Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Linsley can’t control if he stays with Packers
Corey Linsley didn’t have a notable reaction to the Green Bay Packers drafting three interior offensive linemen, and he isn’t sure – with an expiring contract after this season – what his future holds.
Back in 2017, the Packers gave Linsley a three-year extension in late December, keeping him out of free agency, but a similar situation isn’t guaranteed this time around.
“It is what it is. I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Linsley said during a Zoom call with reporters last week Wednesday. “I can only control what I can control. Just playing out the year and seeing what happens and going from there.”
Linsley, a fifth-round pick of the Packers in 2014, has been the starting center in Green Bay each of the last six seasons. Now 29, Linsley is still an established member of the NFL’s upper half of starting centers, but the Packers drafted three offensive linemen, including Oregon center Jake Hanson, possibly signaling a future parting of ways.
“Yeah, no reaction, I guess. I just saw it,” Linsley said when asked how he felt after seeing the Packers drafting the trio in the sixth round.
Linsley said Hanson, who started almost 50 games for the Ducks, is an “attentive” and “very intelligent” player who is quickly getting up to speed with the Packers offense.
The Packers also re-signed Lucas Patrick, who played snaps at center last year, and left guard Elgton Jenkins played center in college, providing several different options should the Packers move on from Linsley after 2020.
Linsley would likely have no shortage of suitors if the Packers let him go. Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire ranked him as the No. 8 overall center in his positional rankings last month.