If that's what he's seeking I don't see the Packers losing him. It's not like Greg Jennings asking for $15 million the year before he was to become a free agent. That's a reasonable number. If they Packers were more in the $7-8 million range, they won't lose him over a million or 2 annually with the cap growing as it is.
I would be apoplectic if they dropped $9M/year on a second WR. Sign any podunk $4-5M/year WR in free agency and see little drop off. Rodgers is what makes the offense hum - his ability to extend plays through varying protections at the line and his legs scrambling is what makes the offense great.
Every casual fan gets WR fever and demands the best free agent WR to be signed to big bucks - but they have much less impact on the game than people think.
Brady just won the Super Bowl with his leading receiver being a 5'10" 200 lb 7th round nobody making less than $5M per year.
How?
Because he's Tom "motherf**king" Brady. Rodgers doesn't need two $9M WRs. any more than Brady needed a single one.
Go back the last five years. Flacco won a Super Bowl with who? Wilson won a Super Bowl with who? The Giants won the Super Bowl with who? Nobody. That's who. None of those teams had a top flight WR making $9M+ per year. You don't need them. You need a QB. Save the money for the big boys - lock up Bulaga.
Tom Brady didn't look nearly as good before Gronk shook off the rust last year and in the 2 games Edelman missed at the end of year Brady had a passer rating of 76.1 and 64.6. It matters. Rodgers has good chemistry with Cobb, who is young and talented. Without him they've got Jordy, a still green Davante Adams, underwhelming TEs and a couple of late round rookies who have a handful of regular snaps between them.
Putting together a defense that allows you to win with 200 yards passing and scoring 20 points every game is a lot easier said than done, especially when you're drafting at the end of every round.
They will not be letting Cobb go.
I'd like to wager with someone that they do not retain Cobb for north of $9M per year. That's absurd for a #2 WR. Only three teams have two WRs counting $7M+ ... I don't think any team has two WRs both making $9M+. You're talking about locking up ~15% of your cap for two players playing non-core positions. That's just absurd. I don't think Ted will do that. The core positions are QB, CB, left tackle, and pass rusher. That's where you spend the bulk of your cap if you want the best bang for your buck.
Last week I was thinking the Packers would offer him something in the $7M range (which is still a very high amount for a second WR) and I stand by that. Ted doesn't overpay guys and he's not going to overpay for a wide receiver.
Bulaga, even at right tackle, is more important to the success of the 2015 Packers than Randall Cobb. I would rather pay $8M to retain Bulaga than $8M for Randall Cobb. That would be a wonderfully talented front-line depth should anything happen to the other lineman and allows for both line continuity and right-side domination.
Hopefully Bulaga won't cost that much, though. The highest paid RT is getting $7M/year. It depends on whether he thinks he'll get paid LT money on the open market. Albert signed a $9.4M/year deal as the best free agent left tackle last year. It might actually take $8M/year to keep Bulaga.