Green Bay Packers Sign Devonte Wyatt to Rookie Deal
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers have signed the 28th overall pick in this year’s draft, DeVonte Wyatt, to his rookie deal. Wyatt was the initial first-round pick to be signed.
The details of Devonte Wyatt’s rookie contract with the Green Bay Packers
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Wyatt signed a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $12.86 million with a $6.533 million signing bonus. And since Wyatt is a first-round pick, the Green Bay Packers will also have a fifth-year option that they can snooze to exercise.
As the contracts for first-round picks continued to rise over the years, it is now customary for these players to receive fully guaranteed deals.
Wyatt was PFF’s highest-graded interior defensive lineman during the 2021 season. He would average 338 snaps per season over his final three years, where he primarily lined up in the B-gap. He is an excellent athlete for his size and should make an impact right away in Green Bay against both the run and the pass as a member of the defensive line rotation.
An added presence like Wyatt in the middle will not only do wonders for the defensive front but the entire defense as well. As he takes on double teams and eats up space, that will help keep the linebackers and safeties clean to move sideline-to-sideline, and that could also mean fewer double-teams that Rashan Gary and Preston Smith will have to contend with as well.
The addition of Wyatt lined up in the A or B-gaps may also provide more opportunities to move Kenny Clark around for one-on-one reps—and that, of course, is always a good thing.
On top of all of that, and what Wyatt’s presence can potentially do for the rest of this defense, the best way to destroy any play almost immediately is with pressure from the interior. With a lightning-quick first step, Wyatt’s athleticism often gives him the upper hand, and it does so rather quickly.
With Clark, Wyatt, Jarran Reed, Dean Lowry, and TJ Slaton, this is easily the deepest interior defensive line group that the Green Bay Packers have had in years. The selection of Wyatt also provides some stability to the interior defensive line room in future years as well. Prior to the draft, Clark and Slaton were the only interior defenders under contract.
According to Over the Cap, the Green Bay Packers have just over $14 million in available cap space remaining. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reports that in order to sign all 11 draft picks, it will require $12.85 million to do so.
There are still a few salary cap-saving moves that the Packers have at their disposal, including tacking on voided years to Allen Lazard’s restricted free agent deal and an extension for Jaire Alexander that could provide more cap space if needed.
Wyatt is the first of what will be several signings announced over the coming days.