Contract details and salary cap impact of Packers Rashan Gary extension

It wasn’t a matter of if, but rather when. The Green Bay Packers and edge rusher Rashan Gary have agreed to a contract extension.

Gary himself was the first to report the deal on Monday morning, tweeting that the extension was for four years and $107 million. Packer Central’s Bill Huber would a short while later have specifics on the new contract. Gary will receive a signing bonus worth $34.6 million and the contract includes a about $96 million in new money.

As the Packers often do, they backloaded the deal, which will provide them with modest cap hits to absorb in the early portion of the contract. Huber added that Gary’s base salary in 2023 is $4.9 million, then only $1.3 million in 2024, and a very reasonable $6.8 million in 2025. However, in 2026, Gary’s base salary jumps to $18 million and then $21 million in 2027. Gary will also receive roster bonuses of $6.2 million in 2024 and $8.7 million in 2025, along with workout bonuses all four years.

This extension will have a minimal impact on the Packers 2023 salary cap situation, with salary cap guru Ken Ingalls projecting that the new deal will only take up an additional $931,163 in cap space. According to Over the Cap, Green Bay had $7.5 million in cap space available prior to this move.

Below are Gary’s projected cap hits each season—a well constructed deal by Russ Ball, with Gary’s cap hit never getting over the $30 million mark.

In terms of average annual value, Gary is now the NFL’s fourth-highest paid edge rusher, earning $24 million per year on the new money that comes with the extension. He only trails Nick Bosa, TJ Watt, Joey Bosa, and Myles Garrett.

Despite coming off an ACL injury that cut his 2022 season short, Gary has been one of the most productive pass rushers in football this season. Up until recently, Gary had been on a snap count for much of the year, working his way back from injury. However, despite ranking 83rd in total pass rush snaps, Gary ranks 19th among all edge rushers in total pressures. He also has the highest win rate amongst his position group as well, according to PFF.

In addition to what Gary brings to the Packers on the field, he is one of the leaders on this team as well. As Matt LaFleur has said on multiple occasions, Gary is a tone-setter for the Packers, and that elevates not only his play but the play of those around him.

"”Obviously R.G. is an unbelievable talent,” said pass rush coordinator Jason Rebrovich following Week 1. “We know that. It all starts with his work ethic. And the big thing that everybody hopefully understands is that just in the real world, if you got guys that have a great work ethic, you’re gonna wanna be around that person every single day and luckily for me, luckily for the other guys, luckily for this team, is we’re around a gentleman like that who comes with a work ethic day in and day out, whether he’s on the practice field or he’s in that training room or he’s in the weight room … everybody sees it.“And when you can develop that around a team and you can utilize that as your standard, you’re gonna go some places because people wanna buy into that person and that is the epitome of R.G. So does it surprise me of what he has shown on Sunday? Not one bit. That’s his standard. It’s always been his standard and it always will be his standard, so it just goes into, like I said, his work ethic is bar none one of the best, if not the best, personally, that I’ve ever been around.”"