The proven performance escalator might not always be a great thing for NFL players. In Royce Newman's case, it forced him to take a paycut to be with the Green Bay Packers for training camp.

After Newman's 2024 base salary jumped to $3.116 million, resulting in a $3.24 million cap hit, based on his career snaps, the Packers had to approach him about a paycut. Newman accepted it, which allowed the offensive guard to be around for preseason.

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New numbers

Royce Newman took a $866,000 paycut, and the team also converted $1 million from his base salary to per-game roster bonuses. With that sequence of adjustments, Newman gets a $1.25 million base salary, which means his 2024 cap hit will be at $2.374 million.

It's also notable that none if it is guaranteed. So the adjustment doesn't secure Newman a roster spot, even though it opens the door for him to compete.

If the Packers still decide to release Royce Newman at some point before week 1, they would open $2.25 million in extra cap space.

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Performance

A fourth-round pick in 2021, Royce Newman won the starting right guard job as a rookie and played 1,081 snaps — plus three as a left guard. It was a solid season, with a 60.2 pass block grade by PFF — a 55.7 overall grade.

In 2022, with David Bakhtiari splitting reps with Yosh Nijman and Elgton Jenkins still out, Newman had to play 109 snaps as a right tackle. Later in the season, he moved back to right guard, with another 334 snaps. He finished the season with a better overall grade (57.5), but a worse pass block grade (54.9) than he did as a rookie.

Last season was the worst of Newman's career. He had 181 snaps at left guard replacing Elgton Jenkins at various points of the season, finishing with a 44.3 offensive grade and 52.2 pass block grade.

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Roster battle

This year, the Packers ended up drafting three offensive linemen (Jordan Morgan, Jacob Monk, and Travis Glover). They also added veterans Andre Dillard and Lecitus Smith, plus undrafted rookie Donovan Jennings.

With all these additions, and considering his recent decline in performance, Royce Newman will have a tough time to make the initial 53-man roster. However, the contract adjustment gives him a chance. For the Packers, it creates cap space without affecting the competitive nature of training camp — and ultimately, this version of the contract is more tradable if Green Bay decides to move on.

Packers follow franchise’s basic philosophy to revamp the offensive line

Positional breakdown: Offensive line