Corey Linsley is as good as gone. The sooner Green Bay Packers accept it, the better. This is unfortunate because Linsley was (deservedly) named the NFL’s All-Pro First Center and the Packers’ Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2020, but the reality of the league and the team’s financial situation in the year 2021 make its giving back a virtual impossibility.
The Packers, acknowledging that this was a big possibility even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the salary cap, get their home to handle Linsley’s departure for a better part of two years. General manager Brian Gutekunst’s effort to thoroughly strengthen the inside of the Packers’ offensive line dates back to the 2019 off-season, which shows an intention to give the team the ability to continue when Linsley’s contract expires. .
The contract, a three-year extension, was one of Ted Thompson’s last gifts to the franchise, along with a new deal for Davante Adams. Both of these expansions took place just before week 17 of the 2017 season, a few weeks before Thompson stepped down from his GM position. Linsley received $ 25.5 million for the deal with $ 8 million up front in a sign-up bonus that spread over four years (2017 included) to keep its cap on the entire contract mostly tasteful.
Three main factors likely exclude Linsley from concluding a third contract with the Packers. First, he turns 30 this season, which informs point two: his recent injuries. Although he has missed just three games in the last four years, Linsley has been dealing with consistent problems lately. Finally, there are the finances, as a top center would expect at least $ 10 million and probably north of $ 11 million a year for fair market value.
Again, the writing is on the wall if you look nice enough. Here’s a chronology of the Packers’ acquisitions inside the offensive line.
2019 Free agency: RG / RT Billy Turner
Although Turner was primarily a tackle in 2020 and jumped back and forth between right and left, he spent most of 2019 as the starting lineup of the team. The Packers signed him to a four-year contract as part of Gutekunst’s large free agency and his agreement, although surprising in its overall value, appears to be largely a fixed value at $ 7 million a year.
With the team’s right play being a disaster in 2018, Justin McCray took a big step back and veteran Byron Bell did not play better, the Packers saw Turner as a short-term investment around the waiting position and ‘ to strengthen a long-term position. to provide insurance in case Bryan Bulaga were to leave the free agency, which he did in 2020. Strikingly, Turner is waiting to the right again when Linsley was out for three games this season, but with Wagner now released, the right packing should belong. to Turner as long as he is healthy.
2019 NFL Draft: Elgton Jenkins
With their second pick in 2019, the Packers have a linebacker businessman who was able to play almost any position over the top five. Elgton Jenkins settled on the left guard and took over as a rookie from Lane Taylor early on, but his flexibility was evident in 2020 as he set up everything but the right guard. Jenkins ‘background as a college center (or at least the primary position in the state of Mississippi) suggests that the Packers may consider him the long-term answer in the center, but he started the first week in the first pack and’ showed a remarkable versatility. can lead to him playing almost anywhere along the line.
At least Jenkins is one of the better innings in the NFL, regardless of his position, and his pick in the second round in 2019 is a sign that the Packers needed a long-term talent infusion on the inside.
Contract extension for 2019: Lucas Patrick
A former unknown free agent – no, an invitation to mini-camp trial – Patrick has worked his way from that modest status to key backup to full-time starter this past season. But in December 2019, he signed a two-year contract extension for just under $ 3 million, buying out a limited and unlimited free agency each year. The contract came at the end of a season in which he played 14 games but did not make a start and took the field for only 137 shots, although he roughly doubled the speed score in each of his first two seasons .
The Packers saw Patrick at the time as a critical depth in the inside and a potential appetizer. In 2020, he was thrown into the starting lineup almost immediately, as Taylor finished a second consecutive season in the first week and eventually played all three of the domestic spots. This two-year bridge contract kept him in Linsley’s last year in Green Bay and presumably the first year after he left, ensuring continuity. Patrick’s ability to play center, like that of Jenkins, was probably an important consideration here as well, as the two would both be candidates to succeed Linsley, and the other one would probably stand on one of the waiting spots.
2020 NFL Draft: Three Sixth Round Inlines
That brings us to last season, when the Packers did little in free agencies. However, what they did with their three sixth-round draft picks – one compensatory pick, one pick the Titans got in a trade, and their own sixth – shows a team wanting to hit some late lottery tickets.
The choice to use three straight performances on inlanders returned to Gutekunst’s wide receiver in 2018, when he grabbed three players for the position on the third day of that year. By the line-up of Jon Runyan, Jr., Simon Stepaniak and Jake Hanson, the team has tripled again in hopes of finding a diamond in the rough and building the depth for the future.
In the first year, it appears they have one definite keeper, as Runyan backed his excellent Combine performance (he was one of only a few colleagues to cross the Packers’ ideal athletic thresholds across the board) with encouraging relief in the ordinary season. games. The team also thought enough of Stepaniak to activate him late in the season of the PUP list, even though he did not make a match while Hanson worked in the training group all season.
If even one of these three selections turns out to be a reliable appetizer, it was a valuable opportunity. Runyan has the best chance based on early returns, and he could very well be an appetizer in the first week of 2021.
If and when Linsley moves on, the Packers have a solid group of players in the interior and a clear set of good options for a succession plan. When David Bakhtiari returns in 2021, the line may very well look like the following:
- Bakhtiari, Runyan, Jenkins, Patrick, Turner
- Bakhtiari, Jenkins, Patrick, Runyan, Turner
- Bakhtiari, Runyan, Patrick, Turner, Jenkins
The latter option is a bit off the wall, but with Jenkins’ start at the right suit in the first week, while Turner was away with an injury, it’s not as crazy as one might think. The Packers could even sign Lane Taylor again for a veteran depth for a cheap deal and let him and Runyan go for a starting job. After all, Taylor was the first week that was on the right guard in 2020.
Taylor’s return might make even more sense with Bakhtiari early; it could roll the Packers with a Turner, Runyan, Patrick, Taylor, Jenkins line to start the season and alleviate the perceived need to relieve veteran depth in the pack position.