Packers need to pursue Landon Collins in free agency

Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst appears to be very different from Ted Thompson in that his regime is willing to spend in free agency. Landon Collins needs to be their next target.

Landon Collins has fallen off the map in New York. The various problems that have plagued the Giants in the locker room over the last two years have seemingly affected their entire secondary. Eli Apple and Janoris Jenkins were both suspended over different points of the 2017 season, and Apple was eventually traded to the Saints.

Collins’ play on the field didn’t seem to miss a beat, however. At just 25 years of age, the former Alabama safety has already made three Pro Bowls, and was named first-team All-Pro in 2016. The Green Bay Packers are absolutely desperate for a starting-level safety who can help out their young secondary.

The Packers first began having problems in their secondary way back in 2011. They’re still trying to fix it. Jaire Alexander had a solid rookie year, while Josh Jackson was barely noticeable after a stellar preseason. The Packers are still a long way away from being able to truly slow down opposing receiving corps the way they need to. Landon Collins will go a long way towards fixing that problem.

Not only is Collins a strong coverage defensive back, but he can also come up to the line of scrimmage and deliver a thump in the running game. The Packers have been trying to get this type of skill set out of Kentrell Brice for years now, and he simply can’t stay on the field and stay healthy. Even when 100 percent, Brice is nowhere near the player that Collins has become.

Collins has amazing downhill speed and has far better instincts than Ha Ha Clinton-Dix ever played with in his five years in Green Bay. With all kinds of draft capital and plenty of cap space, the Packers can make yet another overhaul of their defense beginning with Collins.

For too long, the Packers have been completely reliant on the later rounds of the draft and their own practice squad players as the next one’s up when in need of reinforcements. That must change. Brian Gutekunst received largely positive reviews after his first year on the job, but it was far from flawless.

In free agency, the Packers gave a pretty large contract to Jimmy Graham, who was far from the Jimmy Graham we saw in New Orleans and Seattle. Much of his mediocrity can be attributed to the archaic offense that was run by Mike McCarthy, and perhaps Matt LaFleur and Nathaniel Hackett can unlock what Graham still has left in the tank.

Tramon Williams was simply not a big enough signing to make any legitimate impact to the defensive backfield.

In the draft, Jaire Alexander and Marquez Valdes-Scantling were really the only rookies to provide the team with any kind of youthful reinforcement. The Packers have only a few years left with Aaron Rodgers. It is time to begin opening the checkbook more frequently and spending on difference makers.