The offseason is here for the Green Bay Packers, and they should already be teeing up decisions to not bring these free agents back.
The Green Bay Packers are in bad shape financially for 2023, $16.48 million above the cap going into the offseason, the seventh-worst in the league. That reality defines the way in which Green Bay will move forward and make decisions this offseason.
While the team can feasibly restructure some contracts to get themselves in a much better situation, it looks and feels like next year’s Packers will be a lot different than the Packers of recent years.
Aaron Rodgers has hinted at a breakup with the team that might not even be his choice (Rodgers is not a free agent, remember, he would need to be traded or retire to not be a Packer next season). That decision alone would signal the Packers are moving toward a rebuild and looking toward the future. If that’s the case, the team can’t do a ton of restructuring with contracts since it will only move financial concerns into future years when the Packers will desperately need cap space to build its new team.
They’re projected for tons of space in 2024 and should aim to keep it that way, not move tons of money to later years, kicking the proverbial can down the road.
This year, there are some re-signings the team needs to make. Free agent Yosh Nijman is young and clearly a necessary piece of protection for whoever is throwing the ball for the Packers moving forward, for instance.
Better to save some money by saying “no thanks, move along” in the right places for the sake of those signings as well as the team’s future.
Free agents Packers should happily let walk: Dean Lowry
After having a career year in 2021, the 2022 version of Dean Lowry showed he may have hit a wall in his development that removes him from the equation in Green Bay altogether.
After 3.0 and 5.0 sacks, respectively, in the previous two seasons, Lowry only put up half a sack in 2022. He had 26 quarterback pressures in 2020 and 2021 combined but just six in 2022 (and just one quarterback hurry all year).
PFF graded him a 59.3 in 2022 after he achieved a 67.0 in 2021.
Sure, he missed the final two games of the year, but he still had plenty of games to show up and prove his worth in. He failed to do so.
Lowry hasn’t been worth the ~$6.75+ million he’s been getting from Green Bay the last two seasons and it’s time for him to go.
The case to be made for re-signing Lowry is that his bummer of a 2022 campaign will probably put him at a more affordable price point compared to others available at the position in the open market. If the Packers truly think they can salvage something and emulate what he did in 2021 moving forward, there may be validity to bringing him back.
That’s not the argument we’re making here, though. Time to cut ties.
Free agents Packers should happily let walk: Adrian Amos
Adrian Amos did not have a good year. Pro Football Focus graded him at 54.2 after he achieved grades of 75 or higher in previous seasons.
Amos gave up a career-high in yards per target and yards per completion while allowing one of the highest completion percentages throughout his five-year career thus far. He improved in the tackling department — both in terms of limiting yards after the catch and raw tackling numbers — but that came at the expense of allowing passes to be completed in the first place.
His passer rating allowed when targeted was a whopping 107.7.
Spotrac predicts Amos will get a salary reduction — from his $9 million to around $6.8 — next year, but the Packers don’t have room for that kind of a spend, especially on a guy who took a massive step back in 2023.
To be fair to Amos, the numbers referenced here paced with some other members of the Packers’ secondary, but not many of those other players at fault for poor pass defense are free agents and expected to get such a paycheck next year.
This will be an easy one to look past.
Free agents Packers should happily let walk: Randall Cobb
OK, look, when Cobb leaves, it might not feel exactly “happy” for the Packers. Cobb has spent 10 of his 12 NFL seasons in Green Bay in two separate stints, and almost every one of those years came with playoff expectations.
Cobb, who has represented Green Bay in a Pro Bowl, is one of the first players you think of when you think of the Green and Yellow of the 2010s. There’s a reason Aaron Rodgers likes him and wanted him back, the receiver has nearly cracked the top 10 in receiving yards in Packers history and is fifth in targets thanks to his status as one of Rodgers’ top receivers.
But it’s likely time to move on from the Rodgers era, and the Packers should be happy to move on from Cobb for that reason: Its symbolism of a turning of a page that needs to happen sooner than later. That might sting for a moment, but it will be happy for the Packers if it allows them the opportunity to reset and build back stronger, which if history has taught us anything, it should. And with Rodgers’ departure will come some collateral ones, too, Cobb being one of them.
Cobb is older and past his prime. He still has some value and if he wants to continue his career, a team will likely pay him. But unfortunately, he doesn’t fit the cost savings need the Packers are currently in, and his latest stint here was partially motivated by Rodgers’ presence, which we expect to come to an end.