What Could Be Timeline for Gary Extension?

The Green Bay Packers need to re-sign Rashan Gary. With Gary coming off a torn ACL, when might that happen?

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jun 30, 2023 10:16 PM EDT

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – For better or worse, timing really is everything.

Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Rashan Gary is scheduled to play the 2023 NFL season under the fifth-year option of almost $10.9 million, a prelude to what’s certain to be a blockbuster contract extension.

However, Gary is coming back from a torn ACL sustained at Detroit in November, an injury that could impact negotiations between Russ Ball, the team’s executive vice president and director of football operations, and Ian Clarke, Gary’s agent.

If not for the injury, an extension might have been hammered out by now. That would have been a win-win, with the Packers locking up one of their premier players and gaining some immediate salary-cap space and Gary pocketing a signing bonus probably greater than the $30 million that cornerback Jaire Alexander received when he signed his extension in May 2022.

Gary suffered a torn ACL against the Lions on Nov. 6. Based on the comebacks of tight end Robert Tonyan and guard Elgton Jenkins from the ACL injuries they sustained in 2021, there’s optimism that Gary will be on the field in at least a limited role for the season-opening game at the Chicago Bears.

However, there’s also a mutual desire for a conservative approach. Not by Gary, of course, but by Clarke and the Packers. Gary’s importance to the franchise can’t be overstated. His long-term health is much more important than his presence on the sometimes-shoddy grass turf of Chicago’s Soldier Field for Week 1 and the Atlanta Falcons’ FieldTurf surface for Week 2.

Rashan Gary (Photo by William Glasheen/USA Today Sports Images)

From the team’s perspective, it likely will want to see Gary on the field at some point during training camp before pulling the trigger on an extension, just to make sure his comeback really is on track and there are no unexpected hiccups.

However, waiting for Gary to return to game action would be a gamble the team probably wouldn’t want to take. A contract extension is going to be incredibly expensive – probably somewhere in the neighborhood of four years and $100 million – no matter when it gets done.

It certainly wouldn’t get less expensive if Gary replicated his production from the first four games of last season, when he had five sacks and 16 quarterback pressures. At that point, with the Packers off to a 3-1 start, Gary had emerged as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

Through his first four seasons, Gary has emerged as one of the NFL’s elite players. While the surface-level stats aren’t great – 22.5 sacks in four seasons with no 10-sack seasons – the deeper-dive numbers are elite. According to Pro Football Focus, Gary over the last two seasons ranks second in pass-rushing productivity, which comes sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap, and fourth in pass-rush win rate.

“He is a game-wrecker, a guy that can significantly impact whether you’re winning or losing,” coach Matt LaFleur said recently. “Just his ability to go out there and make plays, I just love his approach, his work ethic, him helping out some of the younger guys. He’s been very vocal. I just think he’s made and wired the right way and we’re definitely lucky to have a guy like that.”

Along with his talent, Gary’s desire, work ethic and passion are impossible to quantify. He’s done everything the right way, from biding his time behind Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, to helping the young players after his injury, to earning his degree from the University of Michigan.

“I love these guys, love the organization, love the opportunity, the chances that they gave me,” Gary said during minicamp.

That love is a two-way street. When the timing is right, the two sides will agree to an extension that will keep Gary in Green Bay for a long time.