Pete Dougherty
Packers’ free-agency deals make sense only if GM Brian Gutekunst puts the savings to good use.
GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Packers didn’t get better Monday when they signed Christian Kirksey and Rick Wagner.
To do that before the draft, general manager Brian Gutekunst will have to do something bigger in the free-agent or trade markets this week.
What Gutekunst accomplished by signing an inside linebacker and right tackle was land stopgap starters who won’t force the Packers to play rookies at those positions unless they’re ready. He also will save some money by letting Bryan Bulaga and Blake Martinez walk.
What’s left for Gutekunst to do in the next week or two is make good
use of the savings by finding veteran help for the passing game after he decided not to outbid Cleveland for tight end Austin Hooper (reported $11 million a year) or Arizona in a trade for receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
Based on Gutekunst’s signings last year, I was surprised he didn’t take that extra step to get Hooper. Even if overpaid, Hooper is a young, healthy and complete receiving-blocking tight end who would have been a good fit for coach Matt LaFleur’s outside zone run scheme.
The Packers could have found a way to pay Hooper the guaranteed money it would have taken to get the deal done while still keeping this year’s cap number low, but Gutekunst must have considered that price too high. It’s hard not to wonder if a year from now Hooper will be the one that got away.
With Hooper off the board, only one big fish remains available on the open market: Dallas receiver Amari Cooper. He’s the right age (25) and health (only three missed games in four seasons). But free agency moves fast, so Gutekunst will have to make a quick decision on whether he can stomach the cost.
Hopkins set a new standard at receiver shortly after his trade to the Cardinals on Monday by signing a five-year extension that averages $16.1 million in new money and includes $36.5 million in full guarantees.
He’s a better player than Cooper, but on the open market Cooper will get a similar deal. It’s a steep price for a team already playing Davante Adams $14.5 million in new money at the same position.
If Gutekunst balks, he’ll have to turn to the second- and third-level markets. One player to keep in mind is Indianapolis tight end Eric Ebron. He’s a talented former top-10 pick who’s had only one good season (13 touchdown catches in 2018), so he might be had for a palatable price.
As for his signings Monday, Gutekunst landed two players who more likely than not will start in 2020 and who won’t cost against the Packers’ compensatory picks this time next year. Both were cut by their teams earlier this offseason — Kirksey by Cleveland, Wagner by Detroit — and thus weren’t true free agents.
Wagner isn’t in Bulaga’s class at right tackle, so the Packers downgraded at that key position if he in fact is the starter. But Gutekunst in return signed an 87-game NFL starter on the relative cheap rather than ponying up the big money ($12 million a year and $20-plus million guaranteed?) it would have taken to bring Bulaga back.
That wasn’t an easy call because right tackle is a premium position, but as good as Bulaga was last season Gutekunst made the percentage play. Bulaga will be 31 later this month and has an injury history (torn ACL, torn hip labrum, on and off back issues) that argues against the big investment in him. Better a year early, as they say — as long as Gutekunst puts that savings to good use.
It’s also not a given Wagner will be the Packers’ starter. His contract ($5.5 million average and $4.8 million cap number, according to contract details reported by the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson) is that of a veteran option in case Gutekunst doesn’t draft a tackle who’s ready to play as a rookie.
One offensive line coach in the league said he liked Wagner better than Riley Reiff when both signed comparable deals in the free-agent market in 2017 — Wagner signed with the Detroit Lions, Reiff with the Minnesota Vikings — but considers Bulaga clearly the best player of the three.
“I’m sure (the other NFC North) coaching staffs like (the Packers’) decision,” the coach said.
Kirksey may or may not be better than Martinez, and he’s a much bigger injury risk after missing 23 of 32 games because of hamstring and chest injuries.
It’s a given that defensive coordinator Mike Pettine was a big influence in the Packers signing Kirksey and perhaps a reason they didn’t outbid Oakland for Nick Kwiatkoski, who reportedly signed a three-year deal that averages $7 million. Pettine was head coach in Cleveland for Kirksey’s first two seasons after the Browns drafted him in the third round. The defensive coordinator has as much riding on this signing as anyone.
It’s not that Gutekunst spent big on Kirksey — about $6 million in 2020 pay and $4 million in cap charge, according to details Wilson reported. Martinez is likely to sign with someone else for closer to twice that. Still, Kirksey’s injury profile runs counter to Gutekunst’s signings that worked out so well for the GM last year.
Regardless, it’s still a good bet Gutekunst will draft an inside linebacker in the first two or three rounds this year. With Kirksey on hand, that player will have a year to develop — if Kirksey can stay on the field.
Kirksey will be a better cover guy than Martinez but probably not as good against the run. Even though he ran 4.58 coming out of college, compared to Martinez’s 4.71 and Joe Schobert’s 4.74, there’s probably not much that separates the three. The Packers are counting on Pettine’s insider knowledge to be the difference.
“Kirksey is faster (than Schobert) but I wouldn’t say he’s better (in coverage),” said an NFL scout who has studied this year’s inside linebacker class.
This was just Day 1 of the open market, so there should be more to come. Gutekunst has saved his team some money by moving on from Bulaga and Martinez. He’ll have the next few days to put those savings to good use.