Packers have a few days to make decisions on three important players

The Green Bay Packers will soon have to make their first offseason decisions. The team has three players with void years on their contracts set to expire on February 19, and that's a soft deadline for Green Bay to decide what they will do with safety Darnell Savage, cornerback/kick returner Keisean Nixon, and offensive tackle Yosh Nijman.

How it works

Teams can maneuver the salary cap adding void years at the end of a shorter deal to spread money through future years. And that's exactly what the Packers did with these three players. Savage agreed to restructure his fifth-year option, Nijman restructured his restricted free agent tender, and Nixon signed a one-year deal with that in mind.

Green Bay added four fake years to those one-year deals in order to lower their salary cap hits in 2023. Now, the contracts have an automatic expiration date. The players will become unrestricted free agents, and all the money spread through the following four years accelerates into this year's cap — unless the parties agree to a new deal. Green Bay could also have the option to apply a post-June 1st designation, so the acceleration doesn't come until next year.

Why this date?

The franchise tag window opens on February 20 and goes through March 5. That's why the Packers strategically put the void dates on contracts on February 19. This way, they could still apply a franchise tag on any of the players. That certainly won't happen now, but the Packers structured the deal this way to have the flexibility if necessary.

Salary effect

Why is it a soft deadline for a decision? Because as previously mentioned, the remaining salary of these players accelerates into this year's cap if the deal expires. The Packers could eventually re-sign them, but the cap hit in 2024 would be higher. Extending the players before the expiration date keeps the money from the previous contract prorated.

So let's go case by case here.

Darnell Savage

The Packers paid $7.9 million to Savage last year, but restructured most of it to a signing bonus. The cap hit in 2023 was down to $2.444 million, and the rest of the money was stretched through 2027. It's $1.364 million per season. But if the deal voids, the entire $5.456 million amount hits the cap in 2024. Even if the Packers use the post-June 1st designation, the dead money would be $1.364 million in 2024 and $4.092 million in 2025.

If the Packers extend Savage's deal before February 19, the old money would be kept stretched ($1.364 million from 2024 to 2027), and the new money would be added to that amount. But if the contract voids, any new contract money would be added to the accelerated amount.

Keisean Nixon

The same thing happens to Nixon, who signed a smaller deal with the Packers. If his deal voids, the Packers will have $1.48 million in dead money. If the parties agree to a new contract before the expiration date, the old money stays at $370,000 per season through 2027.

Yosh Nijman

In Nijman's case, the dead money if the contract voids will be $2.543 million. If they re-sign him, the old money spread would be $635,800 per season through 2027.

Outcome

The Packers haven't felt forced to keep players just because they might be cheaper on this year's cap staying than leaving. Last year, for example, safety Adrian Amos and tight ends Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis had void years on their contracts, and all of them were allowed to hit free agency, leaving dead money behind.

But if the Packers want to keep these players, it makes more sense to extend them before, creating more cap space to operate this year. Savage and Nixon, in particular, could be useful pieces on the roster in 2024.

Nijman's case is more difficult, because the Packers used a second-round tender on him last year, but he ended up behind Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom on the depth chart. Other teams might be willing to pay him starter money, and the Packers are not in position to do that.