The Green Bay Packers have created significant salary-cap space through trades, releases, and contract restructures.
As of March 26, the Packers were roughly $23 million below their adjusted cap, a figure expected to increase to $31 million after June 1.
This financial flexibility places the Packers in the top 10 of NFL teams for cap room, allowing for potential roster additions.
GREEN BAY – It’s unlikely a Micah Parsons opportunity will present itself this season, but if a high-salaried player becomes available through trade or release, the Green Bay Packers aren’t handcuffed by the salary cap.
They have cleared enough space through the trade of defensive end Rashan Gary ($11 million), the releases of center Elgton Jenkins ($19.5 million) and cornerback Nate Hobbs ($8.8 million), and the restructure of contracts belonging to safety Xavier McKinney ($9 million) and guard Aaron Banks ($12.7 million) to put them comfortably under the cap limit.
As of March 26, the Packers were roughly $23 million below their adjusted cap (includes space they carried over from 2025) of $314,903,931. Their space will increase to $31 million in two months because the Packers chose to designate Hobbs’ release after June 1, meaning they won’t get their $8 million of relief until after then.
The $31 million figure places the Packers in the top 10 of teams with the most salary-cap space but doesn’t necessarily put them in a better position than some fellow contenders such as Seattle, New England, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco, Detroit and Los Angeles Rams, who have enough cap space to compete for a high-end veteran if one becomes available.
It does allow them to continue to make additions to their roster before and after the draft. Player trades have become much more popular – there have been 22 of them in March alone – and it’s likely there will be more as the draft nears.
In some cases, a team can restructure a trade-acquired player’s contract to make it more cap friendly, but it must have the room to accept the player’s current salary-cap number when the trade is made.
The $31 million figure covers only the top-51 salary cap numbers on the roster, so as draft picks are signed, practice squad players are added and replacements for the injured become necessary, some of the room will disappear.
Still, being in the top 10 of the NFL in cap room indicates the Packers have flexibility.
They also have the option of clearing around $11 million more in cap room if they choose to restructure the contracts of running back Josh Jacobs and cornerback Keisean Nixon. And they can greatly reduce defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt’s salary-cap number of $12.9 million with a cap-friendly contract extension, which is likely to happen.
On the other side of the ledger, the Packers will try to sign receiver Christian Watson and tight end Tucker Kraft to expensive long-term extensions and may consider extending receiver Jayden Reed and defensive tackle Karl Brooks later in the year. If they decide not to execute a fifth-year option on defensive end Lukas Van Ness, they may try to sign him to an extension also.
Having all that salary-cap room may give general manager Brian Gutekunst some options, but it came at the expense of losing starters and key backups.
In addition to trading Gary and cutting Jenkins and Hobbs, he did not re-sign inside linebacker Quay Walker, receiver Romeo Doubs, left tackle Rasheed Walker, quarterback Malik Willis, defensive end Kingsley Enagbare, safety Zayne Anderson and running back Emanuel Wilson. They would be tight against the cap if they had re-signed all or most of them.
There isn’t one player in that group who isn’t impossible to replace, but as a collective, the Packers are losing production, experience and depth.
The lone player-for-player replacement was the acquisition of linebacker Zaire Franklin in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts. Franklin will be penciled into Quay Walker’s inside-linebacker position going into the season but will face competition.
The other free-agent additions – returner Skyy Moore, defensive lineman Javon Hargrave, cornerback Benjamin St-Juste – aren’t sure-fire starters, and Hargrave and St-Juste likely will have to fend off draft picks for playing time.
The first phase of free agency lasted less than a week and most signings now are low-cost roster-fillers whose teams aren’t interested in re-signing them. The second phase will start after the draft when teams fill needs and decide they can live without a veteran taking up salary-cap space.
Given the number of trades consummated this year, it’s possible there will be a flurry of them before the draft as teams attempt to add picks or fill an area of need they’re not sure they’ll be able to address in the draft.
Gutekunst has needs at cornerback, defensive line, offensive line and running back.
It could be argued his roster held up despite critical season-ending injuries (Parsons, Kraft, Wyatt, Jenkins, Hobbs) given the Packers were minutes away from sweeping all three games with the Chicago Bears and the return of Parsons, Kraft and Wyatt should put the Packers in contention this year.
But adding a rookie class probably isn’t going to be enough to raise the Packers another level and so Gutekunst is going to have to think hard about using some of that cap money to push them over the top.
The Packers don’t have the draft capital to trade for Las Vegas defensive end Maxx Crosby, Philadelphia defensive tackle Jalen Carter or Eagles receiver A.J. Brown, but they could put together a package of players and/or picks for a trade candidate, some of whom might be in the final year of their contract, like Parsons, and are at a stalemate in negotiations with their current team.
The Packers are carrying a hefty dead-cap number of $43.2 million, so they’ve cleared the decks of some of their future obligations. Cap numbers for their highest-paid players – Jordan Love ($42.5 million), Zach Tom ($17.9 million), Parsons ($26.8 million), Banks ($25.4 million) and Jacobs ($16.6 million) – escalate in 2027, and the cap numbers for Watson, Kraft and Wyatt will grow when they sign new deals.
For now though, they’ve got some money to spend.
They’re not going to find a deal as sweet as the Parsons trade, but if they want to have a better roster than a year ago, they’re probably going to need to open their wallet.
Here’s a look at each player’s 2026 salary-cap number and cash payout, according a source with access to NFL salary information:
Packers salary-cap breakdown by player
Player, position, cap value, cash value
Jordan Love, QB, $36,122,437, $51,000,000
Micah Parsons, DE, $19,201,706, $40,837,000
Josh Jacobs, RB, $14,542,647, $11,500,000
Devonte Wyatt, DT, $12,938,000, $12,938,000
*Nate Hobbs, CB, $12,838,235, $0
Aaron Banks, G, $12,003,176, $18,100,000
Zach Tom, T, $11,884,118, $6,050,000
Xavier McKinney, S, $9,860,235, $13,350,000
Javon Hargrave, DT, $7,705,882, $13,000,000
Keisean Nixon, CB, $7,166,668, $5,000,000
Zaire Franklin, LB, $7,130,000, $9,005,000
Sean Rhyan, C, $6,666,666, $14,000,000
Christian Watson, WR, $6,319,297, $5,750,000
Lukas Van Ness, DE, $5,532,576, $3,121,104
Brandon McManus, K, $5,278,431, $3,700,000
Isaiah McDuffie, LB, $4,975,000, $3,700,000
Matthew Golden, WR, $3,994,395, $1,638,879
Tucker Kraft, TE, $3,930,897, $3,674,000
Jordan Morgan, OL, $3,868,799, $2,084,600
Dontayvion Wicks, WR, $3,749,636, $3,674,000
Karl Brooks, DT, $3,727,007, $3,674,000
Carrington Valentine, CB, $3,699,165, $3,647,000
Benjamin St-Juste, CB, $3,270,588, $4,800,000
Darian Kinnard, OL, $2,750,000, $2,750,000
Luke Musgrave, TE, $2,696,827, $1,905,783
Skyy Moore, WR/RET, $2,500,000, $2,500,000
Daniel Whelan, P, $2,350,000, $1,650,000
Edgerrin Cooper, LB, $2,345,160, $1,576,720
Jayden Reed, WR, $2,284,793, $1,729,197
Nick Niemann, LB, $2,111,765, $2,250,000
Josh Whyle, TE, $1,857,059, $2,000,000
Chris Brooks, RB, $1,845,000, $2,170,000
Javon Bullard, S, $1,828,945, $1,404,648
Anthony Belton, OL, $1,822,006, $1,204,401
MarShawn Lloyd, RB, $1,551,414, $1,312,138
Ty’Ron Hopper, LB, $1,548,552, $1,311,184
Matthew Orzech, LS, $1,502,500, $1,315,000
Brenton Cox Jr., DE, $1,484,706, $1,695,500
Savion Williams, WR, $1,430,103, $1,126,021
Jonathan Ford, DT, $1,391,765, $1,500,000
Evan Williams, S, $1,275,720, $1,075,000
Barryn Sorrell, DE, $1,240,463, $1,005,000
Desmond Ridder, QB, $1,215,000, $1,215,000
Jacob Monk, OL, $1,150,404, $1,075,000
Jordon Riley, DT, $1,145,000, $1,145,000
Arron Mosby, DE, $1,145,000, $1,145,000
Kitan Oladapo, S, $1,138,569, $1,075,000
Kristian Welch, LB, $1,125,000, $1,310,000
Travis Glover, OL, $1,117,845, $1,075,000
Jaden Crumedy, DE, $1,075,000, $1,075,000
Lucas Havrisik, K, $1,075,000, $1,075,000
Pierre Strong, RB, $1,075,000, $1,215,000
Warren Brinson, DT, $1,061,596, $1,005,000
Bo Melton, CB, $1,045,000, $1,045,000
Nazier Stackhouse, DT, $1,010,000, $1,005,000
Brant Banks, OL, $1,005,000, $1,005,000
Shemar Bartholomew, CB, $1,005,000, $1,005,000
Kamal Hadden, CB, $1,005,000, $1,005,000
Donovan Jennings, OL, $1,005,000, $1,005,000
Jamon Johnson, LB, $1,005,000, $1,005,000
Jaylin Simpson, S, $1,005,000, $1,005,000
Messiah Swinson, TE, $1,005,000, $1,005,000
Colin Oliver, DE, $986,021, $885,000
John Williams, OL, $910,418, $885,000
Johnathan Baldwin, S, $885,000, $885,000
Dante Barnett, DE, $885,000, $885,000
Karsen Barnhart, OL, $885,000, $885,000
Anthony Campbell, DT, $885,000, $885,000
McCallan Castles, TE, $885,000, $885,000
Dalton Cooper, OL, $885,000, $885,000
Drake Dabney, TE, $885,000, $885,000
James Ester, DT, $885,000, $885,000
Tyron Herring, CB, $885,000, $885,000
Jakobie Keeney-James, WR, $885,000, $885,000
Damien Martinez, RB, $885,000, $885,000
Kyle McCord, QB, $885,000, $885,000
Isaiah Neyor, WR, $885,000, $885,000
Mark Perry, S, $885,000, $885,000
Will Sheppard, WR, $885,000, $885,000
* Not on roster
Packers dead salary-cap money breakdown by player
Player, position, status, cap value
Rashan Gary, DE, traded, $17,042,273
Kenny Clark, DT, traded, $17,007,000
Elgton Jenkins, OL, released, $4,800,000
Nate Hobbs, CB, released, $4,000,000**
Colby Wooden, DT, traded, $191,982
Micah Robinson, CB, released, $85,380
Johnathan Baldwin, S, released, $10,000***
Tyler Cooper, G, released, $10,000
Amar Johnson, RB, released, $10,000
Jamon Johnson, LB, released, $10,000***
Jalen White, RB, released, $10,000
Kahzir Brown, CB, released, $6,667
Julian Fleming, WR, released, $6,667
Tyron Herring, CB, released, $6,667***
JJ Lippe, G, released, $6,667
Taylor Elgersma, QB, released, $2,000
Brant Banks, OL, released, $667***
** After June 1
*** Released and resigned at a later date