The Green Bay Packers re-worked cornerback Jaire Alexander’s contract before releasing him in order to take on his full dead money cap hit in 2025, and now the Packers have a little over $35 million of dead money sitting on the team’s salary cap this year.
Dead money is the result of prorated money — usually in the form of prorated signing bonuses — accelerating to the current year’s salary after player movement.
What is uncommon is the Packers’ mechanism for taking on the dead money.
The Packers released Alexander after June 1, which should have split the dead cap hits between the 2025 and 2026 season. But the Packers eliminated the two future years (including a void year) on Alexander’s deal, per Ken Ingalls, forcing the entire dead money cap hit — totaling just over $17 million — to go onto the 2025 cap. It’s still unclear why the Packers wanted the entire amount to count against the 2025 cap.
The result is the Packers have less cap space in 2025 but will be fully clear of Alexander’s contract in 2026. Per Over the Cap, the Packers still have roughly $35 million in total cap space.
While not on the roster, Alexander will count $17,043,182 on the Packers’ cap in 2025. He joins previously departed veterans Preston Smith and De’Vondre Campbell as substantial dead money cap hits for the Packers this season. Smith was traded at the deadline last year, while Campbell was a post-June 1 cut — so they each had split dead money cap hits.
Overall, the Packers have $35,357,888 of dead money in 2025. This represents roughly 12 percent of the team’s total cap.
Dead money cap hits are commonplace in the NFL. Even with over $35 million in dead money, the Packers rank only 13th in the NFL. Eight teams, including NFC rivals like the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, have $50 million or more in dead money on the 2025 cap.
The Packers prefer big signing bonuses for veteran contracts, which creates the possibility of dead money hitting the cap if players don’t work out.
At this point, the Packers have no dead money scheduled to hit the cap in 2026. The team can carry over any remaining cap space from 2025 to 2026.
Packers dead money cap hits in 2025
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers up to $35M in dead money in 2025 after releasing CB Jaire Alexander
Reporting by Zach Kruse, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
