Like several clubs, the Green Bay Packers are currently in charge of trying to reduce what is likely to be a reduction in the salary cap in the off-season of 2021. The NFL announced this week that the minimum the limit will be next year is $ 180 million, which is slightly less than last season’s $ 198 million. Due to this drop, teams will need to take a good look at their squad and cut ties with some casualties.
This has started to happen throughout the championship and Green Bay is the most recent, announcing the launch linebacker Christian Kirksey and offensive attack Rick Wagner on Friday.
Both spent just one season with the club before their release, signing with the Packers in the off-season. Wagner, who signed a $ 11 million two-year contract, played in all 16 games (nine games) for Green Bay in 2020 and was part of a unit that was tied for second in the NFL with the fewest allowances allowed (21). Meanwhile, Kirksey, who struck a two-year, $ 13 million deal in 2020, totaled 77 tackles and two sacks during his 11 games.
As noted above, this is largely a series of Packer moves that focus on clearing the space from the precious wage ceiling. In passing both, Green Bay frees about $ 10 million in wage cap space while sitting with just $ 3.75 million in dead limit. This is just the latest move motivated by the Packers’ salary cap, which has also recently restructured from David Bakhtiari’s contract to free up about $ 8.5 million in space.
From here, Kirksey and Wagner will go to the free agent pool and look for a longer-term destination, unlike what Green Bay proved to be last year.