In an off-season where teams are maneuvering to get under the salary cap, Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst and negotiator Russ Ball are working wonders to get the team under the cap and are essentially running it back. On Friday, the team officially announced the re-signing of cornerback Kevin King.

The Packers selected cornerback Kevin King in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He has started 36 games with the Packers, while playing in 41. During his career, King has 169 tackles (129 solo), six interceptions, 34 passes defensed, six tackles for a loss, a sack, a QB hit, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Something that I found interesting when I was one Kevin King’s player page on the Packers website, is that among NFL cornerbacks who played 500-plus snaps during the 2020 regular season, King was targeted the sixth-fewest times (51) and had the eighth-fewest burns with 32 (occurs when a targeted defensive player allows a completed pass). To me, that is a crazy stat and something that I did not realize was occurring during the season.

Since he was drafted in 2017, King started all four of the playoff games he was part of. In those contests he recorded 19 tackles (14 of them solo), three passes defended and a tackle for a loss.

There were many fans you did not want King to return to the team. Either way, given the teams current salary cap situation, Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur have to be pretty excited to get a player back at a premium position with a relatively low salary cap number.

Salary Breakdown

In 2021, King will actually have a lower salary cap number than fellow cornerback Josh Jackson, by about $50,000. He salary will actually be $1,937,500 this season. That is pretty remarkable.

That Packers used something called void years, to keep King’s salary cap number low. Essentially, its a one-year deal with four voidable years. This allows his $3.75 million signing bonus to be prorated over five years. .

The cap savings of roughly $3 million will be absorbed on the 2022 cap when the contract is then voided. Kevin King will is then able to test the free agent waters next off-season, when the salary cap is expected to go up.

This is a good deal for the Packers. It allows them to bring a player back, who plays a premium position, at a relatively low price.

Go Pack Go!

Anthony Haag is a writer for PackersTalk.com. He has been a Packers fan since the day he was born and truly bleeds green and gold. He makes annual visits to Lambeau Field and has attended his fair share of games. You can follow Anthony on Twitter at @anthony_haag