Green Bay Packers 2018 roster preview: Nick Perry

The Green Bay Packers need Nick Perry to stay healthy this season.

This would be the perfect season for Nick Perry to play all 16 games. He came close in 2016, playing 14, and finishing with a career-best 11 sacks.

We’ve seen how talented Perry can be when he’s fully healthy.

Before we look ahead to the 2018 season, let’s first look back at his numbers from last year.

2017 stats

Perry missed four games due to injury in 2017. He finished the season with seven sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. According to Pro Football Reference, Perry played 51.52 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.

2017 review

The Packers need more production from Perry. Defensively they lack depth at outside linebacker, which makes the Perry-Clay Matthews duo so important. We’ve seen Perry at his best, which resulted in his first double-digit sack total two years ago.

Under new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, the hope is Perry can reach that level again.

Odds of making roster: 100 percent

Perry isn’t going anywhere. Entering just the second season of a five-year contract, the Packers can’t cut him. And there’s no reason why they’d even want to. Perry will continue to play an important role in Green Bay’s defense under Pettine.

2018 preview

If Perry can stay healthy and be more consistent, he can have a huge impact for the Packers this season.

As things stand, the depth at outside linebacker is concerning. Second-year Vince Biegel will be expected to step up now that he’s healthy, but that’s no guarantee. Reggie Gilbert played well when given an opportunity late in the season, but again, there’s no guarantee he will become a top contributor this year.

Perry and Matthews are the two starters at the position, and as long as they are healthy, they will be counted on to get sacks.

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Perry proved two years ago how good he can be at his best. The Packers will be hoping to see more of that in 2018.