Green Bay’s players will make a lot of money over the next year, be it with the green and gold or not
To explain the era that the NFL is in right now, you have to look at the salary cap. Over the last two years, the cap has risen over $50 million and is expected to continue to rise around the same pace until the league’s current TV contracts are up in 2029.
Following post-Covid cap stagnation, this has been a great time for teams to retain their own talent. This is one reason why recent free agency classes have been relatively weak and why there are virtually no difference-makers left on the market less than a week into the new league year.
With that being said, the Green Bay Packers are going to find themselves in a very unique squeeze. After making 11 draft picks in 2022, many of which have panned out for the squad, those players are all about to go into contract seasons — meaning the timer is starting to tick on whether or not the Packers will reach terms with them on long-term contracts before they hit the open market in 2026.
While it’s going to be difficult to project contracts for players like right tackle Zach Tom, who might reset the market at the position entirely, or receiver Christian Watson, who is overcoming an ACL tear at the worst possible time in his career, there are plenty of other players who we can project extensions for based on what happened in free agency this offseason.
Let’s take a look at some comparisons.
Quay Walker, linebacker
The former first-round pick started to finally catch a groove in the second half of the 2024 regular season. While Quay Walker was not a fan favorite early on in his Packers career, there’s a good chance that if he continues to have the success that he found late last season, Green Bay will want to re-sign him. What’s the market for a long-term starting-caliber linebacker? I’d point to the contract that the Kansas City Chiefs’ Nick Bolton signed: three years for $45 million ($15 million average per year). Like Walker, Bolton is an imperfect linebacker who has had some streaky play in his career. That’s just the cost of business in today’s NFL.
Devonte Wyatt, defensive tackle
Even players who aren’t full-time starters at defensive tackle are getting paid now. A comparable contract to what Devonte Wyatt might receive on the open market is what former Chief Tershawn Wharton signed with the Carolina Panthers in free agency. Wharton, who has played between 37 percent to 62 percent of Kansas City’s defensive snaps over the first five years of his NFL career, inked a three-year, $45 million ($15 million APY) deal this offseason. Like Wyatt, Wharton is a rotational tackle who produces best as a pass-rusher. For reference, Wyatt played 50 percent of the Packers’ defensive snaps in 2023 and 41 percent in 2024. Whether or not you think that’s too high of a price to pay for a player who has only started five games for Green Bay in three years, there’s precedent for a rotational player like him to make that much money at a similar age.
Romeo Doubs, wide receiver
The contract that Romeo Doubs’ camp will probably be circling and holding up to the Packers’ front office is the deal that Buffalo wide receiver Khalil Shakir signed before free agency this year. Shakir got four years for $53 million ($13.3 million APY) to be a borderline wide receiver #2/#3 for the team. For perspective, the Bills drafted Keon Coleman in the first round last year and also handed out a $9.7 million per year deal for Josh Palmer this offseason. Buffalo also traded for Amari Cooper last year and signed Curtis Samuel on a $8 million deal, too. Receivers with the production that Doubs has posted are going to ask for Shakir type of money, if not more, following that contract. The big question is what Doubs’ market looks like once you consider his concussion history into the equation. That’s the monkeywrench in this whole situation.
Rasheed Walker, left tackle
The tackle market absolutely exploded this offseason. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Dan Moore Jr., who led the NFL in sacks allowed per Pro Football Focus, signed a four-year, $82 million ($20.5 million APY) deal with the Tennessee Titans in free agency. At this point, that should be looked at as the minimum contract for a long-term starting left tackle. If Walker were on the market right now, that would probably be the type of deal he’d get.
So, clearly, the Packers have some decisions to make. Green Bay is already over the projected salary cap in 2026, and that’s not including re-signing any of the four players we just highlighted or Zach Tom/Christian Watson. If the Packers don’t have the stomach to handle paying out these types of deals to their former draft picks, then it’s probably time to start eyeing their potential replacements via the 2025 draft. Heck, they might even want to move these players for draft picks to start speeding up the process rather than waiting for 2027 compensatory picks.