Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
After restructures, cap work still needed
Green Bay — After restructuring the contracts of nose tackle Kenny Clark and running back Aaron Jones to lower the team's overall cap number to $39 million, the Green Bay Packers lowered it more by tapping the contract of left tackle David Bakhtiari.
The restructures for Clark ($11 million), Jones ($2.9 million) and Bakhtiari ($7.71 million) allowed the Packers to trim roughly $21.6 million off their cap in less than a week, putting them about $32 million over the cap before they must be under the $208.2 million limit.
ESPN first reported the news that the contracts had been restructured.
Here's a more detailed look at the restructures for all three players:
The Packers converted all of Bakhtiari's $10.1 million roster bonus and another $1.5 million of his base salary into a signing bonus. His contract was an easy target because his salary-cap number was so high ($22.03 million) and his '22 earnings were enough that the Packers could get some considerable relief with a standard restructure.
The Packers converted the combined $11.6 million into a signing bonus, allowing them to spread the salary-cap charge for that amount out equally over the length of the contract. Thus, the Packers reduced the cap charge for next season to $14.48 million and it also means they have pushed off $7.71 million into the future.
A source said the Packers took Jones' $3.75 million roster bonus and $65,000 of his base salary and converted it to a signing bonus. They added two voidable years, which allowed them to spread the charge over five years and reduce Jones' cap number from $8.9 million to $5.9 million.
Jones' salary-cap number in '23 is a whopping $20 million. The Packers will have to decide whether to carry that, ask for a pay cut or let Jones go. The salary cap is expected to go up around 15% next year, so the Packers might be able to carry the $20 million.
His cap number in '24 is $16 million.
Kenny Clark
The Packers converted $14.65 million of Clark's deal and spread it out over five years, which they were able to do after adding two voidable years. They reduced his salary cap charge from $20.9 million to just under $10 million.
General manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed the news during a news conference in February.
“We did, we touched Kenny's contract,” Gutekunst said. “Obviously, Kenny being kind of an anchor of our defense, that was kind of an easy one to start out with.”
According to a source familiar with the deal, the Packers took all but $1.035 million (the minimum for someone with his experience) and turned it into a signing bonus, which allows it to be spread out over the remaining years of the deal for cap purposes.
In total, he has $21.72 million of deferred signing bonus from his original contract and the restructure that will count against the cap in future years. His salary-cap number is $24.18 million in '23 and $24.93 million in '24.