Packers: Three players to avoid signing in free agency

2. Jack Conklin

If Bryan Bulaga signs elsewhere in free agency, the Packers will have a major need at right tackle. But bringing in Jack Conklin would almost certainly cost even more money than bringing back Bulaga.

There’s no doubting Conklin’s talent. He ranked eighth in ESPN’s pass block win rate among tackles in 2019. Conklin will also only have just turned 26 at the start of the 2020 season, so he could still have years ahead of him as a starting tackle.

But the Packers have to be careful with how they plan to use their available cap room this offseason and Conklin’s salary could be way out of the team’s range. Spotrac estimates Conklin’s market value to be $15 million a year. This would make him one of the highest-paid tackles in the NFL and he’d be earning $3 million per year more than the Packers’ four-time All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Conklin is expected to have “many suitors”, and he added that the competition to sign him “will be intense”. With many teams potentially bidding for Conklin, the Packers are unlikely to have the cap room to keep up.

Conklin could be a great long-term replacement for Bulaga, but his price makes it close to impossible to make sense for the Packers.