Packers: 5 things Green Bay can’t do this offseason

2. Can’t cut Clay Matthews

Clay Matthews is 31 years old and expensive, making north of $11 million in 2018, but he might be the best defender the Packers have. He had the most sacks on the team last year and rebounded from an injury-plagued 2016, when he only started nine games, and started 14 in 2017.

Matthews’ experience playing different linebacker positions throughout the years is something new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine would surely value. Matthews also is one of the most experienced players on the roster. He’s one of the few remaining players from the Super Bowl run in 2010. That kind of versatility and leadership is difficult to replace.

Pettine comes with a new system that will have a learning curve for the players too. Cutting Matthews likely means adding somebody younger and less experienced who will only make the learning curve steeper. For a team that struggled to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, cutting your best pass rusher while welcoming in a new scheme is not a spot you want to be in.

Cutting Matthews would come with a large boost in available money, but he’s very similar to Nelson and Cobb in the way that he can still help you win more than whoever would replace him.

Unless the Packers absolutely need Matthews’ money to sign a massive free agent this offseason, he’s worth keeping. Contracts can be structured around the big money the Packers owe in 2018. Unless Gutekunst spends like crazy it’s very unlikely the Packers will need to let Matthews go.