Green Bay Packers: Pros & Cons to these 11 Cap Saving Moves

Green Bay Packers Cut Rick Wagner

$4.25 million in cap savings

Pros: Tackle is a premier position in the NFL, but taking a $6 million cap hit for a backup who has dealt with injuries and in a year where the cap is shrinking doesn’t seem like a prudent move. When healthy, David Bakhtiari will be the left tackle, and Billy Turner will be the right tackle, leaving Wagner relegated to the bench again.

Cons: I have to say, I questioned this signing much of the offseason, but Wagner pleasantly surprised me. In 13 regular season games that included 352 pass-blocking snaps, Wagner allowed only one sack and 16 total pressures. His ability to come in off the bench and fill in when needed was incredibly valuable.

Green Bay Packers Restructure David Bakhtiari

$8.83 million in cap savings

Pros: Yes, the Green Bay Packers just gave Bakhtiari an extension back in November but they are able to restructure it and reduce the cap hit in 2021, kicking the can down the road, as they say, and spreading it out over future years. If Bakhtiari’s contract is left as is, his cap hit this upcoming season is $19.29 million–or almost 10 percent of the 2021 salary cap.

Cons: With cap hits in the 2022 to 2024 seasons of $20 million, $23.5 million, and $27.5 million, respectively, adding to that is only going to make things more challenging in the coming years. And if the Packers did want to get out of the contract early, that becomes more difficult as well. At this point, there is no reason to think that Bakhtiari won’t be playing well at the end of this contract, but if he isn’t for whatever reason, Green Bay loses some flexibility.

Green Bay Packers Restructure Aaron Rodgers

$14.56 million in cap savings

Pros: Aaron Rodgers just won his third MVP award and is coming off the most efficient season of his career. His current deal runs through the 2023 season, and creating nearly $15 million in cap space would help Green Bay stay at a Super Bowl-caliber level. Not to mention providing your MVP quarterback with some job security isn’t a bad thing either.

Cons: What the Green Bay Packers do with Rodgers’ contract is going to be very telling. They obviously aren’t moving on from him in 2021, but if they wanted to, they could in 2022. By restructuring his deal, they will delay the Jordan Love era and Rodgers’ already hefty cap number in the coming years will increase.

Now, having said that, I’m just trying to hit all of the angles here. If Rodgers continues playing at a high-level, he is absolutely going to be the quarterback here in Green Bay for the foreseeable future. And regardless of what the restructure looks like, the Packers should have no problem paying it. This is, after all, the most important position in the game, and Rodgers is one of the best.