Packers salary cap update prior to free agency beginning

The NFL’s legal tampering period, which allows teams to negotiate with unrestricted free agents, begins on Monday at 11:00 CST. Free agency then officially opens at 3:00 CST on Wednesday. So where do the Green Bay Packers stand salary cap-wise at this moment?

The Packers began the offseason at about $17 million over the 2023 salary cap. Green Bay now finds themselves $24.04 million under. To get there, they’ve restructured a number of contracts, just as Brian Gutekunst alluded to in his end-of-season press conference.

To get out of the red, Aaron Jones took a pay cut, and the Packers also converted $8.52 million of his base salary into a signing bonus. In total, this move created $11.8 million in cap space. Green Bay then converted Jaire Alexander’s $11.45 million roster bonus and Preston Smith’s $7.5 million roster bonus into a signing bonus, creating another $16 million in cap space.

The final two moves – for the time being – came in March, with the Packers restructuring the contracts of Kenny Clark and David Bakhtiari. Between Clark’s $2 million roster bonus and his base salary, a total of $13.835 became a signing bonus, while Bakhtiari’s $9.5 million roster bonus and $5.5 million of his base salary became a roster bonus as well. Between the two restructures, about $18.6 million in cap space was created.

In short, the mechanics of these restructures create cap space because the cap hits from a base salary and a roster bonus have to be incurred in the current year. A signing bonus, however, can be spread out over the life of the contract. Green Bay also added void years to Clark’s, Smith’s, and Jones’ deals, which are a bookkeeping measure that, on paper, add additional years to a contract for cap charges to be pushed to–thus further lowering the current year’s cap hit. But this is not an extension, with the contract still terminating at the same time that was originally agreed to.

Although, at the moment, the Packers have $24.04 million in cap space, unfortunately, there is still a big variable in play that will, in all likelihood, drastically change things. And that, of course, is Aaron Rodgers and his future.

If Rodgers is traded, he will go from having a dead cap hit of $31.6 million to a dead cap hit of $40.3 million, reducing Green Bay’s salary cap availability to around $15.3 million. That figure could even be further reduced if the Packers have to take on any of his $59.5 million guaranteed salary. On the flip side, while retirement may not be likely, if that happens, the Packers go from having a surplus of $24.04 million to roughly $40 million, if designated after June 1st. This also then carries an additional $25 million in dead cap to 2024.

So with the legal tampering period beginning on Monday, you can see why it would be important for this deal to be hammered out before then because depending on what Rodgers does, it has a massive impact on the Packers’ salary cap situation, which ultimately impacts how they negotiate and even who they go after in free agency.

Regardless of what Rodgers does, the Packers will have to create more cap space. At this time, they are all out of significant restructures, but Pat O’Donnell, De’Vondre Campbell, and Rasul Douglas are all due roster bonuses on March 17th, which can be converted to signing bonuses to free up more space. Jon Runyan, who has a base salary of $2.7 million, could be a restructure candidate as well.

Other cap-saving moves include extending Rashan Gary, which will happen at some point this offseason, and open up another $3-ish million. Also, Green Bay could try trading Darnell Savage, which would take almost $8 million off the books, but also further deplete an already very thin safety room.

It’s also important to keep in mind that the Packers’ available salary cap space from Over the Cap doesn’t take into account future expenses. This includes re-signing any of their own free agents or making any new free-agent additions. It also doesn’t include the cap space needed for the draft class, practice squad, or reserves for in-season spending, among other items.

This is going to end up being another offseason where the Packers aren’t going to be heavy spenders in free agency–they just don’t have the salary cap flexibility to do so. The players they do sign will likely be coming to Green Bay on short-term deals with relatively low cap hits. Positions that the Packers should target in free agency include tight end, safety, receiver, interior defensive lineman, and a veteran backup quarterback if Jordan Love is the starter in 2023.