As of mid-January, the Green Bay Packers sit at roughly $20 million over the effective 2023 salary cap, per Over the Cap. The site is working with an estimated salary cap across the NFL at $225 million.
The Packers are in a familiar spot. Each of the last two offseason, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and salary cap guru Russ Ball have worked tirelessly to dig out of a salary cap hole while keeping a competitive roster in place.
Can Gutekunst and Ball pull it off again in 2023?
Here are some simple methods the Packers will probably use to start digging out of this year’s cap hole:
Restructure Jaire Alexander
Alexander just signed a new deal before the 2022 season, but his deal is already ripe for restructuring, just like the Packers intended. His base salary is just $1.45 million in 2023, but he has a roster bonus of $11.45 million due in March. Converting all of the bonus into a signing bonus could save the Packers roughly $8.5 million on the cap in 2023. That money would then get prorated evenly onto the cap during each of the final three years of his deal (2024-26). Alexander was a second-team All-Pro and a cornerstone piece of the franchise, so this is an easy lever to pull.
Restructure Aaron Jones
The Packers want to keep Jones on the roster in 2023, but his $20 million cap hit just doesn’t work. Luckily for Gutekunst and Ball, Jones has a $7 million roster bonus and an $8.1 million base salary that can be used here. Converting his roster bonus into a signing bonus would save the Packers roughly $5.2 million on the cap in 2023. The team could throw almost $7 million more of his base salary into the converted signing bonus to create the highest amount of savings, up to almost $11 million. Expect the eventual savings to be somewhere in the $5 million to $10 million range.
Restructure Kenny Clark
Clark has a $13 million base salary and $2 million roster bonus that can be converted into a signing bonus to create more savings. If the Packers did the full restructure, the team could drop his cap hit in 2023 – which currently sits at almost $24 million – down by over $10 million. Again, Clark is a cornerstone player and is still only 27 years old. Expect savings to come from his deal.
Restructure Preston Smith
The Packers would only save roughly $3 million by releasing Smith, and the team has edge rusher depth issues with Rashan Gary coming off a major injury. The guess here, considering Smith has a $7.5 million roster bonus coming due, is that a restructure happens. It’s the same lever pull: convert the roster bonus into a signing bonus and get the savings. The Packers could save over $5.5 million with this type of simple restructure on Smith in 2023.
Restructure David Bakhtiari
This is a tricky one, largely because Bakhtiari is 32 years old and has a concerning recent injury history, but he played at an elite level when on the field in 2022 and the Packers want him back. His cap hit is currently $28.9 million. That has to change. Bakhtiari has a base salary of $6.7 million and a roster bonus of $9.5 million, so there’s plenty of wiggle room here. The Packers could tack on void years to the end of his deal to maximize savings. Even a simple restructure without void years could save the Packers over $7 million.
Others
LB De’Vondre Campbell: He has a $3 million roster bonus that could be converted into a signing bonus to save on the cap.
CB Rasul Douglas: He has a $2 million roster bonus that could be converted into a signing bonus to save on the cap.
OLB Rashan Gary: An extension – while expensive long-term – could lower his cap number in 2023. It’s currently $10.9 million.
P Pat O’Donnell: He has a $650,000 roster bonus that could be converted into a signing bonus to save on the cap.
S Darnell Savage: Would anyone take on his salary in a trade? The Packers would save $7.9 million, but only in a trade scenario.
