Rashan Gary’s contract with the Packers this season called for him to make $19.5 million, none of it guaranteed. Before the Cowboys would agree to trade for Gary, he had to agree to take less.
Gary agreed to a pay cut that will see him make $16 million this year, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. He’ll also get $16 million in 2027, whereas his old contract had his 2027 pay at $22.5 million.
The Cowboys structured the new contract with an option and void years, so Gary’s salary cap hit is only $5.44 million this year and $8.24 million in 2027. Then his cap hit will grow in 2028, even if he’s no longer on the team at that point.
The good news for Gary is that he got a $13.2 million signing bonus in the deal, which is guaranteed money he didn’t have on his old contract.
The Cowboys sent a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Packers to acquire Gary, a deal Dallas surely would not have been willing to make without the revised contract.
Packers Clips
Spurred by the ability to sell pieces of teams to private-equity funds, plenty of NFL owners have been converting slivers of equity into stacks of cash. Most recently, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross sold one percent of his team at a $12.5 billion valuation.
The lone publicly-owned franchise could be at risk of being left behind.
In a recent interview with Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, Packers president and CEO Ed Policy expressed concern that the Packers are at a disadvantage when it comes to the increasing flow of money that the 31 other franchises are in position to capture.
“If you think about, any other team, they’ve got deep-pocketed owners, most of them are worth significantly more than that, and they could sell less than 10% of their team, give up no controlling interest, and raise a heck of a lot more than that,” Policy told Fischer.
That forces Policy to find ways to generate more revenue for the Packers — with a stadium naming-rights deal possibly inching toward being on the table.
“We’re soon to be the only stadium without naming rights,” Policy said. “That’s not a threshold we’re looking to cross any time soon, but we might be a little more aggressive with some of the other entitlement inventory we just hadn’t taken advantage of in the past, including things like training facility entitlements and the Titletown campus.”
Still, it sounds as if Lambeau Field presented by Google, or something truly jaunty like Fontainebleu Lambeau Field, could be coming, sooner or later.
One way to raise money is to raise ticket prices. This year, face values for Packers home games are rising by three to 11 percent. And there’s more meat on the bone, given the basic realities of supply and demand.
“Despite the fact that we are probably a top-three team in terms of demand, we are middle of the pack in terms of price,” Policy said.
That’s the team’s biggest selling point. No effort is needed to sell tickets to games. The massive, six-figure waiting list shows that the price point is too low.
Ultimately, the Packers may have no choice but to make the game-day experience more expensive. As franchise values go up and up and as the people who buy teams become richer and richer, the Packers could be running out of options to compete with the oligarchs who collect sports franchises as part of the broader competition to get more.
For now, it’s not a crisis. Policy wants to be sure that doesn’t happen.
“Finance and economics really don’t play into our football decision-making right now, and it’s my job to ensure that it never does,” Policy told Fischer. “Given the pace that the expenses have accelerated over the past few years, if we find ourselves falling behind, it’s going to be really hard to catch up. So, we have to keep ourselves in a position where we’re not falling behind.”
A cynic would see this as a part of the potential plan by owners to overhaul the cap system in the next round of labor negotiations. Especially since the Packers still emerged from their most recent fiscal year with a profit of $83.7 million.
If that number starts to drop, it could be a problem. Then again, the Packers can always sell more stock to folks who’d like to put an ownership certificate in a frame, right next to the spot where they hang their cheeseheads.
The Panthers have added an offensive tackle.
Carolina has agreed to terms with Rasheed Walker on a one-year deal, per a report from NFL Media.
Walker, 26, was a seventh-round pick in the 2022 draft and just completed his rookie contract with the Packers.
He was No. 14 on PFT’s list of the top 100 free agents of 2026.
The Panthers had a need at left tackle after Ikem Ekwonu suffered a torn patellar tendon during the club’s postseason loss to the Rams in January. Walker can now slot in at that spot as Ekwonu heals.
Walker has started at least 15 games in each of the last three seasons. In 2025, he was on the field for 94 percent of Green Bay’s offensive snaps and 18 percent of special teams snaps.
Cornerback Nate Hobbs has found a new team.
Hobbs has agreed to sign with the 49ers. Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that he has agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $4.5 million.
Hobbs was released by the Packers this week, so he moved quickly to find another place to play.
The 2025 season was Hobbs’s first in Green Bay and he had 27 tackles in 11 games for the Packers before landing on injured reserve with a knee injury. He had 281 tackles, three interceptions, three sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery over four seasons with the Raiders.
Hobbs will join a cornerback group that also includes Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green and Upton Stout.
Running back Emanuel Wilson was a restricted free agent whom the Packers didn’t tender, making him an unrestricted free agent. Wilson found a new home on Thursday.
He agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $2.1 million with the Seahawks, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
The Seahawks needed help at the position after losing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker to the Chiefs and with Zach Charbonnet working his way back from a knee injury.
Wilson has appeared in 41 regular-season games and four playoff games for Green Bay the past three seasons. He has 242 carries for 1,083 yards and seven touchdowns in the regular season and 16 carries for 45 yards in the postseason.
In 2025, Wilson had games of 107 and 82 yards.
Core special teams player Zayne Anderson is following Jeff Hafley from Green Bay to Miami.
Anderson, 29, has agreed to terms with the Dolphins, Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports.
Anderson spent the past three seasons in Green Bay, playing 40 games with two starts. A safety, he played 145 defensive snaps and 590 on special teams and totaled 36 tackles, one interception and two pass breakups.
He began his career in 2021 with the Chiefs, and played two seasons in Kansas City.
Anderson was with the Bills in the 2023 offseason and training camp before the Packers claimed him.
It didn’t take long for Javon Hargrave to find a new team.
According to multiple reports, Hargrave will has agreed to a two-year deal with the Packers.
The initial numbers indicate Hargrave’s deal is worth $23 million, with $13 million in 2026.
Word emerged earlier this month that the Vikings planned to release Hargrave after one year with the club. He appeared in 16 games with 15 starts in 2025, recording 52 total tackles with four tackles for loss, six QB hits, and 3.5 sacks.
Hargrave was released on Wednesday.
A third-round pick in the 2016 draft, Hargrave has played 146 career games with 130 starts for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Minnesota. He’s tallied 49.0 career sacks with 59 tackles for loss and 85 QB hits in his 10 seasons.
Edge rusher Brenton Cox Jr. will be back with the Packers in 2026.
Cox’s agents Adie von Gontard and Ray Haija told ESPN that their client has agreed to a one-year deal to remain in Green Bay. Cox is set to make $2.5 million under the terms of the deal.
Cox dealt with a groin injury during the 2025 season and only appeared in four games for the Packers. He posted four sacks and seven quarterback hits in seven games for the team in 2024, however, and the team will be hoping for him to add a threat off the edge during the coming season.
Micah Parsons, Lukas Van Ness, and Barryn Sorrell also feature in the mix off the edge for Green Bay.
Elgton Jenkins was released by the Packers this week and the veteran offensive lineman has found his next team.
NFL Media reports that Jenkins is expected to sign with the Browns after agreeing to terms with the AFC North team on a contract. It’s a two-year deal worth $24 million with $10 million in guaranteed money.
Jenkins has seen time at all the positions on the offensive line over his seven-year NFL career. He played center in Green Bay during the 2025 season and has played more snaps at guard than any other spot.
It seems likely that he will land on the interior of Cleveland’s line as well. The Browns agreed to a trade with the Texans for tackle Tytus Howard and they are set to sign former Chargers guard Zion Johnson as a free agent.
Romeo Doubs is headed to the AFC East.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Doubs has agreed to a four-year deal with the Patriots.
Rapoport notes the wideout’s contract is worth $70 million.
Doubs, who turns 26 next month, just completed his rookie contract with the Packers. In 2025, he caught 55 passes for 724 yards with six touchdowns in 16 games. He also had eight receptions for 124 yards with a touchdown in Green Bay’s postseason loss to Chicago.
A fourth-round pick in 2022, Doubs finished his first four seasons with 202 receptions for 2,424 yards with 21 touchdowns in 59 games with 50 starts.
With receiver Stefon Diggs on the way out, Doubs could emerge as a top weapon at receiver for quarterback Drake Maye and the defending AFC Champion Patriots in 2026.
