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In late July, when Packers linebacker Za’Darius Smith was supposedly unhappy with his restructured contract, the Packers addressed his concerns by restructuring him again.
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Packers accelerated the $ 10 million payments to Smith which applied to the prior conversion of most of his salary into a signing bonus, but which postponed all payments to Smith. September at the end of the regular season.
Under the agreement revised in March, $ 14.76 million of Smith’s base salary in 2021 became a signing bonus. Smith was expected to receive $ 5 million of that amount starting in week one of the regular season, with the remaining $ 9.76 million of the 2021 signing bonus being paid in equal installments with his remaining base salary.
As part of the new deal, finalized on July 27, the Packers agreed to pay $ 10 million of the amount within 10 days, with the remaining $ 4.76 million being paid over the 18 weeks of the regular season, with his base salary.
Managing Director Brian Gutekunst alluded to the revised deal when he met reporters on Sunday. “We worked on something earlier to move money and everything, earlier like at the start of training camp, I believe,” said Gutekunst.
The comment was made in response to questions that Smith’s prolonged absence from practice due to injury has a contractual component. Gutekunst’s response suggested that the money transfer in late July appeased Smith. It is quite possible that he is still unhappy, just less unhappy.
The March restructuring, which the Packers were contractually entitled to exercise, pushed Smith’s cap north of $ 28 million. Given that 2022 will be the last year of his contract and given that his salary of $ 14.5 million for 2022 is not guaranteed, the decision to convert that much salary into a signing bonus virtually guarantees that Smith will be removed. after the 2021 season. Although he was not happy with the cash flow (as confirmed by the fact that the Packers changed his contract to improve it), he is still not satisfied that he has been turned into a lame duck, with no security for 2022.
This is the fundamental problem. The Packers, by kicking the box in 2021, set the stage for Smith to be kicked out of Green Bay in 2022.
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