Packers Adrian Amos Makes PFF’s List for Top Contracts in 2022
By Paul Bretl
Recently, Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus set out to rank the top-32 contracts heading into the 2022 NFL season–and Adrian Amos was the lone member of the Green Bay Packers to make that list.
While there are many factors that go into making a contract “team-friendly,” the two biggest and most obvious are how that player has performed along with how much they are being paid.
Also taken into consideration is how many years the player has left on that contract. As Brad notes, this factor is becoming increasingly important as we see more and more big money extensions because the more years a player is under contract for, the more difficult it is to “re-up when signed for that long.”
Amos came in at No. 16 on the list after ranking eighth in 2021–but as we just discussed, the drop is more so due to this being the final year of his deal, whereas, at this time a year ago, he still had two years remaining.
The Green Bay Packers signed Amos to a four-year contract in 2019 worth $36 million, and there is only $7.9 million in cash left to be paid out.
As I’ve said before, Amos puts the word “safe” in safety. He’s reliable, steady, uber-consistent, and any other adjective that fits that description—whether that be against the run or the pass.
Amos just completed his fourth consecutive season where he played at least 1,000 snaps, including leading the Packers defense in snaps the past two years while finishing second in 2019.
He has also finished second or better on the team in tackles in each of his three seasons with Green Bay while also missing very few of those tackle opportunities, ranking sixth (2021), 11th (2020), and 18th (2019) in missed tackle rate among all safeties since 2019.
In coverage the past two seasons, Amos has the highest coverage grade among all safeties, according to PFF ($$), and his 17 forced incompletions are tied for first. In 2021 specifically, Amos was targeted 58 times and gave up a completion rate of just 57% at 10 yards per catch with three interceptions and seven pass breakups.
Perhaps Amos tends to fly under the radar around the NFL because he doesn’t make a ton of splash plays, but there’s obviously more that goes into playing the safety position. Over the last few seasons, he has cemented himself as one of the better safeties in all of football, bringing a very well-rounded and versatile skill-set to the Packers.
"“I want to show up, and I want to do my job,” said Amos via the Wisconsin State Journal ($$). “I want to be accountable. When I go and watch the film later after the games, I want to be accountable. I don’t want to be the reason that this touchdown happened, I don’t want to be the reason they got this first down. Because I feel like I’m hanging my teammate out to dry. So that’s what I really try to take pride in, is doing my job and being accountable.”"
Because of Amos’ stellar play along with the uncertainty surrounding the safety position as a whole in 2023, many — including myself — did think that he would be a prime contract extension candidate this past offseason. However, at least at that point in time, that wasn’t on the Packers’ radar as they instead restructured his deal.
This, of course, doesn’t mean that he won’t sign a new deal with Green Bay at some point before free agency begins next March, but he and the Packers seem to be in wait-and-see mode for now.
Since this list that Brad put together excluded rookie contracts, it’s not really too surprising that Amos is the only member of the Packers on this list. While there are several players on this team who are among the best at their respective positions, Green Bay also has a very top-heavy salary cap.
Of the $173.81 million in cap charges that belong to the top-51 players on the Packers roster for 2022, $85.8 million of that — or about half — belongs to just seven players, according to Over the Cap.
This way of structuring a team isn’t abnormal either, but it helps showcase why Amos was the only Packers player to make PFF’s list. Green Bay is getting top-level play at the safety position for a cap hit of just $7.2 million this season—not to mention that the $9 million average annual value that comes with Amos’ deal currently ranks 19th among the safety position.