The NFL officially set the 2022 salary cap at $208.2 million on Monday. It was the expected number. The league also set franchise and transition tag values, which is of great importance to the Green Bay Packers as Tuesday’s deadline to use the tag looms.
How much will it cost the Packers to use the franchise tag on All-Pro receiver Davante Adams?
The exclusive tag for wide receivers is set at $18,419,000, but that won’t be the number for Adams. Because his cap hit was almost $16.8 million in 2021, his franchise tag number will be set at $20.1 million.
The tag demands that the franchise tag number for a player is either the set amount at his position or 120 percent of the player’s 2021 salary, whichever is larger. And for Adams, the latter number is the higher amount.
The Packers have until Tuesday afternoon to get a long-term deal done with Adams. If no deal is completed, the team will have to use the franchise tag to keep Adams – a back-to-back first-team All-Pro charting a Hall of Fame path – out of unrestricted free agency.
The important caveat here: When the Packers use the tag, the $20.12 million immediately hits the team’s cap. So tagging Adams will immediately add over $20 million of cap commitments, complicating the Packers’ path to getting under the cap by the start of the new league year on March 16.
It would create a frantic race to the finish line for the Packers, who would need to use restructures, releases and extensions to get under the cap in just eight days.
The Packers are expected to use the tag on Adams, barring a last-second contract extension.
While general manager Brian Gutekunst called using the tag a last resort option, it would be tough for the Packers to justify not using it in this scenario. If Adams gets to free agency and leaves Green Bay, the Packers would get back nothing more than a compensatory draft pick in 2023.
The most likely path forward for the Packers and Adams is using the tag to keep him out of free agency while also buying more time to get a long-term deal done. If tagged, Adams will have until the middle of July to sign a new deal.
If no deal is completed, Adams would have to play the 2022 season on the one-year franchise tag salary.