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On Tuesday, the Packers and right tackle Bryan Bulaga came to an agreement on a new 5-year contract worth $33.75 million dollars. On Wednesday, the basic structure of that deal was released and reported by ESPN's Rob Demovsky.
Like most of the Packers' contracts, the salary cap hit in the first year is fairly low, then it increases in the following years and stabilizes over the final two years of the deal. Here's the detail from Demovsky on the cap hits:
Cap numbers for each year of Bulaga's deal: 2015: $3.6M 2016: $5.6M 2017: $7.91M 2018: $8.35M 2019: $8.35M
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) March 11, 2015
Combined with an $8 million signing bonus, we can detail what Bulaga's annual cash flow will be. Furthermore, Demovsky has reported that the Packers insured themselves somewhat against potential injuries to Bulaga by locking down a large portion of his annual income into per-game roster bonuses - which he would not receive if he is inactive. That portion starts out at $500,000 in 2015, then increases by $50,000 each year.
Also, the Packers' typical use of a large roster bonus in year two is in effect, as Bulaga will get $2.25 million on the third day of the 2016 league year next March. Here's the full breakdown:
Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Signing Bonus | $8M | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Base salary | $1.25M | $950k | $5.4M | $5.85M | $5.8M |
Roster bonus | $500k | $2.8M | $600k | $650k | $700k |
Workout bonus | $250k | $250k | $250k | $250k | $250k |
Prorated Signing bonus cap hit | $1.6M | $1.6M | $1.6M | $1.6M | $1.6M |
Salary Cap hit total | $3.6M | $5.6M | $6.31M | $8.35M | $8.35M |
Cash total | $10M | $4M | $6.31M | $6.75M | $6.75M |
All in all, the cash is spread out pretty evenly, with the exception of the Bulaga getting a big chunk of money up front and a little less in year two. Overall, he'll get $14 million in the first two years of the deal.
As far as the salary cap goes, Bulaga's deal adds the aforementioned $3.6 million on to the cap. Using the trusty salary cap calculator from Overthecap.com, we estimate that the Packers have $21.3 million in cap space left - plenty of room to sign another couple of players and account for the 2015 rookie class. Spotrac estimates that the rookie class will account for about $4.4 million, leaving the Packers with close to $17 million to work with as they work through the rest of the offseason.