The Green Bay Packers restructured a third contract to help trim commitments from the 2022 salary cap.
According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Packers restructured the contract of left tackle David Bakhtiari, clearing almost $9.3 million on the salary cap this season and providing much-needed relief as Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball attempt put all the financial puzzle pieces together this month.
As was the case for Kenny Clark and Aaron Jones, the Packers converted Bakhtiari’s base salary and roster bonuses into a signing bonus and added void years to maximize the savings in 2022. Bakhtiari had $11.58 million of money (including a $9.5 million roster bonus) converted into a signing bonus, allowing the Packers to spread out that charge over five years on the cap and save the maximum amount.
The restructure reduces Bakhtiari’s cap number in 2022 to $12.9 million but increased his cap hits in future years. His cap number inflates to $28.6 million in 2023 and $32.6 million in 2024, per Over the Cap.
The Packers added two void years in 2025 and 2026. Roughly $4.6 million in dead money will be due on the cap when the deal voids following the 2024 season.
Overall, the Packers have cleared around $23.2 million from the salary cap by restructuring Bakhtiari, Clark and Jones. All three moves were expected for a team attempting to shed around $50 million to open the offseason.
Bakhtiari, who turns 31 in September, played in only one regular-season game (27 snaps in Week 18) during the 2021 season while recovering from reconstructive knee surgery. He suffered an ACL tear before Week 17 in 2020.
The restructured deal all but guarantees Bakhtiari will be on the roster for the next two seasons, confirming the Packers’ belief that the All-Pro left tackle will return as a healthy and dominant player in 2022 and beyond.
The Packers still need to shed more cap dollars and are expected to restructure several more contracts before the start of the new league year on March 16.
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