The important details of Kenny Clark’s four-year extension with the Green Bay Packers were made available on Tuesday.
The four-year, $70 million deal includes a $25 million signing bonus and keeps Clark in Green Bay through the 2024 season. But we knew those details already.
Using the full numbers from Over the Cap, here are five new things to know about the deal:
1. Heavily backloaded
Tight against the 2020 cap and sensing the likely difficulties ahead in 2021, the Packers pushed most of the money within Clark’s five-year deal to the final three years. His cap hit will be under $8 million each of the next two years – $6.69 million in 2020 and $7.1 million in 2021 – but those numbers balloon over $20 million during each of the final three years. It’s a little bit of a win-win for the two sides – Clark got a massive payday upfront in the $25 million signing bonus, while the Packers got some financial relief over the next two seasons by shifting so much of the overall cap hit to future years. Clark won’t even be 29 years old by the time the deal expires, so the Packers likely feel good about paying him a bunch during the final years of the deal.
2. Actually saves the Packers money in 2020
The Packers will actually get some salary cap help immediately in 2020. The new deal lowered Clark’s cap hit by a $1 million this year. Although his prorated signing bonus will count $5 million on the cap, the Packers were able to drastically lower his base salary in 2020, creating the savings. GM Brian Gutekunst and cap guru Russ Ball weren’t necessarily hurting for cap space right now, but they could carry some of it over to 2021 (when they will desperately need it) or use it to re-sign a player like David Bakhtiari or Aaron Jones.
3. The Packers are clearly preparing for 2021
The Packers are facing two major hurdles in 2021: a shrinking salary cap and a hoard of important players with expiring contracts. The structure of Clark’s deal highlights how difficult the Packers likely see the next year playing out. Somehow, the Packers how to navigate a salary cap that could fall as low as $175 million, all while sorting through soon-to-be (and potentially expensive) free agents such as Bakhtiari, Jones, cornerback Kevin King, center Corey Linsley and running back Jamaal Williams, among others. Extending Clark’s deal while setting his 2021 cap hit at $7.1 million is the Packers doing all they can to keep this team intact despite the looming financial challenges.
4. Only $25M fully guaranteed
A few things to note here. The Packers gave Clark a $25 million signing bonus, the most lucrative signing bonus the team has ever given to a non-quarterback. However, that’s the only guaranteed money in the whole deal. Another $8.4 million is tied into roster bonuses ($6.4 million in 2022, $2.0 million in 2023), and $5 million is available via per-game and workout bonuses. Amazingly, the Packers will pay out $26.9 million to Clark in the first year and only $28.8 million total over the first two years. If things went off the rails, the Packers could bail on the deal after two years and both save money ($5.65 million) right away on the cap in 2022 and avoid nearly $50 million in future payments. That’s a worst-case scenario, but teams rarely get those kinds of options in deals this big.
5. A look into the future?
Nothing certain here, but it sure is interesting that Clark’s deal starts to balloon just as it begins to make sense (at least financially) for the Packers to move on from quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is scheduled to have a cap hit of almost $40 million in 2022. However, the Packers can save almost $23 million on the cap that year if they parted ways with Rodgers, essentially negating Clark’s ballooning cap hit. It’s something to think about as the Packers transition ahead. Gutekunst and Ball can really work the cap if they have a good idea about Rodgers’ future in Green Bay.
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