Packers Fire Two Defensive Coaches
Earlier in the day, the Packers fired defensive coordinator Dom Capers. They continued to clean house on the defensive side of the ball later in the day, letting go of inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley and defensive line coach Mike Trgovac, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reports.
McCurley joined the Packers in 2006 as an intern but quickly moved his way up the ladder. For the last four years, he served as assistant linebackers coach and helped oversee the transition to young linebackers like Blake Martinez. An NFL coach since 1995, Trgovac had been with the Packers since 2009 following an extended stay as the defensive coordinator in Carolina.
Ted Thompson Out As Packers GM
The Packers are now searching for a new general manager after Ted Thompson is expected to take a new role in the organization, sources tell NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link). 
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen confirmed Thompson will assume a new role within the team and the front office will undergo an overhaul, led by team president Mark Murphy (Twitter link).
Thompson has operated as the team’s general manager since 2005 and has been with the team through two stints since 1992. In his first NFL Draft, Thompson selected Aaron Rodgers with the 24th overall pick. Green Bay has been among the best teams in the draft since Thompson’s arrival, plucking stars like Clay Matthews and Jordy Nelson.
Under Thompson’s watch, the team advanced to the playoffs nine times and won the Super Bowl in 2010. The Packers missed the postseason for the first time since 2008 when it finished 7-9 in 2017.
There are several internal candidates to keep an eye on to take over as general manager, including director of college scouting Brian Gutekunst, director of football operations Eliot Wolf and vice president of football administration/player finance Russ Ball, Rapoport reports (Twitter link). Mortensen reported all three are expected to receive new duties with the change. (Twitter link). The team is expected hire a true general manager and will not operate with all three in the position, ESPN’s Jason Wilde reports (Twitter link).
Packers To Fire DC Dom Capers
Dom Capers‘ nine-season tenure as the Packers’ defensive coordinator looks to be over. Green Bay will part ways with Capers, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports.
This was the expected course of action for a Packers team that saw its eight-year playoff streak end this season. Demovsky adds there will be more changes on Green Bay’s defensive staff. Packers safeties coach Darren Perry is expected to receive consideration, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets.
The 67-year-old Capers has been a DC since his stellar work with the Steelers in the early 1990s. Twice a head coach, Capers could well be in demand by other teams as a defensive leader despite this dismissal. He’s been on an NFL sideline since the 1986 season.
Capers, though, has had the task of leading a defense for a franchise that largely eschews free agent help. He’s mostly coached players Ted Thompson‘s brought in through the draft, and the results have not been especially solid in recent years. Both the 2016 and 2017 Green Bay defenses have ranked 22nd in total defense, while the 2015 unit ranked 15th.
This marks just the third time Mike McCarthy’s fired a coordinator in 12 years as Green Bay’s HC. His ouster of Bob Sanders after the 2008 season brought Capers to Green Bay.
Capers’ units have been tasked with operating on a team led by Aaron Rodgers and have naturally been viewed as the weaker part of the Packers during the All-Pro-caliber quarterback’s run. Thompson, though, has used steady draft resources to aid the unit in recent years, using first- or second-round picks on the likes of Kenny Clark, Damarious Randall, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Kevin King, Quinten Rollins and Josh Jones. Injuries have also limited Green Bay’s defenses in recent years.
Due to the franchise’s continuity-centric ways, almost none of the team’s defenders has played in a different defensive system than Capers’ version of the 3-4, so it will be interesting to see how Thompson and Co. go about filling this vacancy. Demovsky notes Vic Fangio, who also runs a 3-4, could be a candidate.
A former Steelers defensive back under Capers, Perry has coached the Packers’ safeties throughout Capers’ tenure as DC.
Packers Expected To Part Ways With Dom Capers
It doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but the Packers are expected to part ways with longtime defensive coordinator Dom Capers, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Capers, 67, has been with the team since 2009, but it appears as if his ninth season will be his last.
Capers’ unit will finish outside the top-15 in league rankings for the sixth time in the past seven years, and the last time it enjoyed a top-10 ranking was in 2010, when the Packers won the Super Bowl. Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Capers could step down or retire to avoid the ignominy of a firing.
Silverstein opines that Green Bay has the makings of a solid defense, but that moving on from Capers is essential. He also believes that the team needs to bring in a new coordinator from outside the organization to provide the defense with a completely fresh start. He looks at some of the top names that could be available, including current Bears DC Vic Fangio and current Lions DC Teryl Austin, though it does not appear that there are currently any substantive rumors linking the Packers to the names on Silverstein’s list.
Capers, meanwhile, is probably prepared to call it a career. He broke into the league with the Saints in 1986 and has twice served as a head coach (for the expansion Panthers in 1995 and the expansion Texans in 2002). He has one Super Bowl ring, which, as noted above came as Green Bay’s DC in 2010.
Packers To Make Extension For Aaron Rodgers Top Priority
- The Packers recently extended Davante Adams, and Rapoport tweets that the team will make an extension for Aaron Rodgers its top priority this offseason.
Nick Perry Headed To Packers’ IR
Nick Perry won’t finish the season on the Packers’ active roster. Green Bay placed its top edge defender on IR on Saturday, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets.
The Packers signed fullback Joe Kerridge to take Perry’s spot on the 53-man unit. Perry was already set to miss Week 17 due to injuries.
Foot, ankle and shoulder ailments have slowed Perry this season. He played in 12 games and recorded seven sacks — four off his career-best 11 of last season. The 27-year-old outside linebacker played 542 snaps this season and graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 40 full-time edge defender. The Packers re-signed Perry to a five-year, $60MM deal, entrenching him as a big part of the franchise’s future.
Kerridge has played in 12 Packers games over the past two seasons.
Packers Sign Corey Linsley To Extension
A day after signing wideout Davante Adams to an extension, the Packers have locked up another key impending free agent. The team announced this morning that they’ve signed center Corey Linsley to a contract extension. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets that it’s a three-year, $25.5MM deal for the lineman.
Linsley has started each of the 53 games he’s played in since entering the league as a fifth-round pick in 2014. The Ohio State product has played a significant role in the Packers’ successful running game in 2017, which ranks fifth in the NFL in yards per carry (4.52). Despite Green Bay’s success, Pro Football Focus hasn’t been particularly fond of his performance, ranking him 23rd among 37 eligible center candidates. However, over the previous three years, Linsley has earned an above-average grade.
Despite PFF’s underwhelming grade, Linsley still earned a relatively lucrative contract extension. The $25.5MM contract value and $8.5MM average annual salary will both rank ninth among centers. With both Linsley and Adams locked up, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the Packers will shift their focus to extending quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Packers To Sign Davante Adams To Extension
The Packers are making it clear who their No. 1 receiver of the future will be, agreeing to an extension with Davante Adams, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
It’s a four-year deal, Schefter reports, and for money that will make him by far the Packers’ highest-paid wideout. Adams will soon be earning $14MM per year — $4MM more annually than Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb are making as a result of their Green Bay re-ups.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter) Adams’ deal is worth $58MM over four years. He will receive an $18MM signing bonus and $32MM in the first two years of the deal — one that will tie him to the Packers through 2021. Schefter reports it’s four years and $58.75MM (Twitter link).
By doing this deal now, the Packers could prorate Adams’ signing bonus over a five-year period, ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets. Adams was set to be a UFA in 2018, and this takes another higher-end receiver off the market.
It also makes Adams one of the NFL’s highest-paid wideouts. Only four wideouts — Antonio Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and Julio Jones — make more money per year than Adams will on his second contract.
The fourth-year target out of Fresno State has graduated to perhaps the Packers’ go-to skill player. During a full Aaron Rodgers season in 2016, Adams caught 75 passes for 997 yards and 12 touchdowns. This season, despite sustaining two concussions because of illegal hits, Adams is at 74/885/10 with Rodgers and Brett Hundley splitting time throwing to him. Adams has over 250 more yards than any other Green Bay pass-catcher and having just turned 25 is seven years younger than Nelson.
Both Nelson and Cobb are under contract for 2018, but each is attached to a $10MM salary. While the Packers could look to adjust these figures, they now have three wideouts attached to eight-figure-AAV deals. No other team matches that commitment.
For hardcore contract-minutia fans, Adams will be live-streaming his signing (Twitter link).
NFC North Notes: Vikings, Nelson, Trubisky
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was hired to his post mostly because of his mastery in calling an NFL defense. Zimmer was the Bengals defensive coordinator for six seasons before making the jump to the head coaching ranks in 2014. Although, he’s still been calling Minnesota’s defensive plays for the past four years. However, that is something that may change come 2018, reports Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune.
Krammer passes along that Zimmer almost gave up his playing calling duties this past year to defensive coordinator George Edwards. He ultimately decided against the move largely because of his success at calling defensive schemes for the past 18 years. Zimmer did express that Edwards is the main orchestrator of the team’s defensive game plan for the most part anyway.
“George does everything,” Zimmer said. “He helps with the game plan. He runs a lot of the meetings, the defensive meetings. Him and I really sit down and talk about all the different things that are going on. He studies the game just like he’s calling the game. So he’ll come in and talk to me about second down-and-whatever. ‘They’re doing this,’ or, ‘they’re doing that.’ Really, he does everything other than call the game on Sunday.”
Edwards used to call plays for the Bills back in 2011, but has taken a backseat in that regard in order to work as a member of Zimmer’s staff. This dynamic could be a subplot as we approach next year’s training camp because Zimmer appears to be letting go of the idea that he has to be the one making the final defensive decisions on Sundays.
“It’s a lot of work when you sit down and do it,” Zimmer said of calling plays. “I’ve done it for a long time. And because I have confidence in George, as well. I think maybe just the fact that, um, you know, I don’t know – I guess I’m just getting older.”
Here’s more stories from around the NFC North:
- In other Vikings news, wide receiver Jarius Wright is reported to have restructured his deal at the beginning of the season, which dropped his base salary from $2.5MM to $1.05MM, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). Goessling notes that Wright has earned weekly roster bonuses of about $93k in order to get back his original salary figure. With that in mind, he’ll have earned back the rest of his money by the time Week 17 kicks off.
- Packers longtime receiver Jordy Nelson appears to be stuck in limbo with the organization the drafted him back in 2008, opines Rob Demosvky of ESPN.com. Nelson, who’ll turn 33 over the summer has seen a major drop off in production in his 10th year in the NFL. Demovsky suggests that the veteran wideout may hinder the team’s ability to re-sign the more productive and younger Davante Adams, who’ll be a free agent this offseason. Nelson will collect about $10MM in salary and bonuses in 2018, which will make him more difficult to cut or trade in the next few months. Randall Cobb is signed long-term as well, but is five years Nelson’s junior, which makes him a better piece to have moving forward. Not being able to sign Adams would be a major blow for a Packers team that saw what life is like without Aaron Rodgers this year. This puts the Packers in a very difficult position entering a crucial offseason with the team having missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
- Mitch Trubisky has had his moments during his rookie campaign, but has largely faced a lot of difficulty in his first season in the NFL. It’s expected that the Bears coaching staff and roster will have a lot of turnover this offseason, but the young signal caller expects to take a “big jump” in 2018, reports Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. “I’m always motivated to get better,” Trubisky said. “I expect to make a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2. The experience I got this year, I’m definitely going to carry that with me into the offseason and expect to have a lot of momentum and just a full head of steam going into next year.” While he experienced a number of challenges in 2017, Trubisky emphasized “growth and development” in his reflection of his first foray into professional football. Expect the Bears to put an emphasis on surrounding Trubisky with more talent this offseason. He’s had to work with patchwork receiving groups all year long, which certainly does not bode well for his outlook moving forward. The former first round pick comes into Week 17 completing under 60% of his passes, while throwing just as many touchdowns as interceptions at seven apiece.
Packers Place Jason Spriggs Back On IR
The Packers used both of their IR-return designations this season, and each player will end the year back on the injury list.
Following Aaron Rodgers‘ one-game cameo, the Packers made the decision to place tackle Jason Spriggs back on IR as well. While Rodgers did not suffer a new injury, being sent back to IR because of Green Bay’s position in the NFC standings, Spriggs did and will miss the Packers’ Week 17 game against the Lions.
Spriggs suffered a knee injury that required cart transportation against the Vikings. A hamstring malady sent him to IR in September. The Packers made Spriggs their first IR-return player this season, and the second-year tackle returned to action in November.
The former second-round pick played in just seven games this season but made a career-high five starts for a Packers team ravaged by tackle injuries.