It was March, 2020, and the NFL’s league new year had arrived.

Green Bay — fresh off a loss to San Francisco in the NFC Championship Game — had four of its top-10 players and five of its best 20 entering the final year of their contract. Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president Russ Ball knew that keeping all of these standouts in their building was a nearly impossible task.

Left tackle David Bakhtiari and center Corey Linsley were arguably the finest players in the NFL at their respective positions and would clearly be the best free agents at their spots. Running back Aaron Jones and nose tackle Kenny Clark ranked among the NFL’s top-five players at their positions, and would also be the best free agents inside their positional groups.

And cornerback Kevin King, coming off his finest season in 2019, was someone the Packers would think long and hard about re-signing.

Today, four of those five players have signed deals to stay in Green Bay. And by bringing back 80% of this remarkably gifted free agent class — and doing it during a pandemic when the salary cap dropped to $182.5 million — the Packers will remain Super Bowl contenders in 2021.

“What they did, bringing most of those guys back, wasn’t easy,” one NFL executive told me Friday. “That’s a lot of talent right there, and they had to try signing those guys when the cap plummeted. That’s impressive.”

Many fans will often yell and scream when their team doesn’t sign players in free agency. Green Bay’s passionate fan base is no different.

What can’t be overlooked, though, is Green Bay wound up with the No. 1 left tackle, nose tackle and running back slated to hit free agency. Just because those three players were already Packers is something the team shouldn’t be knocked for.

“Of course not,” the executive said. “Give them credit for drafting those guys in the first place. Any team would kill for those guys.”

The New England Patriots gave an NFL record $148.6 million in guaranteed money to free agents this offseason. San Francisco, Jacksonville and the New York Jets also dished out more than $125 million to new free agents.

Other than San Francisco, those teams had drafted poorly for years and found themselves desperate for talent. And while big splashes in free agency can excite the fan base, it’s rare when the player lives up to his contract.

The success rate of signing your own free agents is much greater, largely because the organization already knows the player — on and off the field. That’s been Green Bay’s mantra since Ted Thompson became general manager in 2005. But this star-studded group of free agents — combined with the reduced cap — posed problems for management like never before.

Green Bay knew the immense challenge that awaited, so it began talks with Clark’s people long before the 2020 season arrived.  Midway through training camp last August, the Packers and Clark agreed on a four-year, $70 million extension that included a $25 million signing bonus and $34.09 million in guaranteed money.

Knowing the salary cap could drop, the Packers structured Clark’s deal so his cap hits were just $6.69 million in 2020 and $7.1 million in 2021, before increasing to more than $20 million each of the final three years of the deal. That allowed the Packers the financial flexibility to keep chasing the rest of their soon-to-be free agents.

“I think there’s some dominoes here,” Gutekunst said shortly after completing the Clark deal. “There’s a bunch more guys we’d like to keep. There’s some restrictions we’re going to have to work through to see if we can do it all, but I’m eager to see if we can get some of these guys locked up, that’s for sure.”

Next up was Bakhtiari, arguably the finest left tackle in football. In mid-November, Bakhtiari signed a four-year, $103.5 million contract extension that left the Packers nearly $20 million over the cap in 2021.

“They wanted me, they appreciated what I’ve done and how our relationship has been,” Bakhtiari said. “And on the same side, I appreciated them taking a chance on a 21-year-old kid from Colorado (in 2013).”

Green Bay structured Bakhtiari’s deal where it could turn a roster bonus of $11.072 million into a signing bonus. The Packers did just that in February, which trimmed $8.304 million off of their 2021 cap.

Still, as the new league year neared, Green Bay was in salary cap hell. And locking up Linsley, Jones and/or King seemed like a longshot.

Green Bay got extremely creative, though, and re-worked the contracts of seven different players. The Packers didn’t touch quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ contract, though, giving them the option of moving on from him in the next year and saving big money.

When free agency hit, Linsley immediately landed a five-year, $62.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Chargers that included $26 million in guaranteed money. After Linsley had a career year, though, in 2020, the Packers knew the odds of bringing him back were slim.

“Finding a way to bring him back would be ideal,” Gutekunst said two weeks before free agency arrived. “But at the same time obviously, at the level of compensation that he’s at, he’s earned that.”

Most assumed Jones would follow Linsley out the door.

Green Bay elected not to put the franchise tag on Jones when the two sides couldn’t agree to a deal before free agency. And as the top running back in free agency, many figured Jones would break the bank elsewhere.

Instead, the Packers cleared enough room and signed Jones to a four-year, $48 million deal that included a $13 million signing bonus.

“It’s not just about getting the most money,” said Drew Rosenhaus, Jones’ agent. “It’s actually seeing that contract and playing that deal out and earning that money.”

As surprising as Jones’ return was, King’s was even more shocking.

King, a second-round draft pick in 2017, relished the opportunity to hit free agency and potentially sign a big deal elsewhere. But King cost himself millions of dollars after allowing two touchdowns during Green Bay’s 31-26 loss to Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship Game.

With that performance fresh on the minds of NFL executives, King was ignored in the early days of free agency. And with the Packers desperate for help at cornerback, they re-signed King to a one-year, $6 million incentive-laden deal.

Packer Nation was fuming after Green Bay brought the embattled King back to town. But King’s re-signing means the Packers will bring back 20 starters — 10 on each side of the ball — in 2021.

A year ago, that level of continuity seemed almost impossible. But with that type of stability — and 10 picks coming in April’s draft — the Packers should remain among the NFL’s elite and chase another Super Bowl in 2021.

“We have a really good football team,” Gutekunst said. “I think the core of our football team is going to be really strong the next few years, and we want to give ourself every chance to compete for championships within that time.”

Green Bay has done just that thanks in large part to its success in free agency.