Packers could package picks to move up
GREEN BAY - As a result of their recent trade with the Cleveland Browns, the Green Bay Packers have some attractive draft picks that could get them into the top 10 if they so desire.
The Packers need an impact player on defense, but if they stay at No. 14, they could miss out on one of the draft’s top defenders.
In trading cornerback Damarious Randall to the Browns for quarterback DeShone Kizer last week, the Packers also swapped fourth- and fifth-round picks with the Browns in the upcoming draft.
The Browns gave the Packers the first pick in the fourth round (101 overall) and the first pick in the fifth round (138) in exchange for the Packers’ own picks in the fourth round (114) and fifth round (150).
So, the Packers moved up 13 selections in the fourth and 12 in the fifth and now have six picks in the top 138.
The fourth-round pick (101) has added value because it is the first pick of Day 3 of the draft. Teams with that pick have overnight to reshuffle their board and figure out how they want to attack the final four rounds of the draft as well as shop the pick to teams targeting a player they may not get with their own fourth-round selection.
For general manager Brian Gutekunst, the advantage might be in the flexibility to move up in the first round and get a player he really covets.
Based on the draft value chart, if Gutekunst offered the picks he received from the Browns plus the No. 14 pick in the first, he would have a total of 1,233 points. The No. 11 pick is worth 1,250 points, so there’s a chance he could move up three spots by offering those selections.
Because Gutekunst has compensatory picks in the fourth (133) and fifth (172, 174) rounds, he would not be shut out of those rounds.
A bolder attempt would be to trade his third- (76) and fifth-round (138) picks to move up. Including No. 14, he would have 1,347 points to offer. That would put him right at the No. 9 spot (1,350).
If Gutekunst can get inside or right at the 10 spot, it would give him a better shot at one of the top defensive players such as Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edwards, Florida State safety Derwin James, Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward or Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith.
Trading away the third-round pick wouldn’t be as big of a deal because Gutekunst would still have the first pick in the fourth round, a drop of only 25 spots. However, it would mean that instead of having six picks in the top 138, he would only have five.
Performance pays: The NFL’s performance-based pay program made Packers linebacker Blake Martinez’s 2017 season a lot more lucrative.
The system, negotiated in the last collective bargaining agreement, rewards players whose performance and playing time surpassed their pay level based on a point system that compares him to his teammates.
Martinez started every game and played 93.6% of the Packers’ defensive snaps while earning a base salary of $540,000.
As a result, he was rewarded an extra $384,390.54. The money is a combination of the original player performance pool and newly added veteran pool. Martinez received the 25th-highest performance pool payout ($291,170.83) and the thirdhighest veteran pool bonus ($93,219.71).
Martinez started all 16 games and finished tied for the most tackles in the NFL with 144.
Contract decisions: The Packers did not tender contract offers to either of their restricted free agents, allowing punter Jacob Schum and inside linebacker Joe Thomas to become street free agents.
Schum spent all of last season on injured reserve and will try to continue his career somewhere else. Thomas, however, is a candidate to return on a contract cheaper than the low RFA tender of $1.907 million.