Jeremy Fowler of ESPN has reported that the Packers restructured Xavier McKinney's contract and Overthecap has posted the numbers. Per Overthecap, the Packers reduced McKinney's $4.25M base salary to his minimum salary of $1.215M, a difference of $3.035M. The Packers added 3 void years and converted the $3.035M plus McKinney's $8.5M roster bonus ($11.535M total) into a signing bonus. The move provides $9.228M in cap relief. McKinney will have cap numbers of $9.697M in 2026 and $24.908M in 2027, which would make him a prime candidate for an extension or some other move to reduce his cap number in 2027.
This move should get the team to around $5M under the salary cap limit once the team receives credit for Jenkins forfeiting his $700K workout bonus when he held out last spring. Their cap space will be reduced by the deal that Chris Brooks received. The Packers previously signed running back Chris Brooks to a 2 year, $4.85M contract, but the details are not yet known. A cap number between $1.85M and $2M for 2026 would not be surprising. Brooks would offset someone currently with a $1.005M cap number, so it is likely a net reduction of $860K to $1M. Bottom line, the Packers are roughly $4M under the limit. Exercising the three ERFA players would reduce their cap space to perhaps $3.7M.
The big question is why now, and why McKinney? It may be that the Packers are trying to negotiate a pay cut with Gary and the sides are waiting to see if the other blinks. Now that they are under the cap, the Packers could wait until July to release Gary, when many teams will have spent their cap space. I suppose Gary could issue Instagram announcements and write tweets and then delete them.
Maybe they need to keep Gary on the roster into the new league year so they can release him with a June designation. That would increase the cap savings from $10.98M to $19.5M while dumping dead money into 2027. That might mean that Gutekunst wants to take a big swing in free agency, perhaps with a player who does not count against the compensatory draft pick system.
Perhaps they are trying to trade Gary. After Gute got a fourth round pick for Clinton-Dix, I have been a little more cautious about what I write as to the feasibility of trades. That said, I do not think anyone would trade for Gary given his $18M base salary and $1.5M more in workout and game active bonuses. The team might decide to pay part of Gary's salary to make him more attractive to an acquiring team, and perhaps get better draft compensation. It seems reasonable to me that Gary would prefer to be able to choose his own team (as an unrestricted free agent), hence the Instagram and X posts.
It also appears as though the Packers are going to wait until the new league year to do something with Elgton Jenkins. The Packers will still need another $15M in cap relief by the start of the season and a straight release of Jenkins provides $19.5M. Yes, the Packers could restructure or release other players, but I confess I think his release is a foregone conclusion.
Some folks think the Packers will have a lot of cap space in 2027, and it should be much improved. OTC shows Green Bay $82M under the cap (while assuming a healthy $26M increase to $327M), but that is for just 29 players under contract. There will be 51, and the extra players will average at least $1M per player. Think more like an effective cap space of $52M. That is a nice enough number, but remember that the cap was $182M less than 5 seasons ago. OTC does assume that Gary will be on the team in 2027 with a cap number of $31M, although he would have some dead money if he were cut.
Even if the team has $70M to $80M is cap space for 2027, the free agent list is loaded. It includes: Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Wicks, Kraft, Nixon and Valentine, Van Ness, McDuffie, Wyatt, Wooden, and Karl Brooks. That's both starting perimeter CBs, the top 3 DTs, the top 3 WRs, and the top tight end. Edgerrin Cooper, Bullard, and Evan Williams all become eligible for extensions, though GB will still have team control. I don't know who the center is going to be in 2026, much less in 2027.
Hitting on some draft picks always helps a team's cap situation, both in the upcoming draft and from previous drafts. The Packers also need to get these personnel decisions right along with the corresponding financial consequences.
Photo courtesy of Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA Today