The details on Tyler Lancaster's one-year contract became available.  Overthecap reports that he will count $1.248M against the 2021 cap.  Lancaster has a base salary of $920,000 (the minimum for him), a $105,000 workout bonus, and a tiny game active roster bonus of just $25,000, plus a $200,000 signing bonus.  Lancaster missed one game last year, so his cap number is $1,562.50 less than $1.25M.

Lancaster represents much needed defensive line depth.  The tender for an RFA was $2.133 million and Lancaster's minimum was $920K.  The two sides did not meet in the middle, but Lancaster did get more than the minimum, and more importantly, he got some guaranteed money in the form of the signing bonus.  I think Lancaster is better than some fans think.  He is not bad as a run-stuffer: he just does does not offer much as a pass-rusher.  Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 64.8 (an average grade) and Andy Herman gave him a +1.40 grade for 2020. 

I had hoped to see the Packers sign a free agent defensive lineman from outside the organization.  My thought process was that the defensive line draft class is not very good this year and the cornerback position looks loaded with talent, so buy the defensive lineman and draft the cornerback.  However, GM Gutekunst re-signed Kevin King for either roughly $2M or $5M, depending on how one views it. 

Most of the linemen on my personal list signed for $3 million, $5 million or $7 million.  The last candidate on my list, Danny Shelton, just signed a qualified contract for $937,500.  However, several people have indicated I am thinking of the Danny Shelton of a few years ago and that Shelton had a very bad year in 2020, albeit in Detroit.  Perhaps the Packers expect an interesting defensive lineman to be a cap casualty later this summer.

Below is Lancaster's deal (wondering why they bothered with the roughly $1,562 per Active Game Bonus):

Marcedes Lewis:

The Packers re-signed Lewis.  It appears that Lewis will have a cap number of between $2.3 million and $2.4 million.  Unfortunately, OTC is not clear for 2021 and is incomprehensible for 2022.  Ken Ingalls listed the numbers for 2021 but was silent as to 2022. [I am omitting an issue involving how game active bonuses should be treated with a 17 game season: suffice to say I calculated that Lewis would have a cap charge some $41,000 more than shown below, not enough to spend time on.]  

Note that Overthecap put a $2.08 million signing bonus proration in for 2022 and indicated that the $700,000 roster bonus was due on the third day of the 2022 league year, so it is not a game active bonus.  I find that highly unlikely.  I do not know how the Packers could even insert a $2.08 million proration for just the 2022 year, and OTC did not even bother to show a proration.  Adding $2.08 million does make the contract add up to 2 years for $8M, and that seems to me to be why OTC did that. 

OTC indicated that Lewis received a $2.1 million signing bonus (which I show as $525K prorated over four years), but OTC shows no prorations for the signing bonus.  OTC shows a 2022 cap charge of $4.525It looks to me like it will turn out to be a two-year, almost $6 million deal.   

Will Redmond:

The Packers have re-signed Redmond, but no details are available for his contract.  At present, I have assumed that Redmond signed for his minimum of $920,000; he would displace a player in the top 51 contracts making $780,000, so his net cost against the salary cap would be $140,000.

Raven Greene also would have a net cost of $140,000.  I assume Greene can command only his minimum after being on IR in each of his first three seasons and managing to play just 437 snaps in three years.  I read that Greene visited the Buffalo Bills on March 26th but left without a contract. 

Salary Cap:

I have updated the Packer Cap Tracker to reflect these moves.  The Packers have about $2.6 million or so in cap space.  The team only needs about $2.3 million to sign their draft class, so the Packers do not need to make any further moves to generate salary cap space until after the draft.  They could even make one or two small deals with players willing to play for something under $1 million.  The Packers will need to generate almost $3 million for the PS and $1.32 million for the 52nd and 53rd player contract by September, and several million more to handle any injuries to players requiring them to start the year on the PUP or IR.

Still, it would not surprise me if the Packers sit tight until after the draft and then reassess their situation in light of their selections.