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:
