The Packers have taken another step towards cap compliance. As first reported by ESPN’s Field Yates and confirmed by Tom Silverstein of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (on Twitter), the team has converted $3.75MM of the money owed to Aaron Jones in 2022 into a signing bonus, while tacking on two void years to his deal. 
[Related: Packers Rework Kenny Clark’s Deal]
The move creates just over $3MM in cap space for Green Bay, bringing the total number of savings the team has manufactured in the past two days to roughly $14MM. There is still plenty of work to be done, though, to get under the cap in time for the beginning of the new league year in March. It was reported yesterday that edge rusher Za’Darius Smith will not be brought back at his currently-scheduled cap hit of $27.7MM.
Jones, 27, signed a four-year, $48MM extension last March to keep him in Green Bay through the prime of his career. He was coming off of his first Pro Bowl nomination, following a third season averaging 5.5 yards per carry, and a second straight scoring double-digit touchdowns. In his first year on the new deal, he recorded 1,190 scrimmage yards and 10 total touchdowns.
Things won’t get easier for the Packers down the road when it comes to Jones and his contract. His cap hits are set to jump up to $19.25MM and $15.25MM in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Between that, and the commitments which would be required if the team is able to keep both Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams this season and beyond, the Packers will likely be facing cap gymnastics for years to come.
It was suggested when the original deal was done last spring that Jones might not see year 3 of it. This doesn’t do anything to change that possibility IMO.
Step 2 of 12 complete.
If you’re signing a running back to a big second contract, you’d hope to be able to get out of it after two years.
Doesn’t change the fact they can and probably will cut him in 2023, but it does increase the dead money associated with such a move.
Perhaps they trade him and put Dillion as the starter after next year
How did the Packers, A notoriously frugal team, get over 40 million OVER the cap in a year that the Cap is Rising almost 30 million already? It can’t be all on Rodgers. Inquiring minds wanna know.
Go to a NFL Salary Cap website. I have several saved. They tend to break it down quite well.
Gute has been more aggressive in the free agent market for 1 thing. The cap also was lowered due to lost revenue (covid–no fans) so this year isn’t really a huge jump..more getting back to normal.
They also have pushed back money on a number of contracts the last couple years.
Thompson was notoriously tight, Gute not so much.
Funny how notoriety doesn’t counteract actual moves. Jones and Bakhtiari got top of market deals. Rodgers and Adams are already expensive. Jaire is up to the expensive part of his rookie deal. Both Smiths are a couple of years into free agent deals (and at the stage where they’ll likely get cut).
Bahktiari’s deal, per reports, is almost sure to be reworked.
I think there’s a chance 1 Smith sticks around. To me Preston is the more logical to keep, but somehow others think even after the rift of restructuring Z’s deal last off-season (and then missing nearly the entire season due to injury) he’ll be open to getting cut and then re-sign a lesser deal. With Preston there’s a chance at least of an extension that will reduce this year’s hit. I don’t see either being traded as some think is a realistic option.
Oh, and Alexander is in line for an extension (Gary also) that can bring down his ’22 cap figure as well.
Yep. But it’s not some big mystery where the money went. The Smiths need to be cut or reworked and the Cobb number is outsized, but there’s nothing too nutty in their spending. They have some really good players, most of whom they drafted.
When you are paying out top tier salaries at premium positions (QB, RB, WR, LT, CB, DL and Edge) it really doesn’t leave you much wiggle room. After restructuring both Clark and Jones’ contracts the Packers have 10 players taking up $176 million in cap space or roughly 88% of the salary cap and that’s without taking into account an Adams extension. This is why it’s difficult to use free agency to add talent because market value contracts start looking bloated after the first couple years.
They planned well on DL in the sense that Gary is ready for a bigger role without both Smiths (which had to happen this year because of injuries). But you’ve also pointed out one reason not to give RBs big second deals. Jones is really good, but that’s money that could be better spent (and risked).
@bdpecore I’ve always felt the draft should be used for those positions you listed (except RB) to get those high priced players in rookie deals and the FA market used for the cheap positions like ILB, TE, RB, G, C, S
It would seem that the NFL needs to be adjusting the rules relating to the cap so that teams cannot use the ever-expanding cap limits (due to ever-increasing TV deals) to simply skirt the spirit of the rule.
This will only hurt Green Bay in the future.
Well from what I can tell from Sportrac, They passed everything down the line LAST year to go all in for a Super bowl. So now even though the cap is going back to normal, The bill is coming due in spades. I’m not saying that was a horrible strategy at the time, But now you have no Super Bowl and a horrible cap situation. Like I said, I might have played my cards the same way, but now it’s a bad situation to be in.
It’s not like they’re the first, or will be the last, to have tried that method.
Just for example, the Saints are like $70 mil over..which is an improvement from the hole they were in last year at this time.
And there’s supposed to be a flood of new TV money coming soon, so as long as teams can push money forward, they’ll do it until the bad contracts are simply over, or can be dumped without taking as big a slice of the pie.
New TV money coming in, will be new to ALL teams, not just GB, so if the Packers keep kicking the can down the road for the foreseeable future, it’s going to impact them one way or another. At some point that bill will come due.
Look at this way, in 2 to 3 years, all this new TV money coming in, salary cap increases and, welp there are the Packers dealing with salary cap issue from previous years while other teams are signing free agents and re-signing their players, the Packers will be limited, at some point, it is going to bite them, whether now or later, the bill will be due.
Yeah, I get that. But if they have $25 million in dead money against an overall $260 million cap rather than the same 25 mil on a $210 million limit..its a smaller percentage of dead money. That’s the point.
And in 2-3 years any amount of dead money probably won’t be such a determining factor in whether they can make a playoff/super bowl run..
That dead money in 2 or 3 years won’t matter when they will most likely be rebuilding anyway AND some, if not all the high priced players they’re trying to squeeze in now won’t be around, nor will their dead money.
I know what you are saying and I’m saying – bill is coming due, it’s just a matter of when it will be paid. Gotta remember, Rodgers is currently 38,
I believe you stated in a previous post, you’d rather re-build a year too early than a year too late.
I did. And I’m not saying they shouldn’t by explaining what I understand they *can* do to retain any or all of these players. I’m just saying that based on what people closer to the situation, who are a lot smarter than me, believe can happen if things line up.
And regardless what happens with Rodgers and/or Adams, shouldn’t mean they have to absolutely tank. Why not field a competitive defense at least, if only for a year, to see what Love..or whoever..brings to the qb position?