Tight Salary Cap Doesn’t Mean Packers have to Unload Roster in 2022

Hey, did you know that the Green Bay Packers are well over the 2022 salary cap? In fact, only the New Orleans Saints are in a worse salary cap situation than Green Bay.

Now, of course, I know that you are more than well aware of this. It’s all that many of us have talked about the last few weeks and it was known all throughout the 2021 regular season that the 2022 offseason was going to present Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball with some difficult personnel and financial decisions to make.

Currently, Over the Cap has the Green Bay Packers at $50.79 million over the 2022 salary cap. But when you factor in additional expenses such as the final two players on the roster — salary cap projections only include the top-51 highest cap hits — the incoming draft class and practice squad, money for free agency, and reserves for any in-season spending, by Ken Ingalls calculations, the Packers have to clear $70.33 million by the start of the regular season.

So understandably so, I can see why so many are apprehensive about this offseason. How do the Green Bay Packers not only get under the salary cap but also remain competitive?

Well, it’s not as difficult as it may seem. The Green Bay Packers have more than enough financial moves that they can make to not only get under the cap, but to bring back a large number of players from their 2021 team–if they so choose.

But first, as I’ve discussed before, it’s important to keep in mind when discussing the salary cap that it’s all about tradeoffs. If the Packers are able to bring back many of the same players from last year’s team, then that’s going to require them to push large amounts of cap charges to future years, which in turn will give them less financial flexibility in the future.

Also, if the Green Bay Packers were to re-sign Davante Adams, for example, they’ll be able to make that work, even at $30 million per year, but again, there are tradeoffs. Whose contract now has to be reworked as a result of this? Or potentially who is going to be cut as a way to create additional cap space? And now who can’t Green Bay sign because they paid Adams?

With some help from our friends at Over the Cap, in a recent article, I was able to layout potential cap-saving moves that the Green Bay Packers could make–and as you’ll see, it doesn’t involve gutting the current roster.

– Extending Aaron Rodgers: $21.09 million in projected savings

– Restructure David Bakhtiari: $8.18 million in projected savings

– Restructure Kenny Clark: $9.54 million in projected savings

– Restructure Aaron Jones: $2.87 million in projected savings

– Restructure Billy Turner: $3.5 million in projected savings

– Extend Dean Lowry: $3.61 million in projected savings

– Extend Preston Smith: $8.7 million in projected savings

– Extend Jaire Alexander: $9.8 million in projected savings

– Extend Adrian Amos: $5.1 million in projected savings

– Cut Za’Darius Smith: $15.28 million in savings

– Cut Mason Crosby: $2.39 million in savings

– Cut Randall Cobb: $6.74 million in savings

If you don’t have a calculator available, that equals out to $96.8 million in cap savings for the 2022 season. That figure easily covers the $70.33 million that Ingalls projects Green Bay needing, and it also allows them to dabble in free agency as well–which could include trying to bring back several of their own pending free agents.

In this example, Green Bay did have to move on from Z. Smith, Crosby, and Cobb — they aren’t going to be able to keep everyone, after all — but I imagine the roster is much more intact than what you may have anticipated, given some of the salary cap horror stories you may have heard this offseason.

Ultimately, we will have to wait and see how things play out–after all, the Green Bay Packers oftentimes will surprise us. But if they want to try running it back once again in 2022 in an attempt to finally win the Super Bowl, they are certainly able to–it just in all likelihood restricts some of their flexibility in the coming years.