Green Bay Packers Tender RFAs Robert Tonyan and Chandon Sullivan
By Paul Bretl
Tomorrow afternoon the new league year begins, and that means that the Green Bay Packers have to be under the salary cap, but they also have to decide whether or not to tender their restricted free agents (RFAs).
For the Packers, they have four RFAs — Robert Tonyan, Chandon Sullivan, Parry Nickerson, and Tyler Lancaster — but much of the attention was on the futures of Tonyan and Sullivan.
Tonyan is coming off an incredibly efficient season in which he caught 60 of his 66 targets with 12 touchdowns. He’s also developed into a fairly reliable blocker as well.
The Packers ended up placing a second-round tender on Tonyan, per several reports, that comes with a salary in 2021 of $3.384 million. The second-round tender means that if a team wants to make Tonyan an offer and the Packers don’t want to match it, that new team then owes Green Bay a second-round pick in exchange for Tonyan.
The overwhelming thought is that no team will make that offer, and Tonyan will be a Packer in 2021.
I think most will agree that this was a move that was expected. However, some did question whether or not the Green Bay Packers — given their cap situation and other options at tight end — would pay that much for Tonyan after he put together a season that likely won’t be duplicated.
This then begs the question, was Tonyan just a product of the system? As is often the case, I believe the answer lies in the middle. Tonyan does benefit from Matt LaFleur’s tight end-friendly offense, but he’s developed into a solid tight end as well.
However, for 2021, this conversation is now a moot point as, by all accounts, Tonyan will be back in Green Bay.
Sullivan, however, was more of an unknown. He was the Green Bay Packers’ primary slot corner in 2020, allowing a completion rate of 64.9 percent on 77 targets and 11.8 yards per catch. Sullivan also came away with an interception and four pass breakups–but he was also picked on in the NFC Championship Game by Tom Brady.
The Green Bay Packers should look to bring in some competition this offseason at the nickel position, but with their cornerback room already so thin, they really didn’t have the luxury of letting Sullivan walk.
According to Tom Silverstein, Sullivan received the right of first refusal tender, meaning that they have the opportunity to match any offer he receives, but if they choose not to, they don’t receive any compensation in return. This tender comes with a $2.133 million contract in 2021, assuming Sullivan is a Packer.
These were two of the big decisions still left for the Green Bay Packers, and more moves are to come, as they are still over the salary cap, and have to be under by Wednesday afternoon. How much they are over, we don’t exactly know, given the lack of details around Aaron Jones’ deal and Billy Turner’s restructure, but Silverstein estimates that they are around $9 million to $10 million over the cap.