Ideally, teams would rather get long-term extensions done with players as early as possible. If you’ve been following how the Philadelphia Eagles built their championship roster, one of their core principles is to pay their players as soon as they’re eligible for extensions — due to the current NFL salary cap landscape.
At the moment, the salary cap is rising about $20 million to $25 million per year, which is expected to continue until new television contracts come up in 2029. By then, streaming services, which now have better tracking data on NFL viewership, will be major players and should lead to a massive boom for the league — potentially at the cost of consumers’ pockets.
With all that being said, it was really interesting that neither linebacker Quay Walker or defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt were able to reach long-term extensions with the Packers ahead of their fifth-year option deadline date. Previously, Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst stated that he was hoping to keep both of these players around for the 2026 season and beyond. Instead, Wyatt was kept on his fifth-year option, and Walker had his option declined.
As we’ve written before, the fifth-year option is just below the market price for these players, which is projected to be $15 million per year based on contracts that were signed by similar free agents this offseason. If that’s tough to believe, just remember this: Because everyone has cap space, teams have no issues keeping their stars; Because stars aren’t seeing free agency, non-Pro Bowl starters are seeing the biggest gains in the market. This should only continue through 2029, again, due to the rapid rises we’re seeing in the salary cap.
For context on the Walker and Wyatt front, one-year starter Jamien Sherwood signed a $15 million per year contract to remain a linebacker with the New York Jets this offseason. Defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton, who has started just 13 games over five NFL seasons, also received $15 million per year this season.
Look no further than one of the Packers’ expiring contracts this past offseason, T.J. Slaton, for perspective on the rising costs of role players. Slaton was a run-down only nose tackle for Green Bay last year and received a deal worth $7.05 million per year with the Cincinnati Bengals.
And while it might be nice to sit back and think, “Well then just use the money on more valuable free agent contracts,” the truth is that among 2022 draft picks — considering the Packers’ upcoming cap crunch — some of the top players coming off of rookie contracts next free agency might already be Green Bay’s players: Rasheed Walker, Quay Walker, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. The Packers will get comp picks in return for them signing elsewhere, but only if they don’t spend money in free agency.
Some might be willing to wait on Walker’s situation, as he played much better toward the end of the 2024 season than he had previously in his career, but that waiting also gives the NFL linebacker market to rise, too. Terrell Bernard, Devin Lloyd and Nakobe Dean all are going into the final seasons of their rookie contracts, too, and there’s no promise that the going rate of $15 million per year for a young starting linebacker doesn’t get pushed up even further — even though the Packers backed out of a $14.75 million fifth-year option number.
If anything, I expected Green Bay to hit Walker with the fifth-year option and decline Wyatt’s, considering Wyatt has only started five games in his Packers career. Green Bay’s plan moving forward, clearly, is for Wyatt to be their three-technique defensive tackle of the future. That pushes Kenny Clark to nose tackle, his natural position, but Clark is also a player whom the Packers can gain the most cap space from in 2026 with a release. Unfortunately, Green Bay wasn’t able to come away with a backup nose tackle behind Clark in a deep defensive tackle, because of how many players were “overdrafted” at the position, until the sixth round. There’s no promise that the 2026 draft will present a better crop of nose tackles or that teams won’t “overdraft” players at the position again.
There’s a scenario where the Packers go into the 2026 offseason, well above the salary cap already, need to shed Clark’s cap number, let Walker walk, have no long-term commitments from Wyatt and will be a virtual non-factor in free agency. In short, there’s a lot of long-term volatility in the spine of the team’s defense right now, and the fact that Gutekunst couldn’t ink long-term extensions with either of his 2022 first-round picks, even after stating that was his goal before the draft, only is going to add fuel to that fire.
