The Green Bay Packers will have no trouble selling the Pro Bowl’s Za’Darius Smith edge rusher in a potential contract extension.
In an unexpected tweet on Wednesday, Smith said, “I want to be a packer for the rest of my life !!”
The message created instant speculation about the likelihood of an extension of the contract for Smith, which could keep him in Green Bay beyond 2022 (when his current contract expires) and help the Packers out of the hole in the current wage ceiling.
According to Over the Cap, working on an extension with Smith could create up to $ 12.4 million in savings over the 2021 salary cap.
Signed as a top free agent in 2019, Smith has produced 26 sacks, 60 quarterback strikes, 29 loss tackles and five forced fumbles with the Packers over the past two seasons. He is second among all NFL players in quarterback strikes and third in sacks since 2019.
A Pro Bowler for the past two years, Smith is still only 28 years old and is at the peak of his career.
Smith is expected to have $ 22 million against the Packers ceiling in 2021. An extension could dramatically reduce his ceiling number, helping the Packers to become compatible with the $ 182.5 million salary cap at the start of the new league year. Packers are currently around $ 9.4 million over the limit.
Smith, who produced the most sacks in his first two seasons with the Packers in the team’s history, has a $ 5 million bonus due on the third day of the league’s new year.
Even if an extension is not in progress, Packers can also convert part of Smith’s $ 10,750,000 base salary and $ 5 million bonus into a signature bonus, freeing up space in 2021 but adding more money to the ceiling of Packers in 2022.