Report: Packers add needed depth at inside linebacker

Help is on the way at inside linebacker, but it's not adding to the depth.

According to NFL Network, the Green Bay Packers have acquired former Giants starting linebacker B.J. Goodson. Terms of the trade were not immediately reported.

To clear a roster space, the team announced it had released fellow inside linebacker James Crawford. The trade will be made official once Goodson arrives in Green Bay and passes a physical.

With Oren Burks out with a partially torn pectoral and undrafted rookie Curtis Bolton waived with a knee injury, the Packers were down to veteran starter Blake Martinez and two players with a combined one snap of regular-season defensive experience.

General manager Brian Gutekunst on Sunday spoke positively about his injury-plagued inside linebacker group, which was rounded out by Crawford (he of the one snap) and seventh-round pick Ty Summers, but left the door open to making a move. He made that move on Monday.

“Obviously, Ty had a really good preseason and kind of stepped up and made us feel pretty comfortable about keeping him around,” Gutekunst said. “I also think if you look at our history the amount of times we actually have two inside linebackers on the field is another thing. As you guys know and I’ve said this before, this roster is 365 days, living and breathing, so things change and we’re always evaluating where we’re at. But Ty did a nice job, hopefully we’ll get Burksie back here soon and then obviously Crawford’s been a pretty standout special-teams player for us. I feel good about that room but, again, the roster’s always kind of in flux."

A fourth-round pick out of Clemson in 2016, Goodson was a Week 1 starter in 2017 but was limited to seven games due to injuries. He started 13 games in 2018, when he recorded career highs of 61 tackles and two interceptions. However, Goodson fell down the depth chart this summer and was behind rookie Ryan Connelly, a fifth-round pick from Wisconsin. The Giants had planned to release Goodson but, as was the case with the Packers ultimately trading Justin McCray to the Browns, found a trade partner. In that deal, the Packers will get the better of the teams' seventh-round picks.

Goodson is a solid all-around player and an above-average tackler. Of 86 linebackers who played at least 300 snaps last season, Goodson ranked 28th in tackling efficiency, a Pro Football Focus metric that measures missed tackles per tackling opportunity.

At the 2016 Scouting Combine, Goodson measured 6-foot-1 and 242 pounds and ran his 40 in 4.69 seconds.

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