"Running back Ryan Grant, facing the possibility of being released by the Green Bay Packers, strengthened his chances of making the final roster by accepting a $1 million pay cut in exchange for a guaranteed contract.

The Packers and Alan Herman, the agent for Grant, negotiated a restructured deal Aug. 9 in which Grant's base salary was reduced from $3.5 million to $2.5 million. His cap salary this year decreased from $4.797 million to $3.797 million.

In return, Grant's new base salary of $2.5 million was fully guaranteed against both skill and injury, according to financial information obtained by the Journal Sentinel.

Thus, if the Packers were to cut Grant on the final roster reduction Sept. 3, they would have to pay him the $2.5 million. Before the restructuring, they wouldn't have had to pay him the $3.5 million if he had been waived before the start of the regular season.

No other alterations were made to the final year of the four-year, $18 million contract that Grant signed in August 2008.

Earlier this month, Grant was paid a roster bonus of $1 million on the 15th day of the NFL year. He can earn another $750,000 in incremental roster bonuses by being active for games.

For Grant, it was protection against a potential dramatic loss in income. Had Grant been released, he might have had to play elsewhere for the $685,000 minimum salary.

After his largely unimpressive training camp, it was possible that Grant, 28, has been competing with improving Dimitri Nance, 23, for one roster berth. Nance's base salary is $450,000.

For the Packers, they gained $1 million under the salary cap, space they could use to resign such veterans as Josh Sitton, Jermichael Finley and Scott Wells.

The Packers also picked up an additional $980,000 of cap room on Aug. 9 when Herman approved an accounting change involving the contract of safety Nick Collins. The shift of money did not represent a pay cut for Collins."