The Packers have freed up more than $ 10 million in cap space by releasing Christian Kirksey and Rick Wagner a few days ago. However, Green Bay is still about $ 13 million over the $ 180 million limit, so there’s plenty of work to do before the 2021 league year officially starts on March 17.
According to ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky, the Packers will almost certainly restructure the quarterback Aaron Rodgers‘contract in an effort to create additional cap room. The 37-year-old signal caller is due to earn a base salary of $ 14.7 million in 2021, along with a $ 6.8 million roster bonus due in March. Green Bay could turn some of that base salary into a signing bonus, a common maneuver the club already performed with left tackle David Bakhtiari
Of course, shortly after the Packers’ NFC Championship Game defeat in January, Rodgers said his future with the Packers was “uncertain,” which of course sparked much speculation. Some reports suggested his comments were an attempt to secure a new contract that would represent a strong commitment from the franchise, whose Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 draft, Rodgers clearly annoyed. And another report indicated that the comments – which Rodgers later tried to downplay – were not contractually motivated and that player and team were headed for a bitter divorce.
Meanwhile, Packers Brass has insisted that Rodgers isn’t going anywhere, and Demovsky says the club could certainly push through a more extensive restructuring of Rodgers’ contract, aside from a simple conversion of base salary into bonus. Green Bay chose Love after three consecutive “down” years from Rodgers (by his standards), but in 2020 Rodgers was nothing short of sensational. He set career highs in completion rate (70.7%), QBR (84.4) and TD passes (48), so it makes sense that the team would be susceptible to a new contract that gives his superstar extra security (financial and otherwise) ).
Demovsky also mentions OLB Preston Smith and the Dean Lowry as potential cap victims.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.