Green Bay Packers: Potential roster cut additions in free agency
By Kenn Korb
Mychal Kendricks, ILB, Philadelphia
Posluszny and Maualuga would be decent veteran options for Green Bay in the middle, but they likely would be gone after a year or two. Kendricks meanwhile could be around for awhile. Kendricks is only 26, and his range and athleticism would be a great improvement over the current skill-set provided by Martinez and Ryan.
You may wonder why somebody like that might even be available through these means, but the answer is pretty simple: he doesn’t really fit the plans of the current coaching staff.
When Jim Schwartz took over the Eagles’ defense last season, he drastically changed up what the previous regime was running. The prior plan had more need for the sideline-to-sideline talents of an athlete like Kendricks as a 3-4 ILB; now, the focus is heavily on the defensive line in a base 4-3 setup. Kendricks’ role was massively reduced in the process, and he gives little value to the team anymore — particularly with Nigel Bradham and Jordan Hicks stepping up into major roles there.
Kendricks’ talents aren’t likely to be highlighted within this defensive structure, and for a guy with a $7.6 million cap hit per year over the next three, that isn’t a smart use of money.
On Green Bay, he could immediately be the most talented ILB option in a system which allows his talents to shine. If Philadelphia decides to cut ties, he’d surely be a target. Though Green Bay could easily just stand pat with the Ryan/Martinez combo at ILB, Kendricks would add some dynamism to a limited grouping.
Alternative Option: Stephone Anthony (ILB; NO)
Anthony is another talent who has rather quickly fallen out of favor with the team that drafted him. The Saints haven’t managed to find a consistent role for him despite their evident lack of defensive talent, and there’s little reason to expect that to change.
Should they move on, he could be a buy-low chance to add on someone who not long ago was a 1st round pick — and someone who was often mocked to this very team in that draft. It’d be a coup to not only get the player they did select in that 2015 draft (Damarious Randall), but another young talent they likely considered in the process that year.