The Green Bay Packers officially moved on from defensive lineman Rashan Gary to make their free agency plans easier. Once projected to be a star, injuries and inconsistency ultimately forced the Packers to pull the plug on him as a salary cap casualty last week.
Gary would've probably avoided his fate by taking a pay cut to stay with the Packers. That never happened, though, making it clear that it was time for Green Bay to move on. Interestingly enough, it seems Gary was open to taking a lesser dollar amount after all — it just happened to be part of the trade that sent him to the Dallas Cowboys.
"New Cowboys EDGE Rashan Gary agreed to a pay cut as part of the trade from Green Bay, dropping his compensation to $16 million each of the next two seasons," NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported on Monday. "Dallas also added an option and void years, lowering Gary's cap number to $5.44M this season and $8.24M in 2027."
Rashan Gary Is Already Making Post-Packers Sacrifices
Gary was slated to make $19.5 million this upcoming season and $22.5 million in the 2027 campaign, with no more guaranteed money in his contract. With this move, he will receive a $13.2 million signing bonus, with the majority of his upcoming salary being guaranteed.
Players don't usually like taking pay cuts or restructuring their contracts for obvious reasons. This way, however, Gary knows he will get a big chunk of his 2026 salary regardless of what happens, which is great news for such an injury-prone player.
Gary got off to a promising start to last season. He had 7.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss, and 13 quarterback hits in the first seven games of the campaign. Then, his production fell off dramatically, as he failed to register another sack or tackle for loss in the remainder of the season. It didn't help that he failed to step up once Micah Parsons suffered a season-ending injury.
That said, Gary has always shown flashes and the physical tools to be an impactful defensive player. Beggars can't be choosers, and the Cowboys are desperate for help in the pass-rushing department, so maybe new defensive coordinator Christian Parker believes Gary can still take off.
Even if that's not the case, he's certainly an upgrade over whatever they have going on right now.
As for the Packers, their pass-rushing unit will move on without Gary in the mix. He averaged 626.3 defensive snaps across the last three seasons, so even if his performances weren't flawless, his exit still creates big shoes to fill, leaving time to tell who'll be ready to step up.