“He is more confident. Athletically, he’s got it now. He’s a gifted young man,” said coach Mike McCarthy about Brandon Bostick. Credit: Rick Wood

SHARE

By of the

Green Bay — As it stands, Brandon Bostick is the most talented tight end on the Green Bay Packers' roster.

The 24-year-old Bostick has made substantial strides in two seasons making the conversion from wide receiver and basketball player at Newberry College.

Depending on contractual developments with Jermichael Finley and Andrew Quarless, Bostick could be in line for a more substantial role in 2014.

"I thought he was really coming on last year," said coach Mike McCarthy. "He is more confident. Athletically, he's got it now. He's a gifted young man."

McCarthy was asked if there was a chance neither Finley, who hopes to resume his career following a cervical fusion Nov. 14, nor Quarless, whose contract also is expiring, would return.

"I hope not," McCarthy replied. "Because I'd really like to have Jermichael back. We'll see what happens with Jermichael medically."

The Packers have been trying to re-sign Quarless, who took over in Game 6 after Finley suffered his season-ending injury. Counting playoffs, Quarless played 738 snaps compared to 252 for Finley, 167 for Ryan Taylor, 142 for Bostick and 10 for Jake Stoneburner.

Bostick, who spent his rookie season of 2012 on the practice squad, hardly played at all until Finley went down. He caught seven passes for 120 yards and one touchdown behind Quarless before undergoing surgery in mid-December for a broken foot.

In his second season, Bostick gained about 12 pounds to 257 and was more willing to mix it up. His new-found aggressiveness was most apparent to McCarthy in the 166 snaps he played on special teams.

"When I see that it gives me hope because special teams is such a huge indicator on offense and defense," he said. "And he showed toughness blocking, too. Not consistently. His consistency on offense needs to be where it was on special teams."

The 6-foot-3 Bostick has run 40 yards in 4.61 seconds and bears striking resemblance to Finley in mannerisms and route-running. In fact, he was even more fluid in and out of his cuts than Finley.

Jerry Fontenot, the tight ends coach, said during the season that Bostick needed to become more assignment-sure and fundamentally sound to warrant additionally playing time.

For his part, McCarthy said Bostick learns well.

"Oh, yeah, he gets it," said McCarthy. "It isn't like we line him up and ask him to play (one position). He plays all the positions, too, because when you're not the starter you have to be multiple."

Tackle jobs: Why didn't McCarthy just announce at the combine that Bryan Bulaga would play right tackle and David Bakhtiari would remain at left tackle next season?

"I need to have that conversation," McCarthy said, referring to a talk with Bulaga.

A key factor why the Packers appear set to keep Bakhtiari on the left side is his harmony with left guard Josh Sitton.

"I liked the relationship between David and Josh, and to me it's more about the combination over there," said McCarthy. "They work well together. They're both wired mentally.

"David's young and raw, and he's got a lot to learn. The game comes very easily to Josh now."

Bulaga suffered a season-ending knee injury Aug. 3, three months into a move from right to left tackle. Immediately, Bakhtiari was installed as his replacement.

"Frankly, Bryan getting hurt as early as he did probably helped him (Bakhtiari) because he had a whole four weeks to get ready for the season," said McCarthy.

"David's a young kid. I think there's a lot of up side there. He needs to get bigger. He needs to get stronger. I really like David."

Marshall Newhouse, the swing tackle last season, is headed for unrestricted free agency.

Does McCarthy want Newhouse back?

"We'll see what happens," he said.

On the ground: The Packers had their best running game in a decade, jumping from 20th to seventh in yards per game at 133.5. Even more impressive was their fourth-place finish in average per rush (4.65).

McCarthy employed a more varied package of running plays than in his first seven seasons, when it often was either inside zone or outside zone.

Last year, the Packers pulled more guards on power plays and frequently attacked nickel defenses with the run.

"I thought our run game married our pass game as far as the stress we put on the defense," said McCarthy. "It's a real tribute to our O-linemen. Just the coordination with the backs and tight ends.

"Those guys did a really nice job accepting the challenge. It's a group that's mature."

Salary cap set: Players and agents are likely celebrating a 8.13% increase in the salary cap, which according to a release from the NFL Players Association is set at $133 million for the start of the new football year March 11.

Few were predicting a $10 million increase from the $123 million cap in 2013, and while players and agents might be jumping up and down, there's one thing to remember. Under the collective bargaining agreement, teams have to spend only 89% of their cap dollars, and in the case of the Packers it hardly means they will be going on a free-agent shopping spree.

These calculations won't be exact because adjustments will be made to each team's cap, but the Packers will be about $34.7 million under the $133 million figure.

The Packers have roughly $108 million in cap charges and dead money on the books for '14. They get to subtract $9.8 million from that because they are carrying it over from what they didn't use in 2013.

Thus, the Packers have about $34.7 million in space, which should come in as the sixth or seventh most in the NFL.

That's a huge amount of money, but it doesn't necessarily mean they will be going after every high-priced free agent that comes through the door. In fact, it will be very interesting to see if teams pull back and create a soft market for free agents (after the first big wave that always seems to hit). If they do, expect the word "collusion" to be spouted frequently.

The Packers could eat up their surplus with new deals for cornerback Sam Shields, wide receiver Jordy Nelson and wide receiver Randall Cobb, all of whom should be in line for big raises this year.

General manager Ted Thompson also should have a lot of flexibility to make bids for free agents such as defensive tackle B.J. Raji, outside linebacker Mike Neal, wide receiver James Jones, center Evan Dietrich-Smith, fullback John Kuhn and tight end Jermichael Finley, if he is medically cleared.

Where it does help the Packers is that when they structure these new deals, they can devote a huge chunk of the cap charge to 2014 and not have to worry about absorbing huge hits in later years if the player gets injured or fails to produce.

They can also afford to get rid of some higher-priced veterans if they want because the resulting cap charge won't really hurt them that much.

Some of those players won't be re-signed because the Packers won't overpay no matter how much cap space they have. Thompson's philosophy is to reward players who produce and not spend money on those who don't.

And don't be surprised if Thompson spends a little money in free agency. He might go after someone in the second wave or pursue someone who gets cut later in the year.

The Packers have to use $118.37 million of the $133 million cap.

With QB Aaron Rodgers and LB Clay Matthews signed to long-term deals, his cap outlook for this year and beyond is good.

Taking care of business: McCarthy was surprised to learn from some of his NFL coaching peers that not all staffs spend as much time breaking down the past season as the Packers do.

"A lot of guys put more emphasis on the draft," said McCarthy. "We're paid to coach 'em and get 'em ready to win. Our job is not going to come down to our draft reports.

"We're not going to do our draft reports before we do our scheme evaluation. That's just the priorities of the job description."

McCarthy and his assistants perform a thorough review of the season. Only after that do they make decisions on players for the following season.

"You have to watch the cut-ups and take the emotion out of it," he said.

Money talks: Safety Chris Banjo's one-year contract contained a $495,000 base salary and no other compensation.

Last week, running back Michael Hill signed a two-year, $1.08 million deal containing base salaries of $495,000 this year and $585,000 in 2015.

Fullback Ina Liaina's two-year, $930,000 contract includes base salaries of $420,000 this year and $510,000 in 2015.

Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.