The Green Bay Packers are still carrying center Jeff Saturday on their roster, which is significant for a couple reasons.
First, Saturday said he was retiring after the Pro Bowl. Normally, a guy would just file his retirement papers with the league and that would be that. However, Saturday’s agent, Ralph Cindrich, said Saturday plans to sign the symbolic one-day contract and retire as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. That makes plenty of sense, since Saturday spent 13 seasons with the team.
However, for that to happen, the Packers need to release Saturday first.
#JeffSaturday retirement. Confirmed. Wants to retire as a #Colt. What is required: #Packers to release him. Colts resign for a day.
— Ralph Cindrich (@RalphCindrich) February 15, 2013
That brings us to the second and much more significant part.
Since Saturday is still on the roster, that means the second year of the two-year deal he signed last offseason is still counting against the Packers cap. The total of the second year is $3.75 million, which is broken down as a $1.35 million base and $2.4 million in miscellaneous bonuses.
The bonuses are not related to a signing bonus, so the Packers will actually gain all of that money back when they release Saturday.
In the big picture, that means the Packers will gain more cap room.
They have a little over $17 million in space after releasing Charles Woodson. When Saturday is officially gone, they’ll have over $20 million.