A pair of former Green Bay Packers draft picks did quite well in the contact department during the first wave of free agency. Jon Runyan Jr. and Darnell Savage, both multi-year starters for the Packers, got multi-year deals with a nice chunk of guaranteed money.
According to Over the Cap, Runyan received a $7.5 million signing bonus and $9.5 million more in guarantees on a three-year, $30 million deal with the New York Giants. Even if Runyan doesn’t play out the full three years on the deal, he’s nearly guaranteed to net almost $21 million during the first two years of the deal. The 2020 sixth-rounder took advantage of a ballooning market at guard and found a deal that will pay him eight figures per year. Among guards changing teams in free agency, Runyan’s guaranteed money ranked fourth. And he’s now one of only 17 guards in the NFL averaging $10 million or more per season.
Savage got a $5 million signing bonus and $7.5 million in guaranteed salary on a three-year, $21.75 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Like Runyan, Savage is essentially guaranteed to receive at least $14 million over his first two seasons from the Jaguars. Among safeties, Savage’s average salary per year and guaranteed money rank 15th. He actually got more per year and considerably more guaranteed money than Geno Stone, who had seven interceptions for the Baltimore Ravens last season. In terms of free agent safeties, Savage’s guarantees currently rank second behind only Xavier McKinney. Clearly, the Jaguars think the 2019 first-round pick can reignite his career outside Green Bay.
The Packers were likely never in the running to re-sign either player. The writing was on the wall for Runyan, who battled injury and rotated in and out of the lineup with 2022 third-round pick Sean Rhyan last season. Savage’s rollercoaster career in Green Bay ended with a brilliant performance in Dallas and a stinker in San Francisco during the postseason, and the Packers made a change at defensive coordinator and targeted McKinney as the cornerstone piece of the secondary rebuild.