Where the Packers’ salary cap stands after the NFL trade deadline

Just as it happens most of the time, the Green Bay Packers were not active buyers close to the trade deadline. But they were sellers, though, moving edge rusher Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a seventh-round pick. The move was basically a salary dump.

Now that the trade deadline has passed, there are still ways to acquire players, but only via signing free agents, signing players off other teams' practice squads, or claiming players off waivers — after the trade deadline, every player (even vested veterans) go through waivers when cut.

Salary cap situation

At this exact moment, the Packers have $15.527 million in salary cap space, since Preston Smith’s trade opened up a little bit more than $2 million in space in 2024.

The big savings are in the next few years, though. The Packers clear up $7.626 million in 2025, $18.207 million in 2026, and $1.667 million in the void year of 2027.

Independent cap analyst Ken Ingalls does a great job of breaking down the financials for the Packers, and he accounts for projected practice squad elevations and other minor moves to calculate how much money the Packers can really spend.

Right now, after the trade deadline move, the Packers have $14.475 million in effectively available cap space, according to Ingalls.

That's more than enough for Green Bay to make any move they want this time of the year — especially because if it's something unexpectedly huge, the team would still have the option to create more cap space with restructures.

But if they don't use it, the money just rolls over to 2025 — it's an extra cap to use next year.

Right now, Over the Cap projects that the Packers have $60.64 million in cap space for 2025, with 40 signed players. And that includes the big salaries of Jordan Love, Rashan Gary, Elgton Jenkins, Jaire Alexander, Xavier McKinney, Kenny Clark, and Josh Jacobs.

It's certainly the most comfortable cap situation the Packers have had in several years — and certainly since the team overspent in the twilight years of Aaron Rodgers' tenure.