Getty Head coach Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers.
The Green Bay Packers have been cautious with Rashan Gary, both in terms of his snaps and his contract, though the time to for trepidation is quickly coming to an end.
Gary has been extension-eligible since the 2022 offseason and while Green Bay picked up the outside linebacker’s fifth-year option to keep him under contract through 2023, the team has yet to offer Gary a long-term extension.
The star edge-rusher is bound for free agency this spring and the longer the Packers wait, the more complicated negotiations could get. Bleacher Report’s NFL Staff on Monday, October 2, suggested that the Minnesota Vikings should make an aggressive run at Gary if he reaches free agency next March.
Marcus Davenport is on a one-year contract and has been injured for the majority of the season so far. That has really hurt the Vikings’ pass rush, as Danielle Hunter seems to be the only defender who can consistently get pressure, and Hunter is an impending free agent as well.
Gary is an elite athlete who specializes in getting after the quarterback with 26 career sacks, including 3.5 in the first four games of 2023. He would be a good replacement for Hunter, and it wouldn’t hurt to steal him away from one of the franchise’s biggest and oldest rivals. Spotrac estimates that the Vikings will have about $33 million in cap space, so they have the room to make this happen, too.
Rashan Gary’s ACL Injury Should No Longer Be Concern for Packers
GettyGreen Bay Packers star pass-rusher Rashan Gary has played well in limited snaps this season.
Gary would probably already have signed a contract extension with the Packers if he hadn’t torn his ACL against the Detroit Lions in Week 9 last year.
He had amassed 17 pressures, 12 quarterback hits and 6 sacks through eight games in 2022, all of which were top-10 categorical statistics at the season’s midway point. Gary is also only 25 years old and figures to be an elite edge-rusher for at least his next NFL contract, if not the next two, assuming relative health.
Green Bay backed off a deal for Gary, which every projection had at north of $100 million total, until the team could see how he rebounded from the ligament tear in his right knee. The linebacker has proven he’s back to his old self, producing 3.5 sacks and 6 QB hits in just 77 snaps as the Packers ease him back into a full-time role.
Packers Predicted to Make Offer to Rashan Gary Before End of Season
GettyPackers star edge-rusher Rashan Gary is in line for a big contract extension.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler predicted on Tuesday that Green Bay will make an ‘aggressive play’ to extend Gary at some point this winter.
“Gary’s return from a torn right ACL has been triumphant,” Fowler wrote. “Green Bay is bringing him along slowly, with the hope that he’s a three-down player by later in the year. The Packers typically try to lock up key players late in their contract years, so it wouldn’t surprise if the Packers make an aggressive play to secure Gary in November or December.”
Save for holding out a year or so on an extension following his ACL injury, Green Bay has done right by Gary since drafting him in the first round in 2019 (No. 12 overall). If the Packers come correct with their offer, Gary probably won’t reach the free agent market next March.
Spotrac projects Gary’s market value at $26 million annually over four years, which equates to $104 million total. Most high-end players at premium positions in the NFL negotiate five-year deals and coming off an ACL injury, Gary figures to want the same.
An offer of five years at $130 million with roughly 70% of that total fully guaranteed ($90 million) is probably enough to keep Gary home in Green Bay. If the Packers try to lowball him, however, that could change the narrative.
But even if a lowball offer proves to be the eventual outcome, Green Bay holds the trump card of being able to apply the franchise tag to Gary and keep him under contract through 2024 while the two sides attempt to work out a deal.
There aren’t a lot of other obvious candidates for the franchise tag on the Packers’ roster, as most of their primary defensive players are locked up on multiyear deals and most of their best offensive players will still be playing on their rookie contracts come 2024.