Amidst the Green Bay Packers’ losing streak, there’s finally a spot of good news for the Green and Gold.
Edge rusher Rashan Gary signed a four-year, $96 million extension with the team, tying him to the Packers through 2027.
Gary’s extension has been in the works for months. But with each passing week, Gary strung together impressive performances that threatened to increase his price. Thankfully, he and the Packers got the deal done, and the team locked down arguably their best player for four more years.
The exact number for a Gary extension was always hard to nail down. Despite coming off a major injury last season, Gary returned to the lineup (albeit on a snap count) in Week 1 and continued a streak of dominance. By Week 3, he not only looked fully recovered but like he’d never been injured in the first place. Gary’s three-sack performance helped galvanize Green Bay’s comeback win over the New Orleans Saints.
As a pass rusher, Gary has been on a steady ascension since 2021, and he’s finally being recognized as a premier player at his position. While he doesn’t always get the sack numbers of his peers, Gary terrorizes the quarterback on every play, boasting the league’s best pass-rush win rate. PFF credited Gary with a league-high 29.6% win rate before last Sunday’s games.
But as a linebacker, Gary still has work to do as a run defender. His ability to set the edge isn’t quite as strong as some of his peers, which complicated the final number.
Ultimately, including Gary’s existing fifth-year option, it’s essentially a five-year, $107 million contract and includes a $34.6 million signing bonus. The new deal makes Gary the league’s fifth-highest-paid edge defender after Nick Bosa, T.J. Watt, Joey Bosa, and Myles Garrett. That’s a fair price that is ultimately team-friendly and puts Gary in elite company.
It was good to get the deal done before the Carolina Panthers’ Brian Burns, another edge rusher from the 2019 class, signs a new deal. Or before Garrett, probably the best defensive player in the league, resets the market on his next deal.
While the Packers often try to use in-season extensions to clear some cap space, Gary’s new deal increases his 2023 cap by just under $1 million. In typical Green Bay fashion, the deal is backloaded, with higher cap numbers in 2026 and 2027.
Gary exemplifies Green Bay’s draft-and-develop strategy and their need to find foundational pieces for their next era of football.
The Gary selection was polarizing at the time. Green Bay had just taken a rare dive into the free-agency pool and signed edge rushers Preston and Za’Darius Smith. Spending a first-round pick on a developmental pass-rusher seemed like a waste to some.
But Gary did his time as a backup, honed his craft, and put to rest many of the criticisms leveled out at him out of Michigan. Not only has Gary become one of the league’s best pass rushers, he’s become the heart and soul of this young team. You never need to worry about whether Gary is giving enough effort.
“Rashan has been an impact player and person for us since he joined the Packers,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on the extension. “His work ethic is unmatched, and he has developed into a team leader and cornerstone of our team. We are very pleased that he will remain in Green Bay for years to come.”
Gary signed his deal before Sunday’s loss to Minnesota. Obviously, the Packers aren’t the belle of the ball this season, and Gary could have chosen to test the free-agent market this spring. But that was never in his plans. Gary said the Packers drafted him in 2019, and that’s where he wants to stay.
Gary will lead a defense in need of some good tidings. While Gary impacts the quarterback on every play, the rest of the pass-rush unit isn’t on that same level. The Packers gave up nine third-and-eights against the Vikings. The offense hasn’t helped matters, but the defense still needs to get off of the field in favorable situations.
There are few players in the league who love the game as much as Rashan Gary. He exudes passion and sets the example of what it should mean to be a Green Bay Packer. And that passion resonates with his teammates.
Rasul Douglas recalled earlier this season when the Packers told Gary that he could do individual drills but couldn’t practice at full participation and the young edge rusher started crying.
“That’s just how much invested he is to football and what it means to him,” Douglas said, via Packer Central’s Bill Huber. “When you’ve got guys like that, you always want to be a part of that with them.”
The Packers are young team learning how to win, and the coaching staff needs to find the right building blocks for their next era. Not only does Gary offer a talented player at a priority position, but he’s an ideal locker room force and leader for this young team.
