3 players who the Green Bay Packers will likely cut in 2024.
There’s a reason why the Green Bay Packers’ most notable free-agent signings this year were a long snapper and a backup safety who didn’t make the roster.
It all comes back to the salary cap. The Packers had no choice but to restructure contracts in the latter stages of the Aaron Rodgers era, pushing financial issues into the future. They had to maintain a competitive roster to have a shot to win with Rodgers.
With Rodgers gone, the Packers’ salary-cap mess needs time to heal. The Rodgers trade benefits Green Bay long-term, as it takes his massive contract off the books, but only after eating a $40 million dead cap hit this season.
Realistically, the Packers won’t have much cap flexibility until 2025, and they must make some smart decisions to hit that target.
Here are 3 players the Packers could release to create cap room
Green Bay trading Rasul Douglas achieved two things. The first was to upgrade a fifth-round pick to a third. The other was financial, creating cap space in 2024.
The Packers are rebuilding. They aren’t competitive this season and probably won’t be next year, either. In the meantime, they must clear as many big contracts off the books as possible, especially for players who aren’t in their long-term plans.
And that’s why there’s a good chance these three players are gone in 2024. With the help of Over The Cap, let’s break down the numbers.
Preston Smith
There are several reasons why releasing Preston Smith in the offseason makes sense.
From a roster-building perspective, it would allow first-round pick Lukas Van Ness to expand his role and become a full-time starter in year two. Smith enters his age-32 season in 2024, so turning the page to Van Ness is the correct call. It will accelerate Van Ness’s development to give him more opportunities after this season.
But the salary-cap ramifications are even greater.
If the Packers do nothing to Smith’s contract, they will eat cap hits of $16.51 million, $17.51 million, and $18.21 million over the following three seasons. Allowing that to happen would be a complete failure on the part of Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball.
Releasing Smith won’t help the cap much in 2024, but the long-term impact is far more significant. Green Bay would only save $2.52 million next year, resulting in a massive dead cap hit of $13.99 million for a player no longer on the roster. However, the Packers would pay nothing after next season. The cap hits north of $17 million in 2025 and 2026? Gone.
Like with the Aaron Rodgers trade, Green Bay wouldn’t feel the benefits immediately, but it would significantly help future caps by moving on from Smith in the offseason.
Aaron Jones
In recent years, the Packers have reworked Aaron Jones’ contract to lower his cap number. He even took a pay cut this past offseason. But all the restructuring did was push the problem into future years, beginning in 2024.
Jones turns 29 next month. He’s in his seventh season with the Packers. A drop-off in production in the next couple of seasons won’t come as a surprise. It’s common for running backs.
That’s why the Packers can’t afford to take on his $17.17 million cap hit in 2024. Restructures mean they will pay an additional $6.64 million in 2025, even though Jones will no longer be under contract. Green Bay previously added a void year to his deal to spread out the money.
Releasing Jones in the offseason would make running back a position of need in the draft, and the Packers would still pay $12.36 million in dead money, saving only $4.82 million. But Green Bay would no longer pay anything in 2025. Like with Preston Smith’s contract, the Packers would take a short-term hit but benefit after a year.
If the plan is to restore a healthy salary cap in 2025, the time to move on from Jones is this upcoming offseason.
David Bakhtiari
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David Bakhtiari’s season ended after only one game, continuing his awful injury luck of recent years. Hopefully, Bakhtiari can get healthy between now and September and play a full season in 2024. But there’s a good chance it won’t be in Green Bay.
Regularly restructuring Bakhtiari’s contract pushed money into the final year of his deal, which is 2024. His cap hit next season is a massive $40.58 million, higher than most quarterbacks.
The Packers will pay a considerable cap hit on Bakhtiari’s deal; there’s no getting around it. However, it doesn’t need to be that high. Releasing the five-time All-Pro will still leave Green Bay with a dead cap hit of $19.08 million, but that’s a significant saving from over $40 million.
Restructuring isn’t an option, as Bakhtiari is entering the final year of his deal. A contract extension just pushes the problem into future years. Perhaps Bakhtiari would consider a pay cut to stay in Green Bay, but his best option could be to hit free agency and join a contender. Maybe he will reunite with Aaron Rodgers by signing with the New York Jets.
Bakhtiari is an all-time great, but the NFL can be a tough business. The Packers can’t afford to pay his cap hit of over $40 million. Without many other options to lower it, Green Bay could have no choice but to release Bakhtiari in the offseason.
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