3 former Packers struggling with their new teams in 2023

1. Dean Lowry, Minnesota Vikings

What did the Minnesota Vikings expect? Dean Lowry was coming off arguably the worst season of his career -- he made 0.5 sacks in 2022 -- yet the Vikings handed him a two-year deal worth $8.5 million.

It's a move they already seem to regret. Lowry has eight tackles, no sacks, no QB hits, and no tackles for loss in Minnesota's opening four games. His snap counts in each game: 46, 39, 31, 22. That's a dramatic decline from Week 1 to 4.

Packers fans saw this coming a mile off. Lowry was outplayed by rookie Devonte Wyatt last season. Green Bay decided against re-signing Lowry in the spring, instead moving forward with Wyatt and draft picks Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks.

The Packers made the right choice. While Lowry is off to a slow start for the Vikings, Wyatt and Brooks have combined for 4.5 sacks, five QB hits, and seven tackles for loss. Wooden has one QB hit and one tackle for loss.

Brian Gutekunst opted against re-signing a number of veteran free agents in the offseason, including Cobb, Tonyan, and Lowry, replacing them with young players. It looks like he made the right decision with each of them.

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