Ranking the Packers’ Free Agents on Defense

Starting with All-Pro linebacker De'Vondre Campbell, here is a look at the seven unrestricted free agents on the Green Bay Packers' defense.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst had one heck of a year. Starting with keeping the 2020 squad mostly together and a draft that netted three starters, and continuing with the signing of De’Vondre Campbell, return of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and addition of Rasul Douglas, the Packers once again won 13 games and earned the No. 1 seed.

Now, he must do it again if the Packers are going to finally return to the Super Bowl.

All the contract restructures from last offseason left the Packers upward of $50 million over the 2022 salary cap. And while the team doesn’t have a lot of starters headed toward free agency, there are some hugely important players who figure to command top dollar.

Here is the list of Green Bay’s free agents on defense, ranked by priority.

7. CB Kevin King

GM Brian Gutekunst re-signed King to a one-year, $5 million contract last offseason. It was an insurance policy just in case he couldn’t find a starting cornerback in the draft. He did with Eric Stokes, then struck gold with Rasul Douglas. King started his first six games – shockingly, he missed five games due to injuries in a six-game span – then barely played down the stretch once the team settled on Stokes, Douglas and Chandon Sullivan as its best trio. King played in 51 of 81 games in five seasons. After picking off five passes and breaking up 15 in 2019, he had one interception and eight passes defensed in 21 games the last two years. Presumably, that will close the book on the team’s first pick of the 2017 draft other than his lingering cap hits ($750,000 per year through 2025) and the painful reminders every time T.J. Watt sacks the quarterback.

6. ILB Oren Burks

In 2018, the Packers traded their fourth- and fifth-round selections to grab Burks. Oops. In four seasons, he started seven games and recorded 84 tackles. Billed as a new-age linebacker after starting his career at Vanderbilt as a safety, he didn’t break up a single pass in four seasons. This year, he recorded a career-high 32 tackles and finished second on the team with eight stops on special teams.

5. OLB Whitney Mercilus

A change of scenery brought the best out of the 31-year-old Mercilus. In six games that included 110 pass-rushing snaps with Houston, he had two sacks and five pressures. In four games that included 80 pass-rushing snaps with Green Bay, he had one sack and 10 pressures. Of 144 edge rushers with at least Mercilus’ number of rushes, Rashan Gary was second, Preston Smith was 17th and Mercilus was 36th in PFF’s pass-rush win percentage. He’ll turn 32 before training camp. He’d be a nice No. 3 if the Packers release Za’Darius Smith but keep Preston Smith.

4. DT Tyler Lancaster

The Packers’ defensive line depth is almost nonexistent. Pro Bowler Kenny Clark is the standout. He was joined in the starting lineup throughout the season by Dean Lowry, who had a career-high five sacks but could be released to save $4.08 million of cap space. Kingsley Keke started eight games but was released late in the season. That leaves Lancaster, who started three games, fifth-round rookie TJ Slaton, who showed some potential in 15 snaps per game, and Jack Heflin, who barely played as an undrafted rookie. Can the Packers do better than Lancaster? Of course. But someone needs to play.

3. CB Chandon Sullivan

If the Packers can’t afford Rasul Douglas, then Sullivan would be a budget-friendly third piece to join Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes in the defensive backfield. Even if the Packers can afford Douglas, he’d be a quality depth piece. Starting 10 games for a second consecutive season, Sullivan intercepted a career-high three passes. Of 28 defensive backs to play at least 200 coverage snaps in the slot, Sullivan ranked third with 13.4 snaps per reception and eighth with 1.02 yards per coverage snap, according to PFF. Are there better slot defenders? Yes. But you could do worse, too, and Shemar Jean-Charles’ rookie training camp was not promising.

2. CB Rasul Douglas

When Jaire Alexander went down with a shoulder injury against Pittsburgh, it could have been a fatal blow. And it would have been fatal if the Packers had been forced to rely on Kevin King or Isaac Yiadom. Instead, in one of the great practice-squad raidings in NFL history, general manager Brian Gutekunst found Douglas toiling in Arizona. Having failed to make rosters in Las Vegas and Houston during training camp, Douglas saved the season. In merely 12 games with nine starts, Douglas tied for fourth in the NFL with five interceptions. Two were returned for touchdowns and two saved victories over Arizona and Cleveland. Of 88 corners with 50 percent playing time, he allowed a seventh-ranked completion rate of 52.2 percent. He also was perhaps the best player on special teams.

“Of course,” he said about returning to the Packers with a long-term contract. “I built a family here. I’ve still got some unfinished business, I feel like, to handle. Of course, I want to be here. But I don’t think that’s all my decision to make.”

1. ILB De’Vondre Campbell

So this is what a real, honest-to-goodness, game-changing inside linebacker looks like. Somehow unemployed in June despite five solid seasons, Campbell joined the Packers on a one-year, $2 million contract. The Packers were rewarded with an All-Pro season and Campbell will be rewarded in free agency. Even while sitting out the season finale against Detroit, Campbell finished seventh in the NFL with 145 tackles. He entered that final game with a league-leading 101 solo tackles. Of the 34 players with at least 107 tackles, Campbell and Washington’s Cole Holcomb were the only players with at least one sack, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Campbell was the only linebacker in the league with 100-plus tackles and at least two sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions. After swinging and missing on veterans like Christian Kirksey, Antonio Morrison and B.J. Goodson, the Packers got their first All-Pro linebacker since Ray Nitschke in 1966.

“Yeah, that was my whole thought process from the time I signed, just to kind of reintroduce myself,” Campbell said. “Casuals don’t really know who I am, but people who watch tape, people who know the game of football [know]. I get told week in and week out from the people I compete against, ‘You’re a hell of a player and you always have been.’ I’m just glad that people are starting to realize it. That just kind of makes me feel good. Something I’ve always known, but to hear it from other people, you always kind of need that reassurance, so that was a huge goal of mine, just kind of re-establishing myself.”