What the Packers’ salary cap situation could look like in 2026

Most of this article was written before the Green Bay Packers made a bunch of moves at the start of Week 18, but they shouldn’t materially change my objective of this article: to give you a picture of what the Packers’ 2026 offseason will probably look like from a cap situation.

There’s a lot of bad information out there about the Packers’ cap situation, in part because the information is only partial. So I want to do a fairly deep dive into what Green Bay’s actual outlook is going into next year.

To set the table, here are the members of the 53-man roster (or injury lists) who are under contract for 2026:

53-Man Roster/Injury List Players Under Contract

• QB: Jordan Love
• RB: Josh Jacobs and MarShawn Lloyd
• WR: Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Matthew Golden and Savion Williams
• TE: Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave
• OL: Jordan Morgan, Aaron Banks, Elgton Jenkins, Anthony Belton, Zach Tom, Travis Glover, Jacob Monk and John Williams
• DE: Micah Parsons, Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver
• DT: Devonte Wyatt, Colby Wooden, Karl Brooks, Warren Brinson, Jordon Riley and Nazir Stackhouse
• LB: Edgerrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper
• CB: Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Nate Hobbs
• S: Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard and Kitan Oladapo
• K: Brandon McManus
• P: Daniel Whelan
• LS: Matt Orzech

The majority of the Packers’ cap space will be spent on these players. With that being said, Green Bay likely ends up moving off both offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins and defensive end Rashan Gary, based on their price tags and their contributions to the team this season. We’ll get into that later.

First, I want to discuss some factors that aren’t being accounted for on cap tables on sites like Spotrac, for example.

Exclusive Rights Free Agents

ERFAs are players who have less than three accrued seasons in the NFL. Essentially, this is a way for the league to allow teams to retain former practice squad players at a cheap cost. These players almost always have their tenders picked up, and the tenders come at a cost of about $1 million.

• OL: Donovan Jennings
• CB: Bo Melton and Kamal Hadden

Assume that Jennings, Melton and Hadden will all be back in Green Bay next year. This is very important to keep in mind because the top 51 cap hits on the roster are how offseason cap space is calculated. Since the Packers have fewer than 51 players under contract, there’s this perception that Green Bay has more cap space than they actually have going into 2026, because of the false vacancies on its offseason 90-man roster. Those spots will eventually be filled almost immediately when the season ends, as the team will sign reserve/futures players (basically their practice squadders to minimum deals.)

So, just because the Packers hypothetically have $20 million in cap space with around 40 players under contract doesn’t mean that the team can actually spend that $20 million, because they’ll need around $12 million of that to even fill the team with league-minimum players (and rookie undrafted free agents even come with signing bonuses now, an added cost.)

Restricted Free Agents

Restricted free agents are players who have spent three years in the league but have had their contracts expire. The minimum tender to keep these players for one more season is about $3.2 million. I believe the only Packers player who will receive a tender is swing tackle Darian Kinnard, whom the team traded a pick for at the cutdown deadline last year.

Otherwise, if the team wants to bring back these players, they usually turn down their tender, let them hit unrestricted free agency (true free agency) and then re-sign them to a minimum one-year salary with a decent signing bonus. An example of this from last year was John FitzPatrick’s deal, worth $1.5 million over one year.

• RB: Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks
• TE: Josh Whyle
• OL: Darian Kinnard
• DE: Brenton Cox Jr. and Arron Mosby

So, in this scenario, we’re going to calculate that Chris Brooks, Josh Whyle and Arron Mosby come back on $1.5 million deals, while Kinnard has his $3.2 million tender picked up. Brooks plays as the team’s blocking back and contributes heavily on special teams, as does Mosby. In fact, Mosby is so valuable to the team in the kicking game that they healthy scratched both Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver, two rookie draft picks, against the Baltimore Ravens to keep Mosby active, even though Mosby almost exclusively plays on special teams.

With the FitzPatrick Achilles injury, it would be smart for the team to run Whyle back on a cheap deal, too. They’ve had their eye on him for a while, bringing him on a pre-draft visit back in the 2023 draft. When Whyle was released by the Titans this summer, the first time he was made available since draft day, the Packers scooped him up and signed him to the practice squad.

Unrestricted Free Agents

These are the players you think about when true free agency is brought up.

• QB: Malik Willis
• WR: Romeo Doubs
• TE: John FitzPatrick
• OL: Rasheed Walker and Sean Rhyan
• DE: Kingsley Enagbare
• DT: Quinton Bohanna and Jonathan Ford
• LB: Quay Walker, Nick Niemann and Kristian Welch
• S: Zayne Anderson

If you want to read about contract projections for these players, you can find that information and the full justifications HERE. If you want the short of it, here’s what I think happens this offseason:

• Rasheed Walker signs for a deal worth around $20 million per, which will earn the Packers a 2027 fourth-round compensatory pick.
• Quay Walker signs for a deal worth around $15 million per, which will earn the Packers a 2027 fifth-round compensatory pick.
• Romeo Doubs signs for a deal worth around $13 million per, which will earn the Packers a 2027 fifth-round compensatory pick.
• After his recent play, I think Malik Willis will end up signing a deal in the $10 million to $15 million per range, which will earn the Packers a 2027 fifth-round compensatory pick.

Those will be Green Bay’s four biggest free agents. Teams are only allowed to receive four compensatory picks per offseason, so these are the only ones that are relevant for the Packers.

For fun, let’s do some projecting of who Green Bay brings back, beyond these players.

I think center Sean Rhyan could be brought back for a deal in the range that Jon Runyan Jr., who was also a part-time player for the Packers on his first contract, signed when he left Green Bay. Runyan inked a three-year, $30 million deal ($10 million per) that had a Year 1 cap hit of $6.5 million.

I also think two candidates who are likely to return to the Packers are veteran special teamers in linebacker Nick Niemann and Zayne Anderson. Let’s go ahead and give them one-year deals worth $1.5 million, on par with long snapper Matt Orzech’s cap hit. Again, this is about as cheap as Green Bay gives out contracts during pre-draft free agency.

I’m sure some people will want to bring back either Brenton Cox Jr. or Kingsley Enagbare, but the team is already struggling to get Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver up on gameday because of the jogjam at the position. They’re going to need Sorrell and Oliver to produce fruit, and keeping Cox and Enagbare around won’t help the situation.

2026 Cap Situation Update

Alright, so if that conservative offseason is how it plays out for the Packers, what does their cap situation look like? Below would be their top 51 cap hits once you include place holders for the team’s upcoming draft picks (which also need to be accounted for).

1. QB Jordan Love: $36.2 million
2. OL Aaron Banks: $24.9 million
3. DE Micah Parsons: $19.2 million
4. S Xavier McKinney: $19.1 million
5. RB Josh Jacobs: $14.6 million
6. CB Nate Hobbs: $13.1 million
7. DT Devonte Wyatt: $12.9 million
8. OL Zach Tom: $12.1 million
9. CB Keisean Nixon: $7.1 million
10. WR Christian Watson: $7 million
11. OL Sean Rhyan: $6.5 million
12. DE Lukas Van Ness: $5.5 million
13. K Brandon McManus: $5.4 million
14. LB Isaiah McDuffie: $5 million
15. WR Matthew Golden: $4 million
16. OL Jordan Morgan: $3.9 million
17. TE Tucker Kraft: $3.8 million (PPE increase)
18. WR Dontayvion Wicks: $3.5 million (PPE increase)
19. DT Karl Brooks: $3.5 million (PPE increase)
20. CB Carrington Valentine: $3.5 million (PPE increase)
21. OL Darian Kinnard: $3.2 million (RFA tender)
22. TE Luke Musgrave: $2.7 million
23. P Daniel Whelan: $2.4 million
24. WR Jayden Reed: $2.3 million
25. LB Edgerrin Cooper: $2.3 million
26. OL Anthony Belton: $1.8 million
27. S Javon Bullard: $1.8 million
28. RB MarShawn Lloyd: $1.6 million
29. RB Chris Brooks: $1.5 million (cheap 1-year deal)
30. TE Josh Whyle: $1.5 million (cheap 1-year deal)
31. DE Arron Mosby: $1.5 million (cheap 1-year deal)
32. LB Ty’Ron Hopper: $1.5 million (cheap 1-year deal)
33. LB Nick Niemann: $1.5 million (cheap 1-year deal)
34. S Zayne Anderson: $1.5 million (cheap 1-year deal)
35. LS Matt Orzech: $1.5 million
36. 53rd overall pick placeholder: $1.5 million
37. WR Savion Williams: $1.4 million
38. DT Colby Wooden: $1.3 million
39. S Evan Williams: $1.3 million
40. OL Jacob Monk: $1.2 million
41. DE Barryn Sorrell: $1.2 million
42. S Kitan Oladapo: $1.2 million
43. 85th overall pick placeholder: $1.2 million
44. OL Travis Glover: $1.1 million
45. DE Collin Oliver: $1.1 million
46. DT Warren Brinson: $1.1 million
47. DT Jordon Riley: $1.1 million
48. 121st overall pick placeholder: $1.1 million
49. Various: $1 million
50. Various: $1 million
51. Various: $1 million

So what’s the count? Well, including the remaining dead caps for Kenny Clark ($17 million), Gary ($11 million) and Jenkins ($4.8 million), Green Bay will have around $291 million on the cap in 2026, based on my back-of-the-napkin math. The NFL’s cap in 2026 is expected to be $295.5 million, per Over the Cap.

The good news is that the Packers will roll over about $10 million in cap space from 2025 into 2026 as it stands today, which should give the team about $14.5 million to work with next year.

Here’s the bad news. That $14.5 million will need to account for the following:

• The cost of the two extra roster spots (51 to 53) once the cutdown deadline passes at the end of the preseason. (Assume this costs about $1 million for each roster spot.)
• The cost of all 17 practice squad spots on the team throughout the year. ($234,000 to $315,000 per player for the season. Average cost around $4 million in total.)
• Replacement players on the 53-man roster whenever any player goes on the injured reserve. (About $1 million each, depending on when in the year this happens.)
• Any extensions, including to players like Tucker Kraft, who is a free agent after next year.

Functionally, that remaining $14 million ($10 million that’s coming from the 2025 team) is close to $0.

So don’t expect the team to do anything crazy in the offseason. For the most part, the money has been spent, as have the next two years’ first-round picks. On top of that, the Packers are incentivized to sit out unrestricted free agency this year (for outside signings) because they will be rewarded with draft picks in 2027 for doing so (they’re going to need their draft picks).

The team has positioned itself where improvements to the 2026 team will have to come from one of these three paths: development, players staying healthier in 2026 or hitting on draft picks as rookies.

Can’t we just borrow cap space?

This is a question we’re going to hear non-stop. I get why people ask it. The answer is no.

Because of how the Packers structure their contracts, there’s a pretty quick escalation of how much more veteran players cost as they progress through multi-year deals.

For example, let’s look at the combined costs of quarterback Jordan Love, running back Josh Jacobs, left guard Aaron Banks, right tackle Zach Tom, defensive end Micah Parsons, cornerback Nate Hobbs and safety Xavier McKinney. All seven of these players are veterans who are under contract through 2027.

In 2025, these players cost the Packers $91.6 million in cap space. Next year, they will cost an extra $47.6 million ($139.2 million) on the cap. In 2027, it will rise to $162.9 million.

Can they borrow from the future to juice the team in 2026? Sure, if they’re absolutely committed to completely tearing it down in 2027. What I believe is a more likely path, though, is that the team treads water in 2026 (from a free agency perspective), borrows from the future in 2027 (when they’ll really need the cap relief) and then try to hold onto this Love-Parsons-McKinney window for as long as possible before they have to start selling off parts (see: the Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers trades).

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Be careful with what types of cap projections you’re looking at for 2026. If they are bare bones, they probably show the Packers having a lot of false cap space, money they won’t be able to play around with when free agency actually starts. Thinking that there’s money coming down the pike, when in reality there isn’t, will just set you up for disappointment.

Green Bay will need place holders for their top draft picks. They will probably tender Kinnard and bring back their ERFAs. They will also probably try to bring back other veterans on deals in the $1.5 million range. They will have a 51-man roster, with all of those spots counting against the cap, whenever they sign their reserve/futures deals (what practice squad players sign) the week after their season ends. Players like Tucker Kraft, Dontayvion Wicks, Karl Brooks and Carrington Valentine will also get multi-million dollar proven performance escalators for the amount of playing time that they hit in the first three years of their rookie deals.

Once you start accounting for that, before you even start thinking about a Tucker Kraft extension, the Packers’ cap situation is put in a very different light.

Take my advice: Don’t spend too much time overthinking Green Bay’s cap situation in 2026. Skip free agency and just go straight into the draft prospects. The Packers would currently own three picks in the top 160 selections in the 2026 draft, if the season ended today. They’ll need to be very smart with how they use those draft choices.