Best Available Free Agents at Packers’ Positions of Need

The Green Bay Packers had some holes entering the offseason. They have more holes now that the first waves of free agency are complete.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Mar 18, 2023 4:31 PM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The first waves of NFL free agency have not been kind to the Green Bay Packers’ depth charts. They lost their leading receiver, Allen Lazard, and their reliable pass-catching tight end, Robert Tonyan. They also lost about 1,200 snaps from their defensive line with Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry.

With about one week of free agency in the books and the NFL Draft 40 days away, Green Bay’s biggest holes are on the defensive line and tight end. Safety could be, too, if veteran Adrian Amos signs with another team. The receiver corps is talented but unbelievably young. There’s only one quarterback who’s played in a game.

What about outside linebacker and offensive line? At outside linebacker, the Packers could take a big swing in the draft, though re-signing Justin Hollins is an option. On the offensive line, general manager Brian Gutekunst spoke highly of his 13-man group at the Scouting Combine, so the priority would seem to be drafting a high-upside offensive tackle rather than signing a depth piece.

Before free agency, we published stories on the quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends, defensive line and safeties, with top-12 lists for each position. Here’s who’s left from those lists, with a few more names to supplement Gutekunst’s options.

Quarterbacks

Teddy Bridgewater is the only quarterback remaining from our initial list. On Thursday night, we published an updated story noting that 12 veterans had signed. By Friday morning, that grew to 14.

The point here would be to add an experienced quarterback to help Jordan Love through the transition, to help Love in the film room during the week and to be that extra set of eyes on Sundays.

Teams obviously are putting a great deal of importance on either having a competent backup or a veteran to serve as the bridge guy for an incoming draft pick. At this point, Gutekunst might have to do something similar to what his predecessor, Ted Thompson, did in 2008, when he drafted Brian Brohm in the second round and Matt Flynn in the seventh round to provide depth behind first-time starter Aaron Rodgers.

Teddy Bridgewater, Miami Dolphins: It seems like a lifetime ago when Bridgewater looked like one of the NFL’s bright young stars. That was 2015, when he led the Vikings to an 11-5 record. Then he suffered a devastating injury at training camp. With Denver in 2021, he threw 18 touchdowns vs. seven interceptions in 14 starts.

Trevor Siemian, Chicago Bears: It was Siemian who got the first shot to replace Peyton Manning in Denver. The former seventh-round pick started 24 games for the Broncos in 2016 and 2017 and 30 games overall. Siemian spent all last season with the Bears running Luke Getsy’s offense, which he brought with him from Green Bay. He’s thrown 42 touchdowns vs. 28 interceptions in his career.

Mason Rudolph, Steelers: A third-round pick by Pittsburgh in 2019, Rudolph started eight games as a rookie and one more time in both 2020 and 2021. He did not get any snaps in 2022. In those 10 starts, he tossed 16 touchdowns vs. 11 interceptions.

Chase Daniel, Chargers: Never the most-gifted quarterback, Daniel will be entering his 15th NFL season because he’s smart. The 36-year-old, who’s started five games and completed 68.1 percent of his passes in his career, would provide another voice in the room (and the sideline) for new starter Jordan Love.

Tight Ends

Perhaps because it’s a strong draft class, the veteran market hasn’t been totally picked clean. Two of our top three and five of our top eight remain available.

Dalton Schultz, Dallas Cowboys: Schultz is coming off three consecutive productive seasons with 63 receptions in 2020, 78 receptions in 2021 and 57 receptions for 577 yards and five touchdowns in 2022. At Lambeau in November, he caught six passes for 54 yards and one score. He’s not the most explosive player in the league but he gets open, breaks tackles and blocks. He did drop 14 passes the last three years.

Austin Hooper, Tennessee Titans: Hooper topped 70 receptions for the Falcons in 2018 and 2019. After two seasons in Cleveland, Hooper caught 41 passes for 444 yards and two touchdowns in 2022 with Tennessee. Both of the touchdowns came against the Packers. He went from six drops in 2021 to only one in 2022. He doesn’t get paid to run block.

Foster Moreau, Las Vegas Raiders: A fourth-round pick in 2019, Moreau took advantage of Darren Waller’s absence to set career highs with 33 reception and 420 yards. Presumably, there’s more production if he becomes a full-time starter. He averaged 7.2 YAC per catch but dropped six passes.

Irv Smith Jr., Minnesota Vikings: A second-round pick in 2019, Smith caught 36 passes as a rookie, 30 in 2020 and, after missing 2021 with a knee injury, 25 in 2022. Undersized at 6-foot-2, Smith was supposed to be a matchup problem because of his athleticism but he’s averaged only 9.4 yards per catch in his career.

Marcedes Lewis, Green Bay Packers: Check out our Lewis feature from our Stay or Go series.

O.J. Howard, Houston Texans: The 19th pick of the 2017 draft, it just hasn’t worked out for Howard. Playing behind Rob Gronkowski in Tampa Bay didn’t help but he caught only 10 passes in 2022 for the Texans. In six seasons, he’s caught 129 passes and scored 17 touchdowns. He’s still tall (6-6), he’s still fast (4.51 in the 40) and he can still catch (one drop the last three years). He’d be a good what-the-heck signing.

Receivers

At the Scouting Combine, Gutekunst said his preference was to have a veteran join a group of receivers in which every player under contract will be entering his second season.

“As excited as I am about those young guys,” he said, “having a guy with the kind of experience that has seen things – none of those guys got to play in a playoff game, right? It’d be nice to have a guy that can continue to help move those guys along as well as a veteran presence out there. I think that’s important.”

So long as Rodgers doesn’t convince Randall Cobb to join the Jets, too, he’d make a lot of sense. He likes Green Bay, he knows the offense, he has rapport with Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, and he’s not going to grumble about getting 20 snaps per game.

Odell Beckham Jr., free agent: With the Rams in 2021, Beckham suffered a torn ACL in the Super Bowl and missed the entire 2022 season. A first-round pick in 2014, he topped 1,000 yards in five of his first six seasons. From 2020 through 2022, he had 856 yards, though he was superb during the Rams’ run to the championship. The window of opportunity to get Beckham was 2021 not 2023.

Mecole Hardman, Kansas City Chiefs: If you can’t be a star with Patrick Mahomes, you probably can’t be a star. After setting career highs with 59 catches and 693 yards in 2021, Hardman caught 25 balls for 297 yards in eight games in 2022. He can be slippery (seven missed tackles in 2021) or have slippery fingers (eight drops in 2020).

Mack Hollins, Las Vegas Raiders: Hollins found himself a home in Las Vegas. A fourth-round pick with 56 catches in four seasons with the Eagles and Dolphins, Hollins caught 57 passes for 690 yards and four touchdowns while starting 16 times for the Raiders in 2022. At 6-foot-4 and 221 pounds, Hollins puts his size to use as a blocker.

D.J. Chark, Detroit Lions: Chark caught 73 passes for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns for the Jaguars in 2019. However, those numbers slipped in 2020, he missed most of 2021 with an ankle injury and caught only 30 passes in 11 games for Detroit in 2022. From 2020 through 2022, Chark had eight drops vs. zero missed tackles. He can still stretch the field, though.

Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings: Thielen will be a missing-piece player for a playoff contender. He’s not the dominant force that he was during his Pro Bowl seasons of 2017 and 2018 but he still caught 67 passes with 10 touchdowns in 2021 and 70 passes with six touchdowns in 2022. He’s got excellent hands and a nose for the end zone. He’ll turn 33 during camp.

Randall Cobb, Green Bay Packers: Check out our Cobb feature from our Stay or Go series.

Defensive Line

Losing Reed and Lowry was a blow. It’s not that they are great players. It’s not that they are irreplaceable. It’s not that the Packers shouldn’t want to upgrade. It’s that they’re left with only three defensive linemen who’ve played in a game.

The best defensive lines are the units with an abundance of players so the stalwarts are fresh for the key moments. As it stands, Kenny Clark is going to have to play 99.9 percent of the snaps, Devonte Wyatt and T.J. Slaton are going to have to take enormous steps forward, and Joe Rookie had better be an instant contributor. Expect Gutekunst to be shopping the clearance section.

Our top eight and 10 of our top 12 are off the board.

A’Shawn Robinson, Los Angeles Rams: Robinson is a two-down run defender. After setting a career high with 67 tackles in 2021, he had 42 in 10 games in 2022. He had zero sacks and only three quarterback hits and contributed three stuffs. (A stuff is a tackle at or behind the line vs. the run.) A second-round pick in 2016, he’ll turn 28 next week. He’s set to visit the Giants so he might not be long for this list.

Shelby Harris, Denver Broncos: Harris started 58 games the past four seasons, including 15 times for Seattle in 2022. He had only two sacks in 2022 but six-sack seasons in 2019 and 2021 with Denver. More than a pass rusher, he had 11 stuffs. The Milwaukee native will turn 32 during training camp.

Matt Ioannidis, Carolina Panthers: Ioannidis had a total of 16 sacks for Washington in 2018 and 2019 but only five in 32 games the last three seasons. With Carolina last year, he had one sack and nine quarterback hits in 13 games. The 29-year-old was 25th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity and had seven stuffs.

Chris Wormley, Pittsburgh Steelers: A third-round pick by the Ravens in 2017, Wormley isn’t long removed from a seven-sack, 14-start season with Pittsburgh in 2021. He had six stuffs in 2022. The 6-foot-5, 300-pounder will turn 30 in October.

Marquise Copeland, Los Angeles Rams: At 6-foot-2 and 286 pounds, Copeland is undersized but had 31 tackles and provided sturdy run defense while starting a career-high nine games in 2022. He had five stuffs. He’ll turn 26 next month.

Quinton Jefferson, Seattle Seahawks: Jefferson recorded a career-high 5.5 sacks in 2022, his second stint with Seattle, but really dropped off against the run (two stuffs). He’ll turn 30 at the end of the month.

Safeties

Will the Packers re-sign reliable veteran Adrian Amos? A source late in the week said the Packers were still interested in Amos, who started all 66 regular-season games in his four-seasons. Green Bay re-signed Rudy Ford and added Tarvarius Moore. Could the Packers go with Ford and Darnell Savage as the starting tandem? Draft a starter? Move Rasul Douglas? There are a lot of options.

Oddly, Philadelphia Eagles star C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who led the NFL in interceptions, remains available. Overall, though, the group has been pretty well picked over.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles: In three seasons with the Saints, Gardner-Johnson intercepted five passes. Traded to Philadelphia for a bag of footballs and a Gatorade bottle, he paced the NFL with six interceptions despite missing five games. His ability to play safety and slot is key. He is a terrible tackler, ranking 64th out of 65 safeties in PFF’s tackling percentage.

Adrian Amos, Green Bay Packers: Here’s our free agent story on Amos, who finished 18th in PFF’s missed-tackle percentage. Blaming safeties for coverage is a dicey proposition. PFF charged him with six touchdowns – worst in the NFL among safeties – while Sports Info Solutions charged him with just two.

Taylor Rapp, Los Angeles Rams: A second-round pick in 2019, Rapp never quite lived up to expectations. Not that he’s been bad, with nine career interceptions and three seasons of 90-plus tackles. Rapp can play here, there and everywhere and deliver quality play. One of his two picks in 2022 came at Lambeau Field. He finished 13th in PFF’s missed-tackle percentage.

Duron Harmon, Las Vegas Raiders: Harmon is coming off a fourth consecutive season of two interceptions and five passes defensed. He has at least one pick in each of his 10 seasons and 22 in all. His 86 tackles in 2022 set a career high. Harmon finished 42nd in PFF’s missed-tackle percentage. The 32-year-old could be a nice, low-cost replacement if Amos goes.

John Johnson, Cleveland Browns: Johnson started all 17 games in 2022 and, for the third time in his six seasons, topped 100 tackles. With the Rams in 2018, he looked like a star with four interceptions, 11 passes defensed and 119 tackles. Last season, he had one pick and four PBUs. He was a woeful 62nd out of 65 in PFF’s missed-tackle percentage.

Terrell Edmunds, Pittsburgh Steelers: A first-round pick in 2018, Edmunds started 75 of a possible 82 games over five seasons. He failed to live up to expectations, though, and his 70 tackles, zero interceptions and five passes defensed make 2022 arguably the worst of his career. He finished 37th in PFF’s missed-tackle percentage.

Rodney McLeod, Indianapolis Colts: McLeod, who will turn 33 in June, set career highs with 96 tackles and eight passes defensed. He finished 17th in PFF’s missed-tackle percentage, just ahead of Amos. He’s old, which might not fit Green Bay’s going-young mind-set, but he’s a quality player in the box, which could make him a nice complement to the likes of Savage, Ford and Moore.