The Packers may need to find other options at tackle

The Packers may need to start evaluating other options at right tackle if Bryan Bulaga walks in free agency.

Free agency for the Green Bay Packers and the rest of the NFL is just about two weeks away. The new league year starts March 18, which is when free agency “officially” begins. March 16, however, is when legal tampering begins, and that’s really when free agents start agreeing to sign with other teams.

The Packers have a few players entering the pool of free agents, but there is one, in particular, most Packers fans wanted to bring back: Bryan Bulaga. Bulaga is coming off of one of his best seasons as a pro. He kept Aaron Rodgers clean for most of the season, even though he faced some of the best pass rushers in the NFL in players like Khalil Mack and Danielle Hunter.

Bulaga will be 31 at the start of the next season. He’s due for a big payday, but at the same time, is it smart to give an aging offensive tackle with an injury history over $10 million a year? Spotrac estimates Bulaga’s market value is about $10.1 million a year.

Well, whether the Packers want to or not, they may not have a choice. With their spending spree last year on defense, which was sorely needed, the Packers don’t have a lot of cap space available right now. They have other big holes they need to fill this offseason and pay players like Kenny Clark and possibly Aaron Jones too.

Tom Silverstein and Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also reported that the Packers haven’t even been in contact with Bulaga or his agent:

"“According to a source, the Packers have not had any talks with his agent since the season ended.There’s plenty of time before the free-agent period begins, but if the Packers were eager to get him under contract they probably would have done so already. The team may be waiting to see how the CBA goes and whether they will have more salary-cap space than anticipated.”"

I’d say that’s a pretty telling sign that Bulaga won’t likely be back in the green and gold next season unless something surprising happens.

So what now?

Since it sounds like the Packers are looking to be involved in a few free agents outside of the offensive line, such as tight end Austin Hooper and linebacker Cory Littleton, neither of which will be cheap, I’m guessing the Packers will look to address this need through the draft.

With so much talent in the NFL Draft at the receiver position, I understand why Packers fans would want them to take a receiver in the first round, but because there is so much talent, the Packers could afford to take a receiver later than the first round and still get a quality weapon for the offense.

I could see them taking a tackle with their first pick and taking a receiver or two later. Or they could take a receiver first and see what’s available in the second or third rounds of the draft. Either way, I think they will definitely look to fill this hole through the draft.

A quick band-aid to the problem would be to re-sign Jared Veldheer, who played well sparingly at the end of last season, and draft a tackle who might not be quite ready. Veldheer might be able to give the Packers a decent year, to allow the draft pick to develop and learn for a season.

Otherwise, they could turn back to what many thought the plan was last season, kick Billy Turner out to tackle and they could either draft an interior lineman or move Lucas Patrick to guard.

There is definitely some uncertainty right now, which is a little scary considering the Packers need someone to protect Aaron Rodgers on that side of the line, but have some faith that Brian Gutekunst and the Packers front office will have a plan and get something figured out. I don’t think we need to worry about entering the 2020 NFL season with Alex Light or Jason Spriggs as the starting right tackle.