Top remaining salary cap conscious free agents for Packers at key positions
By Paul Bretl
It’s been a relatively quiet start to free agency for the Green Bay Packers, and expectations should be that it’s going to stay that way. Once again, the Packers have little spending power.
At the moment, they have $24.41 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap, without taking into account Green Bay’s recent additions. However, that also isn’t what Green Bay actually has available to spend either.
At some point, Aaron Rodgers will be traded, and that will lower the Packers’ available salary cap space by just under $9 million due to additional dead cap that hits the 2023 books. And if Green Bay takes on any of Rodgers’ $59.5 million guaranteed salary as part of the deal with New York, the dead cap will rise further, and their available cap space will decrease even more.
On top of that, there are other upcoming expenses not yet accounted for in that $24.41 million figure. This includes signing any new free agents, or the Packers re-signing any of their own. The incoming draft class, the practice squad, the 52nd and 53rd contracts on the roster because the current salary cap projection only accounts for the top 51 contracts, and reserves for in-season spending.
Ken Ingalls, who independently tracks the Packers’ salary cap situation, projects that Green Bay has around $11 million to spend this offseason on free agents, including their own. Taking into account their projected free agent spending, along with incoming expenses and the Packers current available cap space, that would leave the Packers with an effective cap space – or a surplus – of just $2.0 million, according to Ingalls.
When it comes to freeing up more cap space, the Packers have few moves remaining. They’ve restructured just about every contract that they can at this point, other than Jon Runyan’s. Extending Rashan Gary will free up around $3 million in cap space, and if they can trade Darnell Savage, that would create $7.9 million–although, as I wrote recently, that’s easier said than done.
Although the Packers need to be frugal this offseason, that doesn’t mean there aren’t positions to be addressed. There just won’t be any splash signings or Green Bay may not be able to tackle some of those needs until the draft.
Below I take a closer look at six positions the Packers could target in free agency. Then using PFF’s top-200 free agents list, I cherry-picked the players who are projected to have contracts that pay less than $6 million per year. That specific contract value on a multi-year deal or with void years added on could get the cap hit for 2023 down to just a few million dollars–a digestible amount for Green Bay.
Quarterback
With Aaron Rodgers on his way out, the Packers have just two quarterbacks on the roster. For one, they need more arms to get through training camp, but two, there is value in having a veteran backup behind Jordan Love as another voice and a pair of eyes to help him navigate his first year as a starter.
The only quarterbacks still available in PFF”s top 200 were Teddy Bridgewater and Marcus Mariota, both projected to earn over $4 million in 2023. Given the Packers’ salary cap situation, they cannot be paying backup that much money.
N/A
Safety
Green Bay has already built their safety depth this offseason, re-signing Rudy Ford and bringing in Trevarius Moore; however, this room can still be added to. Ford and Moore do have experience on defense, but both have been primary special teams players over their careers. The only other player on the roster at the moment with real experience on defense is Darnell Savage, who was benched for a few games in 2022 and is best in the slot, not as a true deep safety. This is also a draft class lacking top-end talent at the position.
101. Rodney McLeod – $2.15M per year
113. Duron Harmon – $1.75M per year
120. John Johnson – $5.5M per year
160. Kareem Jackson – $2M per year
173. Mike Edwards – $4.75M per year
181. Terrell Edmunds – $2.63M per year
Tight End
Green Bay is in need of both depth and playmaking at this position. The good news is that the incoming draft class is loaded at the position, but with most rookies – even early-round picks – not making a significant impact right away, having a veteran to lean on would be valuable. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of free-agent options that fit the Packers’ price range.
129. Irv Smith Jr. – $4.25M per year
171. Marcedes Lewis – $3.25M per year
Wide Receiver
Green Bay has a very young wide receiver room right now. Four of the five players on the roster were rookies in 2022, while Jeff Cotton – a 2020 UDFA – has just one NFL snap. In fact, Romeo Doubs and his 529 career snaps are the most on the team. There will likely still be some ups and downs that Doubs and Christian Watson experience in Year 2, which is why adding a veteran should be on Brian Gutekunst’s to-do list–hopefully providing some added stability to the position for Love.
122. Jarvis Landry – $3M per year
126. Julio Jones – $2.5M per year
128. Olamide Zaccheaus – $4.25M per year
154. Marvin Jones – $4M per year
155. Mack Hollins – $4M per year
156. Randall Cobb – $1.25M per year
158. Trent Sherfield – $2.5M per year
161. Nelson Agholor – $4M per year
Interior Defensive Lineman
The Packers need to round out their rotation at this position. This is a heavily rotated position, and right now, Green Bay has just five players on the roster at this position, with two of them having no NFL experience. Devonte Wyatt and TJ Slaton will presumably take on larger roles, but both are still relatively inexperienced, each having played fewer than 350 snaps in 2022.
99. A’Shawn Robinson – $3M per year
170. Akiem Hicks – $3.5M per year
180. Chris Wormley – $2M per year
185. Andrew Billings – $2.5M per year
186. Jerry Tillery – $3.5M per year
187. Derrick Nnadi – $2.25M per year
197. Kerry Hyder – $1.25M per year
Edge Rusher
With Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, and JJ Enagbare, the Packers have a strong foundation at this position and could turn to what is a deep draft class to build out the depth. But regardless of how the Packers address this position, doing so is a must. Once Gary went down last season, Green Bay struggled to generate a consistent pass rush, and like the interior defensive line, this position is heavily rotated.
71. Melvin Ingram – $4M per year
72. Justin Houston – $4M per year
76. Kyle Van Noy – $3.25M per year
94. Rasheem Green – $5M per year
130. Dawuane Smoot – $1.5M per year
136. Carlos Dunlap – $3M per year
167. Dante Fowler Jr. – $3.5M per year
172. Andrew Van Ginkel – $3.25M per year
175. Robert Quinn – $5M per year
183. Carl Nassib – $2M per year