Packers’ Remaining Free Agents Could Provide Key Depth

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With the second week of NFL free agency quickly fading into the rear-view mirror, four members of the Green Bay Packers who logged more than 1,000 snaps in total last season remain available.

Defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster, right tackle Dennis Kelly, cornerback Kevin King and outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus wouldn’t return as regular starters. But they’d provide depth at positions where the Packers have none – or close to none.

Here’s a quick-hitting reset of Green Bay’s unrestricted free agents.

Green Bay Packers Unrestricted Free Agents

Unsigned: RT Dennis Kelly

There’s some uncertainty on the offensive line following the release of starting right tackle Billy Turner and the free-agent departure of guard/center Lucas Patrick. Having invested six draft picks on the line the past two years, Green Bay has built some depth.

The Packers could start the season with left tackle David Bakhtiari, left guard Jon Runyan, center Josh Myers, right guard Royce Newman and right tackle Yosh Nijman. At some point, former Pro Bowl guard Elgton Jenkins will return to supplement the group. Until that happens, the Packers have an obvious need for tackle depth.

The 32-year-old Kelly signed with Green Bay just before the start of training camp last summer. While he struggled against the 49ers’ Nick Bosa in the playoff loss, he performed well enough in four regular-season starts that he could challenge Nijman for the starting job. Either way, having Bakhtiari, Nijman and Kelly would take the pressure off general manager Brian Gutekunst to spend a premium pick on a tackle.

Unsigned: DT Tyler Lancaster

Gutekunst made a splash in free agency this week by signing veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed to a one-year contract. Other than the start of the 2019 season, when he was suspended, Reed has started all but one game the past five seasons. He’s not a great run defender and he’s not a great pass rusher but he’s a three-down player capable of devouring a large quantity of snaps.

With that, the Packers have a starting trio of Pro Bowler Kenny Clark, Reed and veteran Dean Lowry. TJ Slaton, who showed some promise in about 15 snaps per game as a rookie fifth-round pick, could provide some high-quality depth should he take a step forward in Year 2. The only other player under contract is Jack Heflin, who made the team but hardly played as an undrafted rookie last year.

The Packers could use one more player on the defensive line. They could go younger and cheaper (and perhaps better) than Lancaster with a draft pick. With seven selections in the first four rounds, they should be in position to draft a quality prospect. If not, they could circle back after the draft to Lancaster, who’s generally delivered strong run defense in his first four seasons.

Unsigned: OLB Whitney Mercilus

The Packers have absolutely no depth at outside linebacker behind the starting tandem of Preston Smith and Rashan Gary. Perhaps Jonathan Garvin or Tipa Galeai will take a step forward in 2022 but that seems more like wishing and hoping than a realistic expectation.

The lack of depth is why the Packers pounced when the Texans released Mercilus last season. In six games in Houston, he had two sacks and five pressures in 110 opportunities. In his first four games in Green Bay, he had one sack and 10 pressures in 80 pass-rushing snaps before he sustained a torn biceps in Week 10 against Seattle and missed the rest of the regular season.

Mercilus’ small sample size in Green Bay shows he can still play. He’ll turn 32 before the start of training camp. Chances are the Packers will look to the draft first and then revisit the veteran market if they come up empty.

Unsigned: CB Kevin King

Coming off a nightmarish NFC Championship Game against Tampa Bay, King returned to the Packers last offseason on a one-year, $5 million contract. The Packers gave him a $3.75 million bonus, which they prorated over a total of five years with the addition of four void years. When the Packers didn’t sign him to a new deal by a February deadline, all the leftover cap proration - $3 million – was dumped onto Green Bay’s 2022 cap as dead money.

So, if the Packers wanted to keep King, the time was then, not now.

It is easy to see why the Packers might not want him back. King played in 10 games with six starts last season. That, of course, means he missed seven games. In five seasons, he missed 30 of a possible 81 games due to the world’s longest list of injuries.

The Packers have a potentially elite cornerback trio with Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas and Eric Stokes. But, with Chandon Sullivan signing with the Vikings in free agency, the Packers have no proven depth. Shemar Jean-Charles, a fifth-round pick last year, didn’t have a good training camp and barely played as a rookie. On Friday, they signed Keisean Nixon, who is known mostly for his history with Snoop Dogg and his play on special teams.

Here are the rest of Green Bay’s unrestricted free agents.