The Green Bay Packers restructured Kenny Clark’s contract and created almost $11 million in cap space.
As a fan, you might be asking: How did the team accomplish this accounting magic act?
Let’s walk through the process. Clark’s contract – and the restructuring of it – provides a great example of how cap-strapped NFL teams create space each offseason. This should be a valuable refresher course considering the Packers are planning to restructure many more contracts over the next few months.
In the past, the Packers rarely went to these extremes to manipulate the salary cap. But the financial cost of the pandemic – combined with the team’s desire to keep its championship window open – has forced adjustments.
So, how did the Packers shave off almost $11 million from the salary cap with just one move?
To keep it simple: The team did two important things.
First, the Packers converted Clark’s $6.4 million roster bonus and a little over $7.2 million of his base salary in 2022 into a signing bonus. His base salary was reduced to the league minimum for a player with his experience.
Next, the Packers added two void years onto his deal.
Teams across the NFL have used this combo cap trick over the last two years.
The Packers converted the roster bonus and base salary into a signing bonus to spread out the cap charges over several years. Instead of roughly $13.6 million of his roster bonus and base salary hitting the cap all at once in 2022, it will be spread out evenly (or prorated) over the next five years.
Adding two void years allowed the Packers to spread the converted money out over the maximum five years. Before the restructure, Clark’s deal was to expire in 2024 (or three years). So the void years created even more immediate savings.
The final result: Instead of Clark counting over $20 million on the cap in 2022, his cap number will be just under $10 million. And the Packers get much-needed relief as the team attempts to get under the cap by the start of the new league year on March 16.
Here’s what Clark’s contract looks now, via Over the Cap:
Of course, this kind of restructuring has future costs. The Packers are pushing almost $11 million of cap commitments to future years, raising Clark’s cap numbers to almost $24 million in 2023 and a little over $24.7 million in 2024. And around $5.4 million in dead money will be due on the Packers’ cap in 2025 when the deal voids.
If nothing else, the Packers have all but guaranteed Clark will be on the roster for at least the next two seasons.
General manager Brian Gutekunst called it an easy decision. Clark is a two-time Pro Bowler, highly disruptive against the run and pass and still only 26 years old. Pushing money into the future – when the cap will rise significantly – is easier to do with an elite player.
Expect the Packers to pull off this trick several more times. Left tackle David Bakhtiari and running back Aaron Jones are two prime candidates for this exact type of restructuring.
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