Green Bay Packers: Potential roster cut additions in free agency
By Kenn Korb
Paul Posluszny, ILB, Jacksonville
Posluszny has had a strange career. His play has vacillated wildly from playing undeniably poor to surprisingly excellent; per Pro Football Focus’ metrics, in his 10 seasons he has garnered an 85.0 or higher grade 4 times and also a 53.5 or lower 6 times.
That’s a crazy amount of fluctuation, and his time spent strictly in Jacksonville has been particularly defined by it. After beginning his Jaguars tenure with his best season to that point (119 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 2 INTs, 9 pass defenses; 87.4 PFF grade), he proceeded to fall of the proverbial cliff; though his box score stats stayed relatively strong, his actual impact on a play-to-play basis dropped well into replaceable territory.
Last season though, somehow, he miraculously became that player he appeared to be in 2008-2009 and 2011. With a strong showing like that, it would be expected that he’d probably be staying on — especially for a team lacking consistent playmakers and in constant flux.
Well, there are some reasons worth considering.
Posluszny has already had to restructure his contract once during his Jacksonville tenure (dropping his prior $7.5 million yearly average to $5 million back in 2015), and though money isn’t exactly an issue for the Jaguars, they could decide a somewhat-expensive veteran is not worth having around for the final season he’s contracted for, instead elevating a younger option to play (Myles Jack would seem a likely pick).
The Jags also are starting with a newly-formed power structure this year behind Football VP Tom Coughlin and Head Coach Doug Marrone is the head coach; with new dynamics like this, there usually tends to be a change in direction which involves getting rid of expensive non-superstar veterans.
Should he hit the open market a year early, Green Bay would be prudent to look into him.
Posluszny’s bad years with the Jaguars directly correlates with the aftermath of a talent drain in the wake of moving on from Jack Del Rio as their head coach; beyond him, there was little else, and he could not carry the load for a perennially-terrible unit. Last year, the group saw a massive increase in talent coalesce; with it, he played at his high level again.
On Green Bay, it could be a similar situation for him. There are multiple clear weaknesses on the defense for the Packers, but unlike most of those Jacksonville teams they do at least have some areas of strength. The defensive line has a multitude of young talents that came on strong in the second half of the year, and they also had one of the league’s best safety combos. He wouldn’t help the pass rushing or outside coverage issues facing Green Bay much himself, but he would solidify what has been an average-at-best inside linebacker group.
Though Blake Martinez and Jake Ryan do have definite strengths, they have exploitable weaknesses — especially in coverage, where Posluszny was nearly elite in 2016. Place him with those two, and we could see a much improved unit in the middle of the field.
Alternative Option: Rey Maualuga (ILB; CIN)
Maualuga has been one of the mainstays in Cincinnati for years. He’s had the same sort of major fluctuations in play as Posluszny (though his highs were never as great), and is coming off one of his lesser years with them; because of that, he may be more likely to be let go.
If he is, he could be a possible cheap short-term upgrade to the ILB depth.