The Green Bay Packers will now have ten selections in the 2021 Draft set for April 29- May 1. The NFL awarded a total of 32 compensatory selections on Wednesday for teams that lost free agents last season and for adhering to minority hiring initiatives.
General Manager Brian Gutekunst will now have extra picks in the 4th round (142 overall), the 5th (177) and the 6th (219) after losing Blake Martinez to the Giants, Bryan Bulaga to the Chargers, Kyler Fackrell to the Giants and B.J.Goodson to Cleveland.
The Packers hold the 29th overall selection in round one.
Former number one pick Jaire Alexander is heading into the final year of his four year contract, due to make 2.1 million dollars this season. But as a first rounder, the team has the right to exercise a fifth year option on that contract. That has become a pricey proposition. Alexander stands to to earn 13 million dollars guaranteed in the option year. The reason for the jump? Alexander made his first Pro Bowl in 2020 and that pushes him into the same salary structure as a transition tag would allow for a cornerback. The Packers have until May to exercise that fifth year option.
With the 2021 salary cap now set at 182.5 million dollars, the Packers are approximately 9.7 million above the cap. They’ll have to reach the cap figure by next Wednesday when the NFL’s calendar year and free agency begins. Pro Bowl linebacker Za’Darius Smith hinted he might be in line for a restructured deal when he tweeted on Wednesday, “I want to a Packer for life!” Smith signed a four year free agent deal with the Packers in 2019 and is scheduled to make 17 million this year and 15.75 million in his final year. He’s become the Pack’s most consistent pass rusher reaching double digits in sacks in each of his first two seasons. He could be among a couple of veteran players who will get restructured deals in the coming days to clear cap space and allow the Packers to either retain some of their unrestricted free agents to be or sign players from what’s expected to be a much larger than usual free agent pool.
