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Offseason In Review: Green Bay Packers

August 10th, 2017 at 6:23pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Packers have earned postseason berths in eight consecutive seasons, but they haven’t made a Super Bowl appearance since the 2010 campaign. While most NFL clubs would be satisfied with that record of sustained success, anything less than a championship is a disappointment for a team that boasts one of the league’s two best quarterbacks. Green Bay is hardly ever active during the free agent period, but the club’s front office had work to do — especially on the defensive side of the ball — this offseason.

Notable signings:

The Packers made Nick Perry the 28th overall selection in the 2012 draft, but after he started only 16 total games through his first four seasons in Green Bay, it was fair to label the USC Trojan a bust. He hit the open market in 2016 at the age of 25 after the Packers declined his fifth-year option, but after generating little interest as a free agent, Perry re-signed with Green Bay for just $5MM on a one-year contract.Nick Perry

Things changed in 2016: as Perry explained to Robert Mays of the Ringer, he began “expanding his vision” and acting “more aggressive in his initial movements,” and the results were almost immediate. Perry reached a career-high with 14 starts and played on nearly 60% of the Packers’ defensive snaps. In that time, he registered 11 sacks, 47 quarterback pressures, and 37 defensive stops, with that final total being good for ninth among edge defenders, per Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus. For his efforts, Perry was rewarded with a pact which ranks 10th among pass rushers in annual value and 15th in full guarantees.

While Perry’s return should help the Packers maintain a pass rush that ranked eighth in adjusted sack rate last season, new addition Ricky Jean-Francois will assist in the run game, where Green Bay finished 14th in DVOA. Jean-Francois, 30, is a classic Packers signing: he’s a not-too-flashy veteran who’d been cut by his previous team (the Redskins), meaning his signing won’t affect the 2018 compensatory formula. With Letroy Guion now off the roster, and rookie defensive lineman Montravius Adams expected to miss time, Jean-Francois — whom Green Bay had reportedly been interested in for years — should see ample playing time.

Fixing the front seven wasn’t the main concern for the Packers this offseason, however, as the team’s secondary was its primary area of weakness in 2016. Green Bay ranked 23rd in pass defense DVOA, per Football Outsiders, and finished 26th, 26th, and 28th, against opposing No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 wide receivers. To address their defensive backfield, the Packers brought back a familiar face, signing Davon House — who spent 2011-14 in Green Bay — to a one-year deal. House lost his starting role with the Jaguars a season ago, but he’s now back with defensive coordinator Dom Capers, under whom House played well during his prior Packers stint. The early reviews on the 28-year-old have been positive, and it won’t be surprising if he’s a starting corner in Week 1.

On offense, Green Bay signed veteran right guard Jahri Evans, who will be entering his 12th NFL season. Now 33 years old, Evans has been extremely durable throughout his career, as he’s missed only seven total games. 2016 will mark his first campaign as a non-Saint, but Evans should immediately slide into the right guard vacancy created by T.J. Lang‘s free agent defection. While Evans isn’t the All Pro lineman he was in the latter portion of the 2000s, he’s still an above-average guard: last year, Evans graded as the league’s No. 33 guard among 75 qualifiers, according to Pro Football Focus.Martellus Bennett

The Packers double-dipped at tight end, agreeing to multi-year contracts with both Martellus Bennett and Lance Kendricks. While both are assured of roster spots, Bennett will undoubtedly play more snaps, as he’s arguably the best tight end Aaron Rodgers have ever played with. Catching passes from Tom Brady in 2016, Bennett managed 73 receptions for 701 yards and seven touchdowns while finishing fifth among NFL tight ends in yards per target. Bennett posted those totals while dealing a myriad of injuries, so if he’s able to stay healthy during the upcoming season, he could reach or surpass career-highs in several statistical categories.

Kendricks, meanwhile, will allow the Packers to run two-tight end sets, something they did on only 9% of plays a season ago, per the Football Outsiders Almanac. The 29-year-old Kendricks has reportedly ingratiated himself in Green Bay, as he’s already running ahead of fellow tight end Richard Rodgers in some offensive packages, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com writes. Despite playing on one of the league’s worst offense last season, Kendricks posted a career-high 50 receptions, but still earned atrocious blocking grades from PFF.

Notable losses:

Aside from Ty Montgomery, who shifted from wide receiver to running back midway through the 2016 season, every running back who attempted a carry for the Packers last season is now off the roster. James Starks, Christine Michael, and Don Jackson were all cut, while Eddie Lacy was allowed to leave as a free agent. Green Bay reportedly had some interest in retaining Lacy, as he indicated in February that general manager Ted Thompson & Co. had been “very vocal” about bringing Lacy back. However, subsequent reports said the Packers weren’t offering Lacy much money, and he eventually signed with Seattle for one year and $4.25MM. Lacy is only 26 years old, but he hadn’t been effective, healthy, or in shape for the past two seasons, so his loss won’t loom large in 2017.

The Packers probably won’t miss tight end Jared Cook, either, but that’s not because he wasn’t productive a season ago. Despite missing six games, Cook still posted 30 receptions for 377 yards and a score, and he seemed to come into his own near the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. Cook averaged 4 catches and 59 yards in Green Bay’s final three regular season contests, and then totaled 18 receptions, 229 yards, and two scores in the Packers’ three postseason games. It was a solid showing that made Cook the second-best tight end available on the free agent market — but Green Bay added the No. 1 free agent tight end in Martellus Bennett, rendering Cook superfluous.T.J. Lang (Vertical)

Although the Packers have allowed starting offensive linemen to walk in consecutive free agent periods, it remains to be seen if that strategy will hurt the club up front. In 2016, Green Bay released All Pro guard Josh Sitton, but subsequently improved along the line, going from 25th to 19th in adjusted line yards and 23rd to 11th in adjusted sack rate. This year, the Packers lost both T.J. Lang and J.C. Tretter, and while Green Bay probably didn’t make much of an effort to retain Tretter given the presence of Corey Linsley at center, the club did attempt to bring back Lang, who narrowed his choices to Detroit, Seattle, and Green Bay before inking a three-year deal with the Lions. The Packers reportedly offered only $21.5MM over three years and $6.5MM guaranteed, while the Lions handed Lang $28.5MM and $19MM in guarantees over the same three-year term.

Green Bay didn’t appear to make a serious effort to re-sign defensive back Micah Hyde, either, and he went on to land a five-year, $30MM pact with the Bills. While Hyde wasn’t necessarily an exceptional player, he was a serviceable jack-of-all-trades who could function at either cornerback or safety. Last year, the 26-year-old Hyde appeared in all 16 games (11 starts) and played roughly 80% of the Packers’ defensive snaps. He also saw action on more than half the club’s special teams plays, so Hyde was a true four-down player. That’s a valuable skill-set, especially given Green Bay’s woes in the secondary, but the Packers didn’t seem interested in keeping Hyde, who graded as the league’s No. 55 corner, per PFF.

While Hyde saw his snap percentage increase in 2016, veteran edge rusher Julius Peppers had had his snap count reduced in each of the past three seasons. In his age-36 campaign, Peppers started 11 games but only played on 58% of the Packers’ defensive snaps (down from 66% in 2015 and 74% in 2015). While his sack total dipped to 7.5, Peppers still finished 29th among 3-4 outside linebackers in PFF’s pass rush productivity metric. Perhaps looking to get younger on the defensive side of the ball, Green Bay wasn’t interested in matching Carolina’s $3.5MM offer to Peppers.

Earlier today, the Packers made the decision to cut ties with defensive tackle Letroy Guion, who started 15 games for the club in 2016. Already set to serve a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s PED policy, Guion was arrested for DUI in June and may have had extra games tacked onto his ban. Despite his talent at stopping the run, Guion had run afoul of bylaws one too many times, and though Green Bay had looked past his transgressions in the past, the team had seen enough. Because the Packers had already restructured Guion’s contract by delaying his roster bonuses, the club is on the hook for fewer than $200K in dead money.

Trades:

Draft picks:

While the Packers didn’t necessarily address all their weak areas during the free agent period, they did so in the draft, using half of their 10 selections on the secondary or the backfield. After trading out of the first round, Green Bay picked up Washington corner Kevin King with the first choice of Day 2, and he’s already impressed during camp and is expected to start during his rookie year. Exceptional against long balls, King didn’t give up a single touchdown on 36 deep passes (20+ air yards) over the past three seasons, per Pro Football Focus.Jamaal Williams (Vertical)

After losing a cavalcade of veteran backs this spring, Green Bay revamped its backfield by selecting thee runners on Days 2 and 3 of the draft: BYU’s Jamaal Williams, UTEP’s Aaron Jones, and Utah State’s Devante Mays. Although Jones is excellent in the passing game, Williams is already making a charge for the Packers’ starting running back job, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com recently wrote. Specifically, Williams has been working on blitz pickup, a skill which could allow him to play on passing downs.

Elsewhere, defensive tackle Montravius Adams could miss the start of the season after undergoing foot surgery, and his loss — combined with Letroy Guion‘s release– could force the Packers to lean on inexperienced players or scour the free agent market. Second-rounder Josh Jones will serve as Green Bay’s third safety (and potential future Morgan Burnett replacement), and both he and linebacker Vince Biegel will likely begin their respective careers on special teams duty. Receiver DeAngelo Yancey was considered an undrafted free agent but went in the fifth round, per Lance Zierlein of NFL.com, while fellow wideout Malachi Dupre offers an intriguing blend of size/speed (here’s his MockDraftable profile) and pedigree (he’s a former five-star recruit who ranked as the top wideout in the 2014 high school class).

Extensions and restructures:

  • Letroy Guion, DT: Restructured contract. Delayed 2017 roster bonuses from March and May to Weeks 9 and 15, respectively. Reduced roster bonuses from $400K each to $300K each. Was subsequently released.

Other:

Green Bay’s decision to pick up Ha Ha Clinton-Dix‘s fifth-year option was a complete no-brainer, as the fourth-year pro has quietly become one of the NFL’s most underrated defensive backs. He’s played more than 1,000 snaps in each of the past three campaigns, and last year graded as the league’s No. 22 safety per PFF while being named second-team All Pro. While he’s now under control through 2018, Clinton-Dix is a candidate for an extension in the near future, probably at an annual cost north of $10MM.

Top 10 cap charges for 2017:

  1. Aaron Rodgers, QB: $20,300,000
  2. Clay Matthews, LB: $15,075,000
  3. Randall Cobb, WR: $12,656,250
  4. Jordy Nelson, WR: $11,550,000
  5. Mike Daniels, DL: $10,400,000
  6. Bryan Bulaga, T: $7,850,000
  7. Morgan Burnett, S: $6,981,250
  8. David Bakhtiari, T: $6,171,000
  9. Nick Perry, LB: $5,925,000
  10. Martellus Bennett, TE: $3,850,000

Green Bay’s offseason was — by almost any measure — a success, as the club’s front office re-signed one of the team’s best defensive players, used its top draft pick to add to aid a poor pass defense, and added three young running backs to an RB corps lacking options. With Aaron Rodgers in tow, the NFC North is always an expected prize. A Super Bowl victory is the ultimate end game, and the Packers look to have as good a chance of taking the title belt as any team in the NFC.

Information from Over the Cap and Roster Resource was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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