The National Football League announced the salary cap number for the 2023 season and it will be a record 224.8 million dollars, up 16 million from 2022. That’s the good news. The bad news is the Green Bay Packers as of today are a projected 16.48 million dollars over the new cap figure. They’ll have to be down to the cap number when the NFL’s calendar year begins in late March.
It’s time for General Manager Brian Gutekunst and Executive Vice President/Director of Football Operations Russ Ball to hunker down and start prioritizing what players they’ll want to bring back for 2023 and more importantly, at what price. In the past few years, the front office has gotten creative with restructuring contracts, adding voidable years with large cash payouts early and pushing more salary into the future. While that’s kept the corps talent together, it hasn’t produced championship results and the time to pay the piper may come sooner rather than later.
Consider the 2023 projected cap figures for key players. Spotrac estimates Aaron Rodgers cap number to be at 31.6 million dollars, David Bakhtiari is at 28.8, followed by Kenny Clark at 24, Aaron Jones and Jaire Alexander at 20 million each and Preston Smith at 13 million. Those top six players have a combined cap hit at 137.4 million, just over 61% of the 2023 salary cap number. If the Packers exercise the fifth year option on former number one pick Jordan Love, that’s another 20 million guaranteed meaning 7 players, just 7, will account for 70% of the teams 224.8 million dollar salary cap.
Jones is only halfway through a four year extension and may be first on the list for a restructuring. Even with that, the Packers have 14 unrestricted free agents who have contracts expiring this spring and very difficult decisions await on who to re-sign, for how long and how much.
Offensive players on that list include both veteran wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, tight ends Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis and starting right tackle Yosh Nijman. On the defensive side of the ball, safety Adrian Amos, defensive linemen Dean Lowry, Jarran Reed and Jonathan Ford along with linebackers Justin Hollins and Eric Wilson will become free agents. Mason Crosby’s contract is also up after 16 years, along with All Pro kick returner Keisean Nixon and special teams standout Dallin Leavitt.
Needless to say, there’s going to be some serious number crunching taking place at 1265 Lombardi Avenue in the coming weeks.
After three years as Green Bay’s secondary coach and last season, the defensive passing game coordinator, veteran assistant Jerry Gray is departing. He’s reportedly agreed to terms to join Arthur Smith’s staff with the Atlanta Falcons as the defensive backfield coach. Gray worked with Smith in stops with both Washington and Tennessee. He’s the first departure on Head Coach Matt LaFleur’s staff. LaFleur could promote from within with Safeties Coach Ryan Downard who just finished his 5th season with the Packers where he rose from the defensive quality control assistant in 2018 to assistant defensive backs coach for three years before handling the safeties last season.
Elgton Jenkins is now a two-time Pro Bowler. Voted as an alternate this year, Jenkins was added to the NFC roster on Monday to take the place of guard Landon Dickerson of the Philadelphia Eagles who of course advanced to Super Bowl 57. Jenkins was voted to the Pro Bowl for the first time following the 2020 season. The former second round pick in 2019 becomes the 11th Packer offensive lineman named to multiple Pro Bowls in his career. He came back from ACL surgery in 2021 to appear in 15 games with 10 starts at both right tackle and left guard for the Packers this past season.
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