In search of salary cap space, Packers restructure Rasul Douglas’ deal
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers continue to look for loose change in their couch cushions, restructuring another contract to help their tight salary cap situation.
According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Packers have restructured the contract of cornerback Rasul Douglas. The move creates an additional $3.3 million in available cap space for the 2023 season.
This was another expected move with Douglas due a $2 million roster bonus on March 17th. Green Bay also took a portion of his $3.25 million base salary and converted some of that to a signing bonus.
The cap hits from both roster bonuses, and base salaries have to be accounted for in the current year. However, by converting some of those dollars to a signing bonus, that cap hit can be spread out over the life of the contract. Douglas’ contract is set to expire following the 2024 season. As of now, it has not been reported if void years were utilized–something that has become common practice for Green Bay in recent years.
As always, there is give and take. The downside to a restructure is that cap charges from 2023 are pushed into future years, inflating Douglas’ cap hit in 2024.
Prior to this move, the Packers had just over $21 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap. They now will have roughly $24.3 million available. It’s also important to keep in mind that when Green Bay trades Aaron Rodgers, $8.7 million in additional dead cap will be subtracted from their salary cap total, and that number could increase if they have to take on any of Rodgers’ nearly $60 million guaranteed salary. That $24.3 million estimated cap space also doesn’t factor in any additional free agent signings, the cost to sign the draft class or practice squad, or having reserves for in-season moves.
At this point, the Packers are running low on cap-saving moves. The only contract restructure candidates that are left include Pat O’Donnell and Jon Runyan. An extension for Rashan Gary will free up a few million dollars in cap space as well. The most significant cap-saving move would be trading Darnell Savage, which would free up almost $8 million. However, the Packers are already thin at the safety position, and the return would likely be minimal, given that the other team would be doing Green Bay a favor by taking Savage’s contract off their books.
During his season ending press conference, GM Brian Gutekunst told reporters that they would plan on restructuring just about everybody–and the Packers have delivered. Along with Douglas, the Packers have restructured the contracts of Aaron Jones, Kenny Clark, David Bakhtiari, Preston Smith, Jarie Alexander, and De’Vondre Campbell, freeing up about $50 million in cap space for 2023.