GREEN BAY, Wis. -- OK, maybe it's not always about the money.
Granted, $40 million over four years is hardly chump change.
But if Randall Cobb indeed took less to rejoin the Green Bay Packers -- doing so on Saturday night a few hours after his agent was able to begin talking to other teams -- then the receiver made an important, and perhaps unusual, statement: Winning matters at least as much as, if not more than, the money.
It sounds like Cobb could have gotten more money elsewhere, say, from the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars or Houston Texans -- all of whom were supposedly interested and might have talked to Cobb's agent, Jimmy Sexton, when the free-agency negotiating window opened on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier on Saturday, I asked a prominent NFL personnel man this question: If Cobb signs with a team like the Raiders, isn't that basically saying he cares more about the money than winning?
His answer was this: "It's always about the money."
And it would have been hard to begrudge Cobb for maximizing his earnings potential.
After all, NFL careers are short.
Even though Cobb is only 24 years old, the former second-round draft pick surely realizes that he could easily suffer another injury like he did in 2013, when he missed 10 games because of a fractured lower leg on a routine catch over the middle of the field.
Last year, Cobb had his best season -- 91 catches, 1,287 yards and a dozen touchdowns -- at precisely the right time. His rookie contract, one that paid him $3.2 million over his first four seasons, was about to expire. It put him in position to cash in.
His deal with the Packers eclipsed the four-year, $39 million contract extension his teammate and fellow Packers receiver Jordy Nelson signed last July.
Late Saturday night, I reached out to that same personnel man and said this to him: I guess winning is more important to Cobb than the money.
His reply was: "And so is having a quarterback."
And the Packers have the best one in reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers.
With Rodgers and the nucleus of the Packers' offense intact, Cobb knows he has a chance to win it all.