The cap crunch for the Green Bay Packers continues as they aim to sign top players to contract extensions.
The team started their salary cap gymnastics by restructuring nose tackle Kenny Clark‘s contract by converting $13.6 million of his 2022 salary into a signing bonus to free up $10.892 million in cap space.
Then, they found another $3.08 million when they turned Aaron Jones‘ 2022 salary into a signing bonus as well.
With two moves creating close to $14 million in space, the Packers are not yet done, as ESPN NFL Nation Packers reporter Rob Demovsky tweeted that, “Russ Ball has been busy.”
For those who don’t know, Ball is the team’s Executive Vice President and Director of Football Operations.
Demovsky quoted the Packers’ latest cap move, as shared by fellow ESPN personality Field Yates.
Russ Ball has been busy. https://t.co/LFZkzxGBMY
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) February 26, 2022
Yates said, “Another one: the Packers have converted $11.58 of LT David Bakhtiari‘s 2022 compensation into a signing bonus, creating significant cap space for this season, per source. A busy week for the Packers’ cap continues.”
Bakhtiari has been one of the NFL’s elite offensive linemen.
However, he missed significant playing time over the last two seasons.
His 2020 season abruptly ended when he tore his ACL.
A year later, he missed all but one game.
There were rumors of him playing during the Divisional Weekend against the San Francisco 49ers but did not suit up for that game.
The Cap Crunch For Green Bay Continues
Despite the three restructured deals, the Packers are still $30.4 million over the cap based on 2022 projections.
That said, they still have a long way to go, especially if they want to sign Davante Adams to a long-term deal.
Green Bay also needs to free up as much cap room as possible to offer Aaron Rodgers higher compensation.
It’s hard to see the Packers competing for a playoff spot without this tandem.
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