Tag: restructures

Jaguars clear $5.1 million in space with Rayshawn Jenkins restructure

The Jaguars restructured another deal, adding more than $5 million in salary cap space by altering Rayshawn Jenkins’ contract.

The Jacksonville Jaguars cleared another significant chunk of salary cap space by restructuring the contract of safety Rayshawn Jenkins.

According to Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, the Jaguars converted $6.42 million of Jenkins’ salary into a signing bonus and added three void years to his deal. The move dropped the salary cap hit for the veteran safety $10.5 million in 2023 to $5.364 million.

Jenkins, 29, joined the Jaguars during the 2021 offseason on a four-year, $35 million deal. He had a career-best season in 2022 with three forced fumbles, a sack, and three interceptions, including a game-winning pick six in overtime against the Dallas Cowboys.

While the move gives the Jaguars more wiggle room for the remainder of the 2023 offseason, it also raised Jenkins’ cap hit in 2024 from $10.75 million to $12.284 million. The Jaguars would only save $5.148 million if they decided to cut Jenkins after the 2023 season and the team would be saddled with $7.136 million in dead space.

The last three years of the deal in 2025, 2026, and 2027 are set to automatically void with Jenkins set to count $3.852 million against the Jaguars’ salary cap in 2025.

Earlier in the offseason, the Jaguars restructured the contracts of Christian Kirk, Foye Oluokun, Zay Jones, Brandon Scherff, and Folorunso Fatukasi.

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Here are contracts Chiefs can restructure to create salary cap space

A look at the contracts the #Chiefs can restructure to create salary cap space for the 2023 NFL offseason.

With the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in the books, the Kansas City Chiefs now have a better idea of where they stand heading into a crucial juncture of the offseason. They’ve met with the representation of their key free agents and will be working hard to retain some of their players ahead of the start of the free agency period on March 15. In order to do so, however, they’ll need to clear some salary cap space. They have a number of different options to create salary cap space, including extending current contracts and releasing players from their contracts as well. Another option is to restructure contracts, converting base salary and/or roster bonus into a signing bonus. They can use this method with a number of different contracts, but doing so isn’t always the best option for the team.

Below you’ll find a quick look at the contracts that the Chiefs can restructure, an estimate of the maximum amount of cap space that can be cleared and an outlook on the likelihood of a restructure happening this offseason:

Jaguars restructure Foye Oluokun’s deal to free up $10.3 million

The Jaguars are off to a good start on their efforts to get under the salary cap.

The Jacksonville Jaguars made a significant step toward digging themselves out of a big salary cap hole. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the contract of linebacker Foye Oluokun was restructured to clear $10.336 million in cap space for the team.

Oluokun, 27, joined the Jaguars during the 2022 offseason on a three-year, $45 million deal. Per Spotrac, the Jaguars converted $12.92 million of Oluokun’s salary into a signing bonus and spread out of his salary over three voidable years that were added to the contract.

It almost certainly won’t be the last Jaguars contract that is restructured in the next month as the team is still well over the $224.8 million salary cap that was set for the 2023 season.

Other contracts that appear primed for a restructure soon include Christian Kirk’s, Cam Robinson’s, and Brandon Scherff’s. The Jaguars are also likely to release cornerback Shaquill Griffin, which would clear more than $13 million in space.

While getting under the salary cap shouldn’t be too difficult for the Jaguars, the team still isn’t in position to have a free agency spending spree like it did in 2022.

Oluokun was a defensive team captain in his first season with the Jaguars and led the NFL in tackles with 184. He also added 12 tackles for loss.

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Tracking Packers’ moves to get under the salary cap before 2023 league year

Tracking all the moves the Packers make to get under the NFL’s salary cap by the start of the new league year on March 16.

The Green Bay Packers entered another offseason needing to clear salary cap space to get under the NFL’s salary cap by the start of the new league year on March 16.

General manager Brian Gutekunst and executive VP Russ Ball will need to restructure the contracts of veterans and make tough roster decisions to get under the cap and clear enough space to both sign a draft class and operate during the 2023 season.

For reference, here are all the moves the Packers made last year to get under the cap in time.

Back to 2023. Here’s a running list of the moves made by the Packers to get under the salary cap by mid-March:

How 7 contract restructures could save the Packers around $50 million in salary cap space

The Packers are in another salary cap hole, but the team can once again solve the problem by kicking the can down the road and borrowing from the future. Here’s how.

The Green Bay Packers are once again looking at a salary cap problem to start the 2023 offseason, but Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball have a few levers they can pull to erase the pain and create much-needed operating room.

It’s as simple as repeating the same pattern shown by the franchise over the last two offseasons: Just kick the can down the road and borrow from the future.

Seven contract restructures – requiring bonus conversions that push salary cap commitments to future years – could free up around $50 million of salary cap space in 2023.

Here are the seven restructure candidates and the potential cap saved on a restructure:

RB Aaron Jones: $10.9 million
LT David Bakhtiari: $7.9 million
DL Kenny Clark: $10.9 million
LB De’Vondre Campbell: $2.8 million
OLB Preston Smith: $6.6 million
CB Jaire Alexander: $9.5 million
CB Rasul Douglas: $2.3 million
Total: $50.9 million

All seven players are important veterans who would play a big role in Green Bay should the Packers stay all-in (financially speaking) in 2023. And the Packers could use what’s left of the $50 million (after digging out of the current salary cap hole) to keep a few free agents and possibly even add a player or two in free agency.

Gutekunst and Ball must decide if it’s worth kicking the can down the road again to keep this team together, or if it’s time to start ripping off Band-Aids and allowing the Packers’ salary cap to heal without borrowing from the future. Of course, the cloud looming over the entire situation is at quarterback, where the Packers are waiting on a decision from Aaron Rodgers and pondering a transition to Jordan Love.

If Rodgers returns, expect the Packers to pull all seven levers listed above. The Packers will probably be pickier on restructures if there’s a transition to Love.

Also: The Packers could save another $7.9 million if they can find a trade partner for safety Darnell Savage, who was benched last season. Love could be traded to free up almost $2.3 million. Punter Pat O’Donnell could be cut to save another $1.9 million. An extension for outside linebacker Rashan Gary could save $7 million or more.

The Packers would lose almost $9 million in cap space by trading Rodgers pre-June 1 but would gain almost $15.8 million if he’s traded post-June 1. The savings on a post-June 1 trade wouldn’t be realized until after the trade is finalized in June.

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Evaluating Packers roster entering 2023 offseason

Breaking down the Packers’ roster exiting the 2022 season and entering the 2023 offseason. Includes pending free agents and salary cap information from Ken Ingalls.

The Green Bay Packers exited another Super Bowl-less season in 2022 and are now entering another offseason full of intrigue and uncertainty to start 2023, setting the stage for what could be a franchise-altering couple of months in a little place called Titletown.

The offseason, once again, centers around the future of four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers. But the team is more than a single quarterback, and understanding the current construction of the roster helps provide a clear picture of what Brian Gutekunst and the Packers are dealing with to enter the offseason, both in terms of personnel and the salary cap.

To help evaluate the roster, we went position-by-position, highlighting who is under contract, who is a free agent, early thoughts on each position and a unique salary cap perspective from Ken Ingalls, a CPA who studies the salary cap.

Here are Ken’s initial thoughts on the cap and the Packers’ offseason:

“The Packers head into the 2023 offseason currently needing to trim between $35-40 million of salary cap cost from their current roster of 54 players under contract in order to afford their upcoming draft class, practice squad, potential incentives, and have enough money to comfortably navigate through their regular season.  Each additional contract they wish to add to their current roster, whether it’s bringing back any of their own 18 pending free agents or adding new players from outside their organization, would require adding to the top of this already significant $35-40 million to-do list.

Last season the Packers were in a similar situation and said goodbye to six starters plus more key contributors via free agency, cuts, and trades. They were frugal spenders in free agency and restructured every remaining non-rookie contract veteran to get through the season with only $1.6 million in cap space to spare.

This upcoming 2023 season I expect a similar process to 2022. They have lots of expensive veteran contracts – most will be restructured, some will be cut, and maybe a few traded away. They will dip their toes into free agency but I’m not expecting a big splash, and we once again will see more household Packer names on their way out of Green Bay. The ultimate success of the 2023 version of the Green Bay Packers is deciding on the future direction of this team (Hint: See QB section below) and then executing a strategy on which players stay, which players go, finding hidden gems in free agency, and having an outstanding draft.”

Onto the position by position breakdowns:

Tracking Packers’ moves to get under the salary cap before 2022 league year

The Packers are attempting to shed over $50 million from the salary cap before the start of the 2022 league year. Here are all the moves made so far.

The Green Bay Packers entered the 2022 offseason needing to clear around $50 million in salary cap commitments before the start of the new league year on March 16.

The tally will rise by a little over $20 million if the Packers end up using the franchise tag on All-Pro receiver Davante Adams.

The team will use restructures and releases on veterans to trim commitments from the salary cap. By the end of last offseason, the Packers had released a few players and restructured every veteran contract available to get into a comfortable cap position.

Just as much work needs to be done over the next few weeks.

Here’s a running list of the moves made by the Packers to get under the salary cap by mid-March: