The Green Bay Packers added two voidable years within Marcedes Lewis’ new deal to help lower his 2021 cap hit.
According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, the Packers added voidable years in 2023 and 2024 to help spread out the proration of the signing bonus for Lewis, who will now have a cap hit of just under $2.4 million in 2021.
The two added void years allow the Packers to spread out his $2.1 million signing bonus over four years instead of two, lowering the cap hit in the first two years, but the Packers will have a dead cap hit to pay when the void years eventually kick in.
The team also used void years on restructures for Mason Crosby and Adrian Amos and a new deal for Kevin King.
The deal for Lewis is for two years and pays out $8 million in cash, including a roster bonus of just over $2 million on the third day of the new league year in 2022. The Packers will owe just over $1 million in dead money (prorated signing bonus for 2023 and 2024) when the deal voids in 2023.
Lewis, who turns 37 next month, has played over 900 total offensive snaps for Matt LaFleur and the Packers over the last two seasons. He’s is the offense’s top inline tight end and one of the best blocking tight ends in the NFL.
The Packers put in $1.4 million in total per-game roster bonuses and $1 million in total workout bonuses into the deal for 2021 and 2022. Both are incentives the team often uses for veterans.
The cap hit for Lewis will be $2.38 million in 2021 and $4.52 million in 2022. Strapped by the cap this year, the Packers needed to use cap tricks keep his number low in 2021.
More and more teams have used voidable years in contracts to navigate the salary cap shrinking this year.
This contract is the fourth between Lewis and the Packers. He played on one-year deals in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
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