NFL Restructures: Jackson, Goff, Falcons, Packers, Panthers, Colts
Austin Jackson has been unable to stay healthy for a sizable chunk of his Dolphins career, and the veteran right tackle is accepting a pay cut in the final year of his contract. The Dolphins are reducing Jackson’s 2026 compensation to $7MM, ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques tweets. The move created $8.5MM in cap space for Miami. Tied to a three-year deal worth $36MM, Jackson was to carry a $15.39MM cap number on the Dolphins’ 2026 payroll. That number is down to $6.9MM.
The Dolphins extended Jackson late in the 2023 season but saw him miss nine games in 2024 and 11 in 2025. This came after 15 absences in 2022. Jackson timed his 16-game 2023 season well, as it convinced then-Dolphins GM Chris Grier to extend him. A season-ending knee injury sidelined Jackson in November 2024, and he experienced a recovery setback during 2025 training camp. A toe injury sustained in Week 1 led Jackson to IR last season. The seventh-year veteran is still on track for free agency in 2027, but rather than try his luck on the market this year coming off two injury-marred seasons, the former first-round pick accepted this trim.
Here are the other deals recently restructured around the NFL:
- The Lions currently sit at $35MM-plus in cap space, getting there after releasing Taylor Decker and trading David Montgomery to the Texans. The main reason Detroit is that far under the cap, however, came when the team restructured Jared Goff‘s deal. The sixth-year Lions QB will see $40MM of his base salary converted into a bonus, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, who notes a void year has been added to the deal. This saves $32MM in cap space for the Lions, who joined the Bills, Chiefs, Cowboys and Ravens in completing a recent QB restructure. Goff’s 2027 and ’28 cap hits are now beyond $62MM, likely leading the Lions to go to this well again.
- The Falcons are using the Jake Matthews contract to create more than $10MM in cap space. Matthews will see his salary knocked down to $2MM, with KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson noting a $14MM signing bonus will now be prorated into future years. As Connor Byrne’s Falcons Offseason Outlook noted, Matthews’ $27.27MM cap hit was the highest on the Falcons’ payroll. It is now at $16.77MM, saving the team nearly $10MM. One void year is now on this two-year, $45MM extension.
- Adam La Rose’s Packers Offseason Outlook noted Aaron Banks carried the third-largest cap hit on the roster ($24.79MM). That is now down to $12MM. The $12MM-plus in savings come from the team converting most of the guard’s salary into a signing bonus, Wilson adds. Two void years have also been added to Banks’ four-year, $77MM contract.
- Beyond the Michael Pittman Jr. salary dump and Daniel Jones‘ extension to move off the transition tag, the Colts created cap space by restructuring left tackle Bernhard Raimann‘s deal. Indianapolis dropped Raimann’s base salary to $2MM, moving his cap number from $17.51MM to $9.26MM. This $8MM-plus in savings will lead to two $2MM roster bonuses being inserted into the deal (in 2028 and ’29), Wilson adds. The adjustment also balloons the LT’s 2027 cap number to $30.61MM.
- Derrick Brown carried the top Panthers cap hit entering March ($24.5MM), but Wilson adds it has been reduced to $10.95MM via a restructure. The Panthers saved nearly $14MM in cap space here on a contract that runs through the 2028 season. The cost-saving move does inflate Brown’s two future Carolina cap numbers past $31MM, however.
Falcons, Jake Matthews Agree On Extension
Although the Michael Penix Jr. ascent no longer makes Jake Matthews a blindside blocker, the Falcons are planning for the veteran tackle to help guide the young quarterback during his rookie-contract years.
Despite turning 33 earlier this year, Matthews has scored a fourth NFL contract. The Falcons are giving Matthews a two-year, $45MM deal, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo reports. This does not look to be a wait-and-see agreement for 2026, as Garafolo adds Atlanta is guaranteeing its longtime left tackle $38MM at signing.
Matthews already was signed through the 2026 season, as the Falcons huddled up with him on a three-year, $55.5MM extension in 2022. GM Terry Fontenot authorized that extension, but Atlanta’s plan has changed significantly since. After keeping Matthews in the fold to help post-Matt Ryan, the Falcons bailed on their Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder experiments to both sign Kirk Cousins and draft Penix eighth overall. The Cousins part of that backfired, via a benching, and the veteran is trying to engineer a release. Cousins remains on the Falcons’ roster, for now, but Penix will be taking the reps with Matthews during the offseason program.
While the Falcons have long-term O-line pieces in Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary, Matthews goes back to a previous era for the franchise. He and Grady Jarrett are the last players remaining from Atlanta’s Super Bowl LI roster. The Falcons chose Matthews in the 2014 first round (sixth overall), installing him as a Ryan blindside protector. Matthews blocked for the former MVP for eight seasons, earning first extension (five years, $72.5MM) in 2018. As the cap has climbed by more than $100MM since, Matthews continues to cash in.
Jake’s father, Hall of Fame O-lineman Bruce Matthews, displayed some of the greatest longevity in NFL history. The former Oiler/Titan mainstay played 19 seasons. Jake has logged 11 but has missed only one career game; that came all the way back in 2014. The Falcons have been able to count on Jake Matthews for more than a sixth of their existence. Pro Football Focus graded the LT stalwart as the league’s 15th-best tackle last season. Though, the third-generation NFL player has just one Pro Bowl (2018) on his resume.
This extension stands to reduce Matthews’ 2025 cap number, which was previously at $21.77MM. The Falcons came into Sunday in the red in terms of cap space, residing more than $5MM over before this Matthews payday. This could point free agent center Drew Dalman out the door. We placed Dalman 14th among free agents this year. He appears certain to become an eight-figure-per-year player soon. The Falcons having Matthews and Lindstrom as their O-line anchors, with McGary and Matthew Bergeron as other starters under contract, would keep them in decent shape if Dalman departs. They would need a center replacement, though.
NFL Restructures: Matthews, Hughes, Fairbairn
Here are a few details on recent contact restructures from around the league:
- The Falcons made a move recently to restructure the deal of veteran offensive tackle Jake Matthews in order to clear some cap space, according to Field Yates of ESPN. Atlanta converted $9.5MM of Matthews’ 2023 base salary into a signing bonus. The move freed up approximately $7.13MM of cap space.
- Defensive end Jerry Hughes agreed to a restructured deal with the Texans today, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. The move converts $2.67MM of his 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, clearing about $2.14MM of cap space for Houston. The deal also added four void years to the end of his deal to assist in spreading out the cap hit of the deal over time.
- The Texans also took the opportunity today to restructure the contract of kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, according to Wilson. Fairbairn did a similar adjustment for the team in 2022, in order to clear some cap space. While the exact details of today’s deal have not been released, Fairbairn’s payout in 2023 is expected to remain the same.