Packers: Reworking Lane Taylor’s Contract is Such an Underrated Move

A month back, the Packers reworked Lane Taylor’s deal, which kept him in Green Bay while also freeing up cap space. Although it doesn’t move the needle, it’s such an underrated move.

Now, the Green Bay Packers reworking the final year of Lane Taylor’s deal isn’t any sort of breaking news, in fact, this took place about a month ago. However, this is one of those low-key moves that doesn’t draw a ton of attention but was very underrated.

These are the type of moves that the good NFL organizations make.

This past offseason, Taylor was a name that many in Packer Nation – including myself – thought was going to be either cut or traded. With Billy Turner on a fairly expensive contract at right guard and Elgton Jenkins at left guard, keeping Taylor’s cap hit of nearly $5.5 million seemed unnecessary. Especially for what many perceived to be a backup guard.

So naturally, moving on from him and saving the $4.1 million in cap space seemed like the prudent move. But GM Brian Gutekunst and Executive Vice President Russ Ball had a different idea, a much better idea. And it’s one that keeps Taylor in Green Bay while saving some cap space as well.

How ever they convinced Taylor to rework his deal, we don’t know that, but in the end, he would agree to the restructuring. Now instead of a $5.5 million cap hit this season, it sits at only $2.525 million, thus saving the Packers about $3 million in cap space, according to Spotrac.

There are two reasons in particular why this is such a smart move, and the first is that the Green Bay Packers get to keep Lane Taylor for this season.

While they didn’t save the full $4.1 million that could have been salvaged if the Packers had cut Taylor, it’s close, and for the difference of about $1 million, I’d much rather have Taylor on this roster. Don’t forget that prior to missing most of 2019 with an injury, Taylor was a solid left guard for the Packers.

During the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Taylor was on the field for 1,481 pass-blocking attempts, and he would give up only four sacks and four quarterback hits during that span. Although in 2018, we saw him take a step back, whether you look at Pro Football Focus’ metrics or Andy Herman’s of Packer Report, Taylor’s 2018 season still outperformed Turner’s 2019 campaign.

By having Taylor on the roster, at a minimum, Green Bay has an experienced backup who could very well be a starter on a number of other NFL teams. In addition to filling in if there’s an injury, Taylor is also someone who can push Billy Turner for those starting reps at right guard. At this point, I wouldn’t make the assumption that he’s going to be a backup this season.

To put it simply, given Taylor’s past success with the Green Bay Packers, being able to keep him on the roster and at an affordable price is a no-brainer.

As for reason No. 2, well, it’s an obvious one, and that is that the Packers freed up $3 million in cap space with this restructure.

While in the grand scheme of the NFL salary cap that may not seem like a lot, for Green Bay who is tight up against the salary cap at the moment – just $11.725 million per Spotrac – and with expenses still remaining, maybe this freed up cap space goes towards a late free-agent addition that bolsters the roster.

Or perhaps even more likely, with the Packers projected to have limited cap space once again in 2021 and several high-profile free agents to address – David Bakhtiari, Kenny Clark, Aaron Jones, Kevin King, and Corey Linsley – this could end up being a part of what they roll over to the new year. Remember, every little bit helps.

By now, this is probably a move that most have already forgotten about, but it’s such an underrated move as well—being able to hang on to a proven NFL starter, while also creating more cap space? Brilliant. Just as I’ve already said, these are the types of moves that the top NFL organizations are making.