Green Bay Packers: 3 Significant Salary Cap Saving Moves Still Available

The Green Bay Packers have been working their way closer and closer to the $182.5 million mark, which is what the salary cap was set to for the 2021 league year. On Friday, Green Bay entered the day about $9.6 million over the salary cap and have made four cap saving moves since then–with some being bigger than others.

The first move that was made was the restructuring of Adrian Amos’ deal that freed up about $750,000 in 2021 cap space. They then waived John Lovett, which saved another $120,000. These are two pretty small moves in the grand scheme of things, but later that evening, it was reported that Preston Smith took an incentive-heavy pay cut that resulted in $7.25 million in cap savings.

Most recently, on Saturday, Billy Turner would restructure his deal; however, how much was exactly saved is still unknown. Per Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated, the Green Bay Packers saved $500,000 by converting $1 million of his roster bonus to a signing bonus, but they also converted some of his base salary to a signing bonus as well. But that amount is unknown at this time.

So depending on where Turner’s restructured contract falls, the Green Bay Packers are either just over the salary cap still, or they made their way under. But even if they are under, there is still work to be done.

Those salary cap figures that we see all over the place don’t include expenses such as paying the draft class or the practice squad, and it doesn’t take into account any in-season spending, among other things. CPA and salary cap guru Ken Ingalls projects that the Green Bay Packers still need another $11.9 million in available cap space to account for those costs. And that doesn’t include any free-agent additions.

Clearly, there is still work to be done, but the Green Bay Packers still have a few big cap-saving moves on the table. Now, will they use all three? That remains to be seen, but here are three options still available.

Green Bay Packers Cap Saving Move: Za’Darius Smith Extension

This is a move that flew under the radar for much of the offseason but among the fan base started picking up steam this past week when Za’Darius Smith tweeted, “I want to be a Packer for life!!” Does that mean an extension is nearing? Well, that’s up to you to decide, but regardless, it does make a lot of sense.

Smith comes with a hefty cap hit in 2021 of $22 million, including a $10.75 million base salary and a $5 million roster bonus. Any of that could be converted to a signing bonus — aka cash — and prorated over the life of the deal. The benefit of an extension and adding on years to Smith’s deal which currently ends in 2022, is that you then have more years to spread the cap hit out over.

From an on the field standpoint, this makes quite a bit of sense as well. Smith tallied 13.5 sacks and led the league in pressures in 2019, and then this past year, he had 12.5 sacks and was named an All-Pro. Not to mention that he’s been one of the leaders in the locker room since he set foot in Green Bay.

At 28-years-old, Smith has been one of the most productive edge rushers in the NFL the past two seasons, and as Ross Uglem of Packer Report mentions, even if he loses half a step towards the end of his extension, his style of play will still make him an effective player.

While these figures are subject to change based on how much of Smith’s salary and roster bonus is pushed into future years, according to Over the Cap, they project that an extension could free up as much as $12.4 million in cap space this year.