In the last three years, the Green Bay Packers have walked away from their traditional financial methods. The franchise, which has historically been conservative and celebrated the “pay as you go” approach, had never used void years to throw money into the future until 2020. Recently, though, several factors forced the Packers to change their dynamics. Namely, salary cap limitations because of the pandemic and the perception of an all-in approach of sorts to maximize Aaron Rodgers’ twilight years.
But in this offseason, early indications are the Packers are returning to the old way of doing business. Some moves to keep pushing money are necessary because the Packers started the offseason projected to be $16.5 million over the 2023 salary cap. But the front office doesn’t seem inclined to make bigger restructures than it needs to operate.
In his last press conference, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst joked about the situation.
“With the way we’re doing things lately, we’ll probably restructure everybody and try to keep making some room,” Gutekunst said, laughing.
Early actions show otherwise, though. Yes, the Packers adjusted Aaron Jones‘ contract, but it was far from a normal restructure from an all-in team. First, there was a real pay cut. Jones was scheduled to make $16 million in 2023, but he will earn $11 million instead. And while the Packers pushed around $7 million to the future, they could have done even more. From Jones’ $11 million cash this year, $2.4 million will hit the cap this year in the form of base salary, roster bonus, and workout bonus. The minimum salary is $1.08 million, so if the Packers wanted to maximize the move to open up cap space this year, they could have pushed $1.056 million more into the future.
The second and most relevant sign is the players whose contracts voided last week. The Packers could extend them to keep the old signing bonuses prorated, giving them new deals. But they decided to let the deals expire, so every dollar will hit the cap this year. The biggest example is safety Adrian Amos, who could have re-signed for one-year, $5.5 million without adding anything to the 2023 salary cap. Now, even if they sign those players to new deals, the old cap hit doesn’t keep prorated anymore. Nonetheless, while this move forces the cap in 2023, it cleans the sheet for the future.
Dead money from voided contracts:
- Adrian Amos – $7.95 million
- Dean Lowry – $3 million
- Jarran Reed – $1.49 million
- Randall Cobb – $1.4 million
- Marcedes Lewis – $1.05 million
- Mason Crosby – $1 million
- Robert Tonyan – $0.5 million
“It all matters,” Gutekunst said last year when explaining Green Bay’s long-term roster-building approach. “If I said it didn’t matter, Russ (Ball, Packers executive vice-president/director of football operations and cap guru) might come over the table and grab my throat. It matters greatly. You’ve got to be mindful of what we’re doing in the future, even though sometimes right now feels like all that matters.”
It will be curious to see what the next steps will be. According to Over The Cap, the Packers are still projected to be $9.6 million over the cap, so the team is still obliged to make more moves. Those will include restructures with highly paid players like Jaire Alexander, Kenny Clark, and David Bakhtiari. It’s important to see how Green Bay would rework those contracts. Will the Packers maximize the open cap space, converting every base salary dollar into signing bonuses and adding void years? Or will they make simple restructures of roster bonuses into signing bonuses without void years?
There’s also the Aaron Rodgers conundrum. If they trade him or he retires, the Packers will have a $40.3 million cap hit in dead money, around $9 million more than if he plays for Green Bay. However, the future ramifications if he leaves are positive for the financial health of the team – there wouldn’t be more future hits after the 2023 season dead money.
The Rodgers decision will also very likely impact whether or not the Packers exercise Jordan Love‘s fully-guaranteed $20 million fifth-year option for 2024. Green Bay’s approach in free agency will also be significant to figuring out what their long-term plan looks like. Last year, they have already given signs of conservatism, adding only punter Pat O’Donnell, defensive lineman Jarran Reed, and wide receiver Sammy Watkins, in addition to minimum salary veterans.
The Green Bay Packers have a tradition of not overspending. While the circumstances forced their hand in the last couple of years, it doesn’t look like it changed their modus operandi.
