Packers: Five-step plan for addressing needs in free agency
By Evan Siegel
2. Sign Austin Hooper to a 4 year/$41 million deal with $25 million guaranteed
Depending on how Littleton’s contract is structured, the Packers will need to get a bit creative here. With Jimmy Graham jettisoned, the Packers are turning to the free agent market for a tight end… again. Ted Thompson‘s inexplicable marriage to the thoroughly poor Richard Rodgers was only somewhat dealt with when he signed Jared Cook deep into free agency. Green Bay then let him walk for reasons that still baffle Packer fans.
Thompson then whipped around and signed Martellus Bennett to a three-year deal, which blew up in their face after he was cut midway through his first season with the team after a fierce spat with team physicians. Once Gutekunst took over, it was his turn to whiff on Jimmy Graham after making him the highest-paid tight end in football. Now that Graham has been let go after two seasons, Austin Hooper should get his chance.
Hooper in all likelihood will be the first tight end to average $10 million per season. Hooper is coming off a 75-catch season with six touchdowns, one more score than Graham had in two years with the Packers.
Hooper is also just 25 and is only now entering the prime of his career. He has become one of the more efficient tight ends in football, as plenty of Matt Ryan‘s targets were being given to Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley. Signing two players to expensive contracts is going to bring the Packers very close to just over $10 million in cap space.
3. Re-sign Tyler Ervin to a 1 year/$2 million deal
Most of the remaining cap space will be allotted to signing up a draft class which will include three extra draft picks. The Packers have very little left to spend, but there are still a couple of savvy veterans that could be of service. No one is breaking news when they say that the Packers’ special teams unit has been bad for years.
The Packers could desperately use a consistent return man. Tyler Ervin is far from a world-beater returning kicks, but compared to what the team had in Tremon Smith and others before that, Ervin’s production made him look like Desmond Howard. Matt LaFleur and Nathaniel Hackett showed some effectiveness when implementing Ervin into their playbook. Ervin needs to be brought back and made a bigger focal point for both the offense and the special teams.