Five Free Agents the Packers Should Sign

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NFL Free Agency starts in three weeks, but this date has not really mattered to fans since Ted Thompson has become the General Manager.  The Green Bay Packers are a draft and develop team, plain and simple.  However, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network broke the story that the Packers were going to spend in free agency and spend big.  The latest news has the Packers signing up to five free agents to revamp their limp noodle defense.  The defensive line, linebacking core and secondary all need upgrades. 

Photo: Jersey Al's Packer Blog

Let me clear a few things up for Packers fans.  The Packers are not going to sign Jimmy Graham.  They will not be signing Jarius Byrd.  The franchise tag will be used on several of the top free agents available.  So, let’s take a look at five options the Packers can realistically add to their team through free agency.

Re-sign Sam Shields

Priority number one is resigning Sammy.  He has continued to grow each of the last four seasons and had his best season in 2013.  Tramon Williams had a bounce back second half of the season in 2013, so locking up Shields on the other side makes sense.  He will not come cheaply, especially since Drew Rosenhaus is his agent.  I do not expect the Packers to use the franchise tag on Shields, however I am expecting a deal to come before free agency begins.

Sign a safety: TJ Ward or Donte Whitner

TJ Ward may be franchised, so I will not spend a lot of time on him.  If he is not tagged, the Packers should take a look at pairing up the 27 year old to form a stronger back end of the secondary.  Whitner is a 28 year old safety that has played for the 49ers and has his best statistical year in 2013.  Whitner has always been known for his run stopping ability, but his coverage was always a liability.  Everything changed this year when he partnered with Eric Reid.  Whitner turned a corner with his coverage and would be a welcome addition to the Packers secondary. *Note- There has been internal Packers discussion about moving Micah Hyde to safety.

Sign OLB Jason Worilds

The Packers have been looking for a complimentary OLB to pair with Clay Matthews for a while.  Nick Perry has shown some flashes, however he has not been able to stay healthy.  Enter Jason Worilds.  The fifth year player out  of Pitt would fit perfectly across from Matthews.  Worilds broke out this year, with 8.0 sacks and ended up starting for Pittsburgh the second half of the season.  The Packers are not giving up on Perry, just being realistic by bringing in some talent far superior to anything previously on the roster.

Sign DT Jason Hatcher

You may have noticed B.J. Raji has not appeared on this list.  The Packers need someone who can make a difference in the middle.  Raji seems to have lost that and paying him eight million dollars a year is insane.  Here comes Hatcher from the Cowboys.  The Cowboys are in salary cap hell, so they are letting Hatcher go.  The 32 year old will be a great veteran addition to the young defensive line.  Hatcher had a career year with 11.0 sacks.  Do not expect 11 sacks next year, but maybe 6 or 7 from the DT. Anything  would be a huge improvement over Raji’s goose egg this year. The signing of Hatcher would be a good start, but the Packers should still draft a DT in the 1st or 2nd round of the upcoming draft.   Several mock drafts have the Packers linked to Notre Dame’s Louis Nix III and Minnesota’s Rashede Hageman as 1st round picks.

Sign a DE: Lamarr Houston/Corey Wooten/Julius Peppers

Things get a little murky here.  It is difficult to imagine the Packers signing a very high profile free agent like Houston.  If he is not franchised, the Raiders have over $60 million in cap space to resign the defensive end.  The 6’3”, 300 pound defensive end is exactly the player the Packers need to solidify the defensive line.  At 26 years old, he would be a great long tern fit if the Packers are willing to spend big.

It is much more likely the Packers will spend less and try to get some bang for their buck.  I give you Corey Wooten and Julius Peppers.  The Packers are raiding the Chicago Bears closet.  At 6’6’’, Wooten is the tall, athletic end Dom Capers is looking for.  2010 and 2011 were injury riddled seasons for Wooten, but he broke out with 7.0 sacks in 2012.  In 2013, the Bears were depleted at DT, so they moved him inside.  His sack total dipped to 3.5, but he was being a team player.  Wooten could be a bargain this year in free agency.

Peppers is most likely a cap casualty.  He has an $18.18 million cap hit this year.  He is 34 years old, but still has a little something left in the tank.  A 6’7’’ defensive end that only has to play on passing downs would be quite the fit.  There have a been a few rumors of Peppers heading back to Carolina on the cheap, but why not the Packers?

The Packers have plenty of holes and hopefully free agency will help fill a few and the draft will take care of the rest.  I still am a little skeptical of Thompson really hitting free agency hard, but the draft alone will not fix the Packers defense.  I did not address a few of the other free agents the Packers have, so let me hit those quickly.  I think Evan Dietrich-Smith is gone, with JC Tretter the most likely to fill in.  I am not sure anyone is going to pay James Jones the money he wants, but I do believe he will sign with the New York Giants to reunite with new offensive coordinator McAdoo.  I also believe Finley will be with another team next season and I fully expect the Packers to address the TE position in the draft.  I still have a gut feeling that Brandon Bostick will be a really good TE in a year or two.

Packers fans can finally look forward to free agency, but do not expect this trend to continue every year.  This has the feeling of a one night stand between Ted Thompson and the free agent market.


Until next time, Beers, Brats, and Championships.

-Steve Perhach

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Packers Needs By Position: Defense/Special Teams

Yesterday, I looked at the Packers’ needs on offense. Today, I’ll look at the defense and special teams. Let’s go.

Defensive End

•   Mike Neal
•   Mike Daniels
•   Jerel Worthy
•   CJ Wilson

Neal, Daniels, and Worthy are all in the same boat; young players that have shown flashes of dominance but can’t maintain a high level of play over the course of a game. Neal has been around longer and has had more injury issues as well as a suspension, so he’s probably on thinner ice than the other two. Wilson is a solid run defender but doesn’t bring much in the pass rush department. An upgrade would be useful here.

Free agency doesn’t offer much, and certainly not in the 3-4 end category. The team brought in Chris Canty (who’d likely be an end in the Packers’ system) for a visit, but he’s pretty average and they haven’t offered a deal yet. Mike Devito, Richard Seymour, and Ricky Jean Francois would be fits, and Israel Idonije and Jonathan Fanene could probably handle a transition to the 3-4. I’ve always liked Trevor Scott and Matt Shaughnessy but they’re both too undersized for the scheme. All four of the current ends are Ted Thompson draft picks, and it seems likely he’d address the position that way, though a reunion with Cullen Jenkins would have been nice, however he signed with the Giants today. Oh well.
Need: High

Defensive Tackle

•   Ryan Pickett
•   BJ Raji
•   Jordan Miller

Pickett is still useful but is well past his prime. Raji is their best lineman but hasn’t quite been the dominant force they need him to be. After a tremendous 2010, BJ’s performance has dropped off the last two seasons. Miller hasn’t seen any regular season snaps and is likely a non-factor.

There are some free agents with 3-4 mileage but the team isn’t going to replace Raji or Pickett, unless the team decides it’s time to cut Pickett. Isaac Sopoaga is a pretty good player and can play tackle or end, he’d be a hell of a fit but will have a high price tag. A rookie to groom behind Raji and Pickett seems like a probable thing that will happen.
Need: Low

Inside Linebacker

•   Desmond Bishop
•   DJ Smith
•   AJ Hawk
•   Brad Jones (FA)
•   Rob Francois
•   Terrell Manning
•   Micah Johnson

What A.J. Hawk thinks of your run game.

Bishop and Smith should probably be the starters if healthy. Both are coming off knee injuries so that’s not a given. Hawk is an average player who’s a cut candidate because of his price tag. He played well during the Super Bowl run but has had a rough couple of years since. Jones (who’s a free agent) has always been more of a 4-3 OLB type than a 3-4 ILB but performed admirably when forced into action. Ideally, he’s a backup. Francois is a good special teamer who has played well when given defensive snaps but was passed over last year for some reason when injuries happened. The reluctance to play him was rather puzzling. Manning hasn’t been able to get on the field since being drafted.

Free agency won’t be a thing. Not much out there to begin with. Probably a couple draftees/UFAs for competition and depth but unless Bishop and Smith are slow to recover I don’t see a major move happening.
Need: Medium

Outside Linebacker

•   Clay Matthews
•   Nick Perry
•   Frank Zombo (RFA)
•   Erik Walden (FA)
•   Dezman Moses
•   Jamari Lattimore

Eat your hearts out, literally.

Matthews kicks balls, metaphorically speaking. Everyone else......much less so, both literally and figuratively. Perry was drafted to be a bookend to Clay but sustained an ACL injury and missed most of the season, meaning the awful backups had to play. Walden has the occasional big game but overall was pretty bad and was an absolute disaster in the playoff loss to the 49ers, contributing to the defeat in a big way. He has no grasp of what contain is. Fortunately, he’s a free agent. Moses and Zombo play hard but aren’t good enough to be any more than backups. Lattimore isn’t anything to get excited about.

Even with Perry around the team can’t put itself in the same position it was in last year, especially considering Matthews isn’t exactly an ironman either. This seems like a position where free agency may be necessary. Paul Kruger is a hot (and probably expensive) free agent name but Shaun Phillips and Connor Barwin are solid players that can take some pressure off of Matthews. As is the theme, the draft is an option but with Perry around they already have a young prospect with starting potential. Either way depth is an absolute necessity.
Need: High

Cornerback

•   Tramon Williams
•   Sam Shields (RFA)
•   Casey Hayward
•   Davon House
•   Jarrett Bush
•   James Nixon

Williams has been average at best the last two seasons, and that’s kind. He’s not the aggressive playmaker he was, and isn’t physical in coverage anymore. He’s already been told he has to compete for a starting job, and rightfully so. Hayward had fantastic rookie season, and House showed promise after basically redshirting the previous year. Shields was also excellent despite some missed time and eased some concerns after a sluggish 2011. Bush is the special teams ace that shouldn’t see many defensive snaps.
 
The team has their five corners. Moving on....
Need: Low

Safety

•   Morgan Burnett
•   MD Jennings
•   Jerron McMillian
•   Sean Richardson
•   Chaz Powell

Like cornerback, there’s some promise here. Jennings and McMillian both showed some flashes, Burnett looked solid and was probably underrated amid the 2011 defensive disaster. All three could use a little work in run support, and Burnett at times seems hesitant to make plays on the ball. The team seems to like Richardson, who was a college teammate of Hayward’s. He could see a bump in playing time much like Jennings did in 2012. Jarrett Bush can also fill in here, though once again that’s far from optimal. Overall, none of these guys look like a star, but at worst they should be average players going forward.

While adding a free agent seems extremely unlikely, it’s a terrific class. It wouldn’t be outlandish for the team to bring in a veteran for depth or look to add a playmaker in the wake of Charles Woodson’s departure, but there’s better ways to spend cap space. Spending a draft pick here seems iffy unless it’s a best-player-available scenario.
Need: Low-ish

Kicker

•   Mason Crosby

Well all know Crosby had a bad year. In fact, 2011 was Crosby’s only actual good year, and he was bad enough in 2012 to even it out. His accuracy will probably never be great, but his leg cannon is a weapon on kickoffs and he’s still a threat to make a field goal from any distance.

Of the free agents, Steven Hauschka is the only guy I even remotely like, and his skill set isn’t all that dissimilar from Crosby. They won’t sign a FA anyways, it’s far more likely they bring in a camp body just to provide competition. They’re financially committed to Mason, so I doubt a change happens.
Need: Medium

Punter

•   Tim Masthay

Masthay is really, really good. Seriously, you guys.
Need: Nope

Long Snapper

•   Brett Goode

Most of you probably didn’t even know who the Packers’ long snapper is, which is as good a thing as you can say about a long snapper.
Need: Does anyone ever need a new long snapper?

Until next time, Beers, Brats, and Championships.

- Jerry Eldred (@jheldred)

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