Green Bay Packers defensive free agents: Who stays and who goes?

M.D. Jennings

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports photograph

2. M.D Jennings — as Citizen GM of the Green Bay Packers, my position on M.D Jennings has already been voiced. Another bargain-bin find, Jennings has been truly highlighted only once; the infamous “simultaneous catch” with Golden Tate back in week 3 of 2012. The Packers lost the game because of terrible replacement officiating and because Jennings thought that possessing the ball was better than swatting it out of bounds. It wasn’t. However, since then, he has started all 16 regular season games for the Packers in 2013 and had a full season to show upper management his worth heading into free agency.

• Returns to GB if – the Packers are gluttons for punishment. Sounds harsh, but it’s reality. In all seriousness, he’s a cheap option if the Packers decide to stack the deck at safety. Injuries mounted in 2013 and it could have scared the Packers into playing it safe. He knows the defensive schemes (though he looks lost 90 percent of the time) and the organization may think that another offseason of work could help with his poor tackling and bad technique. Though I would never allow him to mentor a young, rookie safety coming out of the draft, the Packers may see his veteran presence worthy of a roster spot. Unlikely.
• Walks from GB if – there is no IF about it, Jennings has one foot out of the door already. He won’t garnish any activity in free agency, but the Packers still won’t want him back. He’s been bad at times, but awful most often. Green Bay will not want to use a spot on the 53-man roster unless Jennings earns the job in training camp over a raw rookie safety who is being given time to grow into his spot on the defense. Also, unlikely.