GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Perhaps the most important figure -- at least to the Green Bay Packers -- in the four-year contract extension that Jordy Nelson signed Saturday is the salary-cap number.
That would help determine how much wiggle room vice president of player finance Russ Ball will have to work with for future contract extensions, most notably for receiver Randall Cobb.
Ball no doubt structured Nelson's deal with that in mind and came up with a salary-cap number for 2014 of $5.925 million. Before the deal, Nelson's cap was number slated to be $4.375 million, so the Packers were forced to add only another $1.55 million to their cap for this season. They did so, in part, by lowering Nelson's 2014 base salary by $1.05 million.
Before Nelson's deal, the Packers had $13,669,119 million in available cap space.
While Nelson received a signing bonus of $11.5 million, the deal was otherwise back-loaded (see the 2017 and 2018 base salaries below). He will be 33 years old when he heads into the final season of the deal.
The total new money in Nelson's four-year extension is $39 million, an average of $9.7 million per season (which would make him the ninth-highest-paid receiver in the NFL). However, factoring in the 2014 season, the last under his old deal, the total money is $42.55 million over five seasons or an average of $8.51 million per season.
Here's a breakdown of Nelson’s contract extension, based on ESPN Stats & Information salary data:
2014
Cash value: $14.25 million
Salary-cap charge: $5.925 million
Signing bonus: $11.5 million
Base salary: $2 million
Roster bonus: Up to $500,000 ($31,250 per game active)
Workout bonus: $250,000
2015
Cash value: $2.3 million
Salary-cap charge: $4.6 million
Base salary: $1.3 million
Roster bonus: Up to $500,000 ($31,250 per game active)
Workout bonus: $500,000
2016
Cash value: $6.5 million
Salary-cap charge: $8.8 million
Base salary: $5.5 million
Roster bonus: Up to $500,000 ($31,250 per game active)
Workout bonus: $500,000
2017
Cash value: $9.25 million
Salary-cap charge: $11.55 million
Base salary: $8.25 million
Roster bonus: Up to $500,000 ($31,250 per game active)
Workout bonus: $500,000
2018
Cash value: $10.25 million
Salary-cap charge: $12.55 million
Base salary: $9.25 million
Roster bonus: Up to $500,000 ($31,250 per game active)
Workout bonus: $500,000