Green Bay Packers: 3 Veteran Cut Candidates Who Create Needed Cap Space
By Paul Bretl
It happens just about every year; there is a veteran or two who doesn’t make the final 53-man roster. Of course, the biggest reason is their performance, but there can be monetary benefits for the Green Bay Packers — or any team — as well.
For the Packers, the financial benefits of moving on from one or a few of these veterans plays a particularly important role this season. As we all know, they had to work extremely hard to get under the league’s plummeting salary cap that settled at $182.5 million. To do so, it took a number of contract restructures, a few pay cuts, and it limited what they could do in free agency.
But eventually, Green Bay was able to get under, and currently they sit $2.37 million below the cap, according to Over the Cap. However, there is still more work to be done.
This figure only accounts for the top-51 contracts, not 53, which is what an NFL roster carries. The Packers also still need cap space available for the practice squad as well as any in-season spending that may take place—i.e., signing a Damon Harrison or Tyler Ervin.
Brian Gutekunst even told us before the draft that there would be more financial moves coming, saying that “there are a lot of contracts that we will need to address over the next 4 to 5 months” to help create needed cap space.
A few of the more obvious, as well as bigger, cap-saving moves that could be made include an extension for Davante Adams, who is in the final year of his current deal. Za’Darius Smith and Adrian Amos are two other extension candidates, and of course, so is Aaron Rodgers—but we will see how that plays out.
Another avenue that the Green Bay Packers have — albeit it won’t clear nearly as much space as any of the extensions would — is by making a veteran cut or two. If the player’s cap hit — which is money on the books for that season — is larger than their dead cap hit — which is basically money that is still owed to the player even if they aren’t on the roster — then the team can create some cap “savings.”
As always, performance is going to be King, but there are three veterans on this roster in particular who will be fighting for a roster spot this summer — I also briefly discuss an Honorable Mention candidate — and if the Packers do choose to move on from either of them, they’ll also save some much-needed cap space in the process.
Josh Jackson
To put it simply, Josh Jackson just hasn’t lived up to his second-round draft selection—not even close. He saw his most action in a season as a rookie in 2018, but after sustaining an injury early on 2019 training camp, he tumbled down the depth chart and never recovered. When it was all said and done, Jackson saw just 102 total defensive snaps that season, according to PFF ($$).
This past year, he filled in for an injured Kevin King but the same issues that plagued him the previous two years were still prevalent. Penalties remained a big issue, and he was picked on by opposing quarterbacks with regularity. Not to mention that he was routinely a healthy scratch from the game-day roster at the end of the season.
Over his career, Jackson has been targeted 96 times, allowing a completion rate of almost 69 percent at 11.3 yards per catch. He’s given up six touchdowns and has no interceptions but has been called for 13 penalties—a massive amount considering how little he’s played.
Is this the year Jackson figures it out? Odds are it isn’t, and I think we know who he is as a player at this point in his career. Perhaps a new defensive system helps, but again, my guess is that it doesn’t. Or maybe Jackson’s saving grace is the lack of experienced depth in the cornerback room.
If the Green Bay Packers do move on from him, they’ll save $1.33 million in cap space this season.