The Green Bay Packers have officially signed seventh-round pick Michael Pratt. Over the Cap now has the details on what Pratt’s rookie deal will look like.
Pratt earned a standard four-year rookie contract that totals $4.106 million with a signing bonus of $86,940.
Pratt will receive the full signing bonus up front, but from a salary cap perspective, that $86,940 can be pro-rated over the life of the contract. Or, in short, the cap hit in 2024 from that bonus is just $21,735.
That pro-rated signing bonus amount plus a base salary of $795,000 makes up Pratt’s cap hit for this season, which totals $816,735.
Moving forward, beyond 2024, a $21,735 cap hit from the pro-rated signing bonus will be on the Packers’ books all four years of the contract, along with Pratt’s base salary increasing each year as well.
In 2025, Pratt’s base salary will be $960,000. In 2026 it increases to $1.075 million, and then $1.190 million in 2027.
Here is a look at what Pratt’s cap hit will be each season:
2024: $816,735
2025: $981,735
2026: $1.096 million
2027: $1.211 million
Although the Packers just drafted Sean Clifford in the fifth-round of last year’s draft, Brian Gutekunst mentioned at the NFL Combine that he wanted to get back to drafting and developing quarterbacks.
My interpretation of this addition is that it was more so about getting back to an organizational philosophy that prioritizes developing this position rather than the team feeling they had to find an upgrade for Clifford. By all accounts, the Packers are quite bullish on what they saw from Clifford last season.
Of course, the Packers will embrace any competition that Pratt provides, but with Clifford having a year of experience in Matt LaFleur’s system under his belt, he will have a clear leg up in any potential competition that may or may not ensue.
Pratt was a team captain at Tulane and improved his completion percentage each season. He has a big arm and as LaFleur has pointed out, he’s comfortable hanging in the pocket when pressure is around.
“Obviously a winner,” said Gutekunst of Pratt. “He really turned that program around. Started a lot of games for them. I think he won 21 or more games over the past two years. He’s a good athlete. He’s got a pretty live arm. Very accurate.
“Just like the way he handled himself. He had some big wins, so we’re excited. I wanted to add a quarterback and a bunch went early, so there wasn’t a lot of guys available in the mid-rounds. So as we got later and later he was kind of the only left that we wanted to target, so that was kind of nice.”
