:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54577091/495609478.0.jpg)
The Green Bay Packers signed veteran and six-time Pro Bowl guard Jahri Evans to a one-year deal last week, shortly before the NFL Draft began. Bringing Evans into the fold presumably locks down the starting job at the right guard position vacated by T.J. Lang, and it allowed the Packers to avoid prioritizing the offensive line in the draft.
Instead of choosing an interior lineman on day one or two, the Packers were able to wait until the sixth round, landing athletic guard Kofi Amichia out of South Florida.
The deal with Evans, however, is both necessary and a good value, as we learned on Tuesday morning. Tom Silverstein of Packersnews.com has the contract breakdown, which goes as follows:
- Base salary: $1.15 million
- Signing bonus: $200,000
- Workout bonus: $100,000
- Active roster bonuses: $50,000 per game ($800,000 total)
- Incentives: $225,000 (likely to be earned)
- Total compensation: $2.25 million (not including incentives)
According to this breakdown, the contract’s salary cap hit would be $2.475 million, if the incentives are in the LTBE category. With the league operating in the “Top 51” rule during the offseason and teams’ 51 highest-valued contracts counting against the salary cap, this would add $1.935 million against the cap. According to Over The Cap’s salary cap calculator (and factoring in the cuts of Christine Michael and Don Jackson), this leaves the Packers with just over $19.5 million in cap space.
Some of that will go towards the 2017 rookie class, of course.
This deal is not expected to cost the Packers a compensatory pick in the 2018 draft, however. Again using OTC’s model, the Packers lost seven qualifying players to unrestricted free agency and signed just two (Evans and Martellus Bennett). The are currently projected to receive picks in round three (for T.J. Lang), round 5 (for JC Tretter), and two sixth-rounders (for Jared Cook and Eddie Lacy). Bennett cancelled out the loss of Micah Hyde, while Evans cancels either Julius Peppers or Datone Jones; Evans’ impact is irrelevant, however, as the team is still over the four-pick maximum even with his addition.
Well done, Ted.