The Green Bay Packers are in salary cap hell heading into free agency and need to make some big moves to free up cap space. They did some of that with two releases this morning. On Monday, the Packers announced the release of two veteran starters. Two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Za’Darius Smith and starting offensive lineman Billy Turner are on their way out.
Smith was heading into the fourth year of a $66 million contract and had a massive cap hit this season. He played in one regular season game and one playoff game this past year. Turner has been a starter for the Packers at numerous spots along the offensive line since 2019. He has started 43 games between tackle and guard.
#Packers release LB Za’Darius Smith & G/T Billy Turner https://t.co/GDCYdhSCFt
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) March 14, 2022
According to OverTheCap, the Green Bay Packers have freed up substantial space with these moves. But they’re still $18 million in the red heading into free agency this week. The Packers will need to get a little more creative in moving around their money if they want to be in play for some of the big name free agents this week.
Though knowing them, they already have some kind of plan in place for dealing with that issue.Green Bay have won the NFC North title three years in a row now. Winning it a fourth time will be a lot harder with the current state of their roster. Will the Packers have the NFC’s best record again in 2022?
