The Green Bay Packers invested heavily in the safety position, signing Xavier McKinney to a four-year, $68 million deal. It's a $17 million yearly average. Even though the deal had been agreed to on Monday, full details of the pact haven't been made available until Wednesday, when ESPN's Rob Demovsky reported the full breakdown.
It's a pretty real contract, without fake money at the end of it to inflate the numbers.
In 2024, McKinney will make $24.45 million, and has $600k more available in workout and roster bonuses. That includes a $23 million signing bonus, which for cap purposes is spread through the four years of the contract. With that, his cap hit in 2024 will be $7.8 million.
In 2025, McKinney has an $8.5 million roster bonus, which can be restructured next year to open up cap space, plus a $2.75 million base salary. In 2026, there's another $8.5 million roster bonus and a $4.25 million base.
The fourth year is basically a team option, with a $16.15 million base salary. There are also base escalators based on performance from 2025 to 2027, elevating the total value to $68 million.
Ken Ingalls, an independent cap analyst, shared a visual breakdown to make it easier for us to understand how the contract has been structured.
Present and future
The two big signings executed by the Packers early in free agency, Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney, will combine for a $13.11 million cap hit in 2024 — much less than Green Bay saved by cutting left tackle David Bakhtiari.
But that doesn't mean they are creating fake numbers or backloading contracts. Both deals have normal structures, without void years.
This year, Green Bay has gone back to a more conservative cap approach, avoiding making unnecessary moves to open up more cap space right now, but creating potential future problems.
According to Ken Ingalls, the Packers enter the new league year with $25.57 million in cap space. Including the money the team needs to operate during the season — like signing draft picks —, the effective cap space is $18.18 million.
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