Packers should re-sign Muhammad Wilkerson this offseason
The Green Bay Packers should re-sign Muhammad Wilkerson.
Signing Muhammad Wilkerson to a one-year deal was one of the Green Bay Packers‘ biggest free agency moves last offseason, but due to injury Wilkerson didn’t get much of an opportunity to make an impact in Mike Pettine’s defense.
Wilkerson went down with a season-ending ankle injury in Week 3 against Washington.
Injuries were a problem across the entire defensive line in 2018. Wilkerson, Kenny Clark and Mike Daniels all ended the season on injured reserve.
When fully healthy the Packers defensive line has the potential to be one of the league’s best. Adding depth along the line will be a priority this offseason, and re-signing Wilkerson would help do just that.
Wilkerson is two-time All-Pro and a former Pro Bowler. He’s played some of his best football under defensive coordinator Mike Pettine while they were both with the New York Jets. There’s no doubt in my mind that Wilkerson would’ve helped Green Bay’s defense this season, and the same will be true in 2019.
While the Packers need to improve at edge rusher, they were much stronger on the inside with interior pass rush. Wilkerson can help the pass rush — he had a combined 36 sacks in his final five seasons with the Jets.
As for the contract, there’s no reason why the Packers couldn’t offer Wilkerson a similar deal to last year. Wilkerson signed a one-year, $5 million “prove it” type contract last offseason.
The Packers clearly had high hopes that Wilkerson could get back to his best this season, and there’s no reason why that should change now. Wilkerson is only 29 years old, and one benefit of getting injured so early in the season is that he’ll have had almost an entire year to recover by the time the 2019 season begins.
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It’s a big offseason for this team as it looks to strengthen both the offense and defense with the hope of becoming a Super Bowl contender again in 2019. One of GM Brian Gutekunst’s first moves should be to re-sign Wilkerson.