Green Bay Packers: Odds of remaining free agents returning
By Kenn Korb
Mike Neal
Neal already pretty much answered this question himself.
As soon as the Packers selected Kyler Fackrell in the third round, he jumped onto Twitter to say as much. He’s since said that it was sarcasm, but the writing appears to be on the wall.
Neal has been on the team since 2010, slowly becoming a decent part of the outside linebacker rotation for the Packers. He has racked up at least four sacks in each of the past four season, even though he’s only started double digit games twice in his career.
When looking deeper however, there is good reason to move on from him. Despite being used on around 850 snaps in 2015, he graded out at only 49.6 by Pro Football Focus. Despite being a pass rusher, he was actually best in terms of contributing against the run; while his run defense grade was good (76.4; second-best out of OLBs on the team), his 41.8 pass rushing grade was by far the worst of the OLB group.
Looking at who the Packers have on the roster now, it is hard to see a spot for him. Clay Matthews should be sliding back out to handle most snaps at one of the OLB spots, with Julius Peppers the likely starter at the other. Behind them, they have Nick Perry (in a contract year), Jayrone Elliott (showed flashes early last season), the newly-drafted Fackrell (likely expected to be part of the rotation immediately), and possibly even offseason pickup Lerentee McCray.
Neal did a decent job in his time here over the years — especially after he put early-career injury issues in the rearview — but as with Kuhn, eventually you get replaced for options with higher upsides. Unlike Kuhn though, the team has even more options to turn to in the event of injury.
Odds of return: 0%
Next: Brett Goode