Packers Get Good News on Sinking Salary Cap

The 2021 salary cap could be about $10 million higher than expected.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The doom-and-gloom surrounding a plummeting salary cap might not be quite as bad as anticipated.

NFL.com reporter Tom Pelissero reported on Wednesday night that the cap might be in excess of $185 million. While it’s not quite the rosy expectation from some top agents, it’s considerably more than the $176 million projection that teams had been expecting.

In 2020, the salary cap was $198.2 million. Teams have enjoyed annual increases of at least $10 million the past seven years. Due to the pandemic pushing the cap the wrong direction, teams like the Green Bay Packers have unexpected financial difficulties.

“It’s a unique year. It’s very challenging,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Monday. “Obviously, we’re not the only team that has these challenges, so I feel really comfortable. We’ve been working on this all year, kind of getting ready for what’s going to happen over the next three or four months.”

With COVID-19 keeping stadiums empty or mostly empty this season, the drop in league-wide revenue will mean a drop in the salary cap. Just how much it will fall is the question.

The likely addition of a 17th regular-season game for next season will mean additional TV revenue, which will help reduce some of the sting. The official cap number that teams will be using when the new league-year begins on March 17 might not be known until the free-agent negotiating period begins on March 15, according to Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.

Every additional dollar would be precious for the Packers, who are about $32.7 million over the projected cap of $176 million, according to OverTheCap.com. Whatever the number, only four teams are in worse financial shape than Green Bay.

“You certainly don’t plan for a pandemic,” Gutekunst said.

A contract renegotiation for quarterback Aaron Rodgers and a contract extension for prolific receiver Davante Adams likely are big parts of the Packers’ plan to get beneath the cap. Outside linebacker Preston Smith and inside linebacker Christian Kirksey could be cap casualties.

The Packers haven’t often resorted to contract restructures to create cap space. That’s why they’ve generally stayed on the right side of the cap. There’s little choice this year, though, due to the unprecedented situation.

“We’ve been pretty disciplined in our approach over the years that we’re going to be able to take this challenge on without gutting our team,” Gutekunst said.