the trade would've been made.

Craig from Cedarburg, WI
Given the Patriots’ success, would you risk getting run over by the salary cap train by pushing out Brady’s cap hit?
As I've written above, the Patriots are in the process of unwinding Brady's dead money. They're not pushing out large amounts anymore. His salary has gone from $764,000 in 2016 to $4 million this year, which is an example of how the team is preparing for his retirement; salary is capped in full in the year it's paid, whereas signing bonus is divided evenly over the life of the contract. The Patriots have done a solid job of managing Brady's cap number; they played it perfectly. I suspect the Packers plan to do the same with Rodgers at a similar stage in his career. What needs to happen between now and then is for Rodgers to stay healthy and remain one of the league's elite quarterbacks. If that happens, all will end well.