Basically its a 1 year deal for 8.5 million with a friendly cap hit for the Packers in 2014 with limited dead money in 2015 and 2016. Unless part of the 30 million max is other bonuses (Pro Bowl, certain #sacks etc) or includes a really really huge 2016 base salary his cap hit will be well over 10 million in 2015 and 2016.
If he plays well he has already shown his willingness to restructure so I could see him agreeing to something else next season as well.
I guess you can consider this a blockbuster signing for the Packers simply because of the name alone but it is a short term fix. It may turn out to be a great short term fix as I do expect him to contribute a great deal to the Packers pass rush but we will be left with a similar situation next season. Hopefully by then Jones will have come on strong and we can make a seamless transition.
I'm excited because I have seen how disruptive he can be but my excitement is tempered by the fact that he is 34 years old and is pretty much a stopgap fill in. Regardless, I suspect for at least 2014 our pass rush just got a whole lot better.
There is another possible outcome that I will not go into details about until I see the details of this deal but suffice it to say it involves unclear (to me anyway) terminology a lot more than 3.5 million in cap hit this year.
Originally Posted by: sschind