2021 NFL Free Agency: Best Available Linebackers
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Free agency officially kicked off with the beginning of the league-year on March 17. Here is a look at the Green Bay Packers' situation at inside linebacker and the best of the remaining free agents.
The Packers’ Picture
Packers Need (1-10 scale): 6. It would be interesting to know what new defensive coordinator Joe Barry thinks of the linebacker group he inherited. When he hasn’t been a coordinator, he’s been a linebackers coach – including the previous four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. Last year’s rookie duo of Krys Barnes and Kamal Martin showed some potential. But did they show enough to roll into the upcoming season depending on them to be the tandem?
“The inside linebacker position, specifically, some people call it FBI, football instincts, I think that is so important,” Barry said. “That’s why the evaluation process is so vital because I equate playing inside linebacker to playing running back. You can’t teach a running back how to have instincts and awareness. I call those, Those are God-given abilities. Now, we can teach guys how to use their hands a little bit better, we can teach them how to play a little bit more square. We can teach them what to key and what to specifically look at. But good linebackers, they’re given with instincts, they’re given awareness. That’s not coached. You can’t coach awareness. You can’t coach instincts.”
If nothing else, the Packers are a man down after releasing veteran Christian Kirksey.
Packers Free Agents: Remember James Burgess? Perhaps not. The Packers grabbed him off Atlanta’s practice squad and he played in four games. All 51 of his snaps came on special teams, and he tied for fifth on the team with three tackles before going on IR with an injured hamstring. An undrafted free agent in 2017, he started nine games as a rookie with Cleveland and 10 games for the Jets in 2019. He’s got some inside-outside versatility, with four sacks as a rookie and 20 tackles for losses during his starting seasons.
Top 12 Unrestricted Free Agents
RE-SIGNED: Jayon Brown, Tennessee: A fifth-round pick in 2017, Brown isn’t big (6-0, 226) but he’s been an impact player. He started 33 games the past three seasons, with 97 tackles in 2018, 105 in 2019 and 76 in 10 games in 2020. He’s not just a tackler, though. Over those three starting seasons, he’s recorded three interceptions, 22 passes defensed and four forced fumbles. That’s a lot of breakups. In 2018, when Matt LaFleur was on the Titans’ staff, he had six sacks. In 2020, according to Sports Info Solutions, he missed just three tackles (3.8 percent), allowed a 61.3 percent catch rate and 5.1 yards per target, and his average tackle was 4.8 yards downfield. For a team looking to improve its coverage, Brown is far and away the best option.
K.J. Wright, Seattle: Wright has been an underrated standout, lost in the shuffle between All-Pro Bobby Wagner and the old Legion of Boom secondary. With the exception of 2018, when he missed most of the season due to injury, he topped 100 tackles in each season from 2014 through 2019. In 2020, he dipped to 86 tackles but added 11 tackles for losses. He’s coming off back-to-back seasons of 11 and 10 passes defensed. According to SIS, he missed 10 tackles (10.3 percent), allowed a 68.3 percent catch rate and 6.2 yards per target, and his average tackle was 4.1 yards downfield. Age is an issue; he’ll turn 32 before training camp. Still, as a short-term option, he could step in as the main linebacker from the get-go.
Eric Wilson, Minnesota: A part-time starter in his first three seasons after going undrafted in 2017, Wilson started 15 of his 16 games in 2020 and put up strong numbers with 122 tackles, eight tackles for losses, three sacks, nine quarterback hits, three interceptions and one forced fumble. According to SIS, he missed 14 tackles (10.5 percent), allowed a 61.1 percent catch rate and 4.6 yards per target, and his average tackle was 4.2 yards downfield. At this point, he’s a better coverage option than run defender. He’ll turn 27 early in the season.
SIGNED WITH N.Y. JETS: Jarrad Davis, Detroit: The 21st pick of the 2017 draft, Davis’ career crashed and burned with the Lions. He looked like a breakout star in 2018, when he tallied 100 tackles, 10 tackles for losses and six sacks. By 2020, though, he started only four games and notched just 46 tackles. He’s been an impact player at times, with five forced fumbles the past two years. For his career, he’s allowed a 75.5 percent catch rate and missed 16.7 percent of his tackle attempts, according to SIS. Still, with size, length and with 4.62 speed, he was a first-round pick for a reason.
RE-SIGNED: Nicholas Morrow, Las Vegas: An undrafted free agent in 2017 out of Greenville College, Morrow was a part-time starter his first three seasons before starting 11 of his 14 games in 2020. He responded with career highs of 78 tackles, eight tackles for losses, three sacks and nine passes defensed. He added one forced fumble and one interception. According to SIS, he missed 10 tackles (11.2 percent), allowed a 48.3 percent catch rate and 3.5 yards per target, and his average tackle was 4.1 yards downfield. He’ll only be 26 when camp starts and is an interesting coverage option whose career appears to be on the upswing.
SIGNED BY CAROLINA: Denzel Perryman, L.A. Chargers: Perryman seemed like a target for the linebacker-needy Packers in 2015. Instead, he went to the Chargers in the second round. In six seasons with the team, he’s started 51 games and been a high-quality run-stopper. However, he’s never played in more than 14 games and never reached even 75 tackles. In 13 games (six starts) in 2020, he recorded 48 tackles, one sack, three tackles for losses and one forced fumble. According to SIS, he missed four tackles (7.8 percent), allowed just a 46.2 percent catch rate and a scant 2.5 yards per target, and his average tackle was 2.4 yards downfield. Despite the excellent coverage numbers, he’s a two-down linebacker – and his playing time reflected that fact. He turned 28 in December.
Avery Williamson, Pittsburgh: A fifth-round pick by the Titans in 2014, Williamson started all but one game from 2015 through 2019. In 2020, in a season split between the Jets and Steelers, he played in 15 games with 10 starts and recorded 111 tackles, including three for losses, with three passes defensed. He was much better with Pittsburgh than with New York. Going only with the Steelers numbers, he missed two tackles (3.8 percent), allowed a 66.7 percent catch rate and 6.8 yards per target, and his average tackle was 4.7 yards downfield. A two-down linebacker, he turned 29 earlier this month.
De’Vondre Campbell, Arizona: Campbell was a player of interest last offseason but the Packers settled on Kirksey. A fourth-round pick in 2016 with rare size at 6-foot-4, he’s started 70 of a possible 80 games in his five seasons, including all 16 games last year. After posting career highs of 129 tackles and three forced fumbles for the Falcons in 2019, he added 99 tackles, seven for losses, two sacks and one forced fumble for the Raiders. According to SIS, he missed 14 tackles (12.6 percent), allowed a 65.9 percent catch rate and 5.5 yards per target, and his average tackle was 4.8 yards downfield. He’ll turn 28 before training camp but his career has been trending the wrong way.
Kwon Alexander, New Orleans: A fourth-round pick in 2015 and Pro Bowler in 2017, Alexander is a high-level starter when healthy. The problem is staying healthy. He played in six games in 2018, eight games in 2019 and suffered a torn Achilles late in 2020. He’s never played more than 12 games in a season. In a combined dozen games for the 49ers and Saints last year, he had 57 tackles, including three for losses, and two forced fumbles. In seven games for the Saints, he allowed just 3.7 yards per target but also missed six tackles (17.1 percent). The Achilles will throw at least the start of the 2021 season into doubt. He’ll turn 27 during training camp.
SIGNED WITH HOUSTON: Kevin Pierre-Louis, Washington: A fourth-round pick in 2015, Pierre-Louis started just four games in his first six seasons but 11 times last year with Washington. He recorded 56 tackles, three TFLs and broke up two passes. According to SIS, he missed seven tackles (11.1 percent), allowed a 71.4 percent catch rate and 7.1 yards per target, and his average tackle was 4.8 yards downfield. He is an excellent coverage option. He’ll turn 30 early next season.
SIGNED BY CLEVELAND: Anthony Walker, Indianapolis: A fifth-round pick in 2017, Walker started all but two games the last three seasons. He recorded seasons of 105 tackles (with 10 for losses) in 2018, 124 tackles (with a career-high 2.5 sacks) in 2019 and 92 tackles (with a career-high five passes defensed) last year. According to SIS, he missed nine tackles (8.8 percent), allowed an 87.9 percent catch rate and 7.3 yards per target, and his average tackle was 4.6 yards downfield. A two-down defender, he’ll turn 26 early in training camp.
SIGNED BY NEW ENGLAND: Raekwon McMillan, Las Vegas: A second-round pick in 2017, he missed his rookie season with a torn ACL. His first season was his best, with 105 tackles and two forced fumbles in 16 starts. He was traded to the Raiders for the 2020 season and tallied 27 tackles while starting four games. For his career, his missed-tackle rate is 13.0 percent, he’s allowed a 78.8 percent catch rate and 9.4 yards per target, and his average tackle was 4.7 yards downfield. He’s the same athletic prospect he was coming out of Ohio State. If nothing else, he should help on special teams.
