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On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers cut safety Josh Jones loose. On Monday, he became a free agent.
The team waived Jones over the weekend with a non-football illness designation, a result of Jones’ hyperthyroidism condition. However, Jones went unclaimed through the waiver system according to the NFL’s transaction report, making him a free agent as of 4:00 PM Eastern Time.
The fact that Jones did not get claimed should probably come as little surprise. Any team claiming him would have had to pick up the remainder of his rookie contract, which contained a base salary of about $850,000 — about $200,000 greater than the league minimum for a third-year player in 2019.
In addition to the base salaries in years three and four of Jones’ contract — which were not guaranteed — it also had approximately $610,000 in salary cap charges remaining as amortized signing bonus money. Because his release comes after June 1st, half of that amount (the 2019 portion) will remain on the team’s 2019 salary cap as dead money while the other half will be counted in 2020 instead.