Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Report: Packers haven’t offered deal to Williams
With contracts expiring for several important players and little financial spending power under a shrinking salary cap in 2021, the Green Bay Packers may have to let a number of players test free agency without an opening contract offer next month.
Running back Jamaal Williams looks like one player with an uncertain future in Green Bay.
According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, the Packers did not extend a new contract offer to Williams over the course of the 2020 season.
A fourth-round pick in 2017, Williams has an expiring rookie contract and will be an unrestricted free agent come the new league year.
Demovsky reports the Packers have sent several contract offers to running back Aaron Jones, who appears to be the team’s free-agent priority at the position. The two sides haven’t struck a deal and it’s looking increasingly likely that Jones, a first-time Pro Bowler in 2020, will reach the open market without a new deal from the Packers.
Williams could be an attractive backup plan if Jones departs.
Over four NFL seasons, Williams has produced nearly 3,000 total yards and scored 18 touchdowns. He is averaging 4.0 yards per carry and has at least 25 catches in all four seasons.
Although far from a game-changer, Williams did have over 100 total yards in two of his starts in place of Jones this season, and he’s both reliable as a runner, receiver and blocker and beloved by teammates and coaches.
The Packers just might not have the money to bring him back. Well over the projected 2021 salary cap at this point, the Packers will need to clear space over the next month before even entertaining adding more to next year’s cap.
It’s possible the Packers will let players like Williams hit the open market and find out their own value before making a real offer.
Since joining the Packers in 2017, Williams has 622 total touches while playing 1,754 offensive snaps over 60 regular season
games. Of the running backs selected in 2017, Williams ranks ninth in Approximate Value, a measure tracked by Pro Football Reference. Jones is fifth.
6 Packers make PFF’s Top 101 players list
The Packers had the best collection of top-performing talent in the NFL during the 2020 season.
Pro Football Focus released the site’s top 101 players of the 2020 season on Monday. The Packers had six players featured on the list, including three in the top 12 and all six in the top 50. No other team had any many players in the top 12 or top 50.
Overall, the Packers had PFF’s No. 1 quarterback, No. 1 receiver, No. 1 cornerback, No. 3 offensive tackle, No. 2 safety and No. 1 center during the 2020 season.
The Packers to make PFF’s top 101 in 2020:
2. QB Aaron Rodgers
5. WR Davante Adams
12. CB Jaire Alexander
23. LT David Bakhtiari
27. S Adrian Amos
39. C Corey Linsley
The Packers were also the only team to have two players in the top five.
Rodgers, the league MVP, made a gigantic jump in 2020, going from the No. 83 overall player in 2019 to No. 2 in 2020. He received the best overall grade in PFF’s history. Only Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald kept him from the top spot.
Adams rose from No. 33 in 2019 to No. 5 this season, while Alexander went from unranked last season to No. 12 in 2020. Amos and Linsley also made the jump from unranked into the top 50.
Last season, edge rusher Za’Darius Smith, running back Aaron Jones and defensive lineman Kenny Clark all made the top 101, along with Rodgers and Adams.
Packers meet virtually with NC State defensive lineman
The Packers are doing their homework on a run-stuffing defensive lineman with a profile similar to Kenny Clark ahead of the 2021 NFL draft.
According to Justin Melo of The Draft Network, the Packers have met virtually with North Carolina State defensive lineman Alim McNeil.
GM Brian Gutekunst and the Packers will likely be active in gathering information on defensive line prospects during the draft process. Montravius Adams, Tyler Lancaster, Damon Harrison and Billy Winn are all free agents, and Dean Lowry could be a cap casualty.
Over three collegiate seasons, McNeil produced 17.5 tackles for losses, 10 sacks, five pass breakups and two forced fumbles. He also returned an interception for
a touchdown.
Pro Football Focus named him an AllAmerican during the 2020 season. In fact, he was the site’s highest-graded interior defender in college football last season, and one of the nation’s topranked run defenders overall.
According to his draft profile at The Draft Network, McNeil is a “powerful interior defender” who has created “positive flashes of gap-penetration skills” but has an “underdeveloped” variety and pass-rush plan.
The final line: “For a team in need of a short-yardage and early-down run stuffer that has a ceiling to develop into a more effective pass rusher, McNeill is a terrific mid-round option.”
PFF currently ranks McNeil as the site’s 46th best prospect and No. 2 interior defender in the 2021 NFL draft.
From PFF: “McNeil has the potential to be the holy grail – a nose tackle who can rush the passer. He’s got one of the best first steps in the entire draft class even though he weighs 320 pounds. He earned grades of 80.8 and 77.5 as a pass-rusher the past two seasons – mostly from a true 0-tech alignment.”
The Packers once struck gold with a similar player: Clark, a first-round pick in 2016 who has developed into arguably the game’s best nose tackle.
Bears hire Pettine as defensive assistant
The Chicago Bears hired former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant last week.
He will work under Sean Desai, who was promoted to replace the retired Chuck Pagano as Chicago’s defensive coordinator.
Pettine had been Green Bay’s defensive coordinator for three seasons — taking over one year before coach Matt LaFleur’s arrival. The Packers announced he would not return after they lost to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC championship game.
The Packers gave up 56 more points during the 2020 regular season than in 2019, but they improved in most other defensive areas. Green Bay ranked ninth in total defense and tied for 13th in run defense in 2020 after finishing 18th in total defense and 23rd in run defense a year earlier.
The Bears also announced title changes for two offensive assistants.
Mike Snyder will now serve as assistant quarterbacks coach while remaining in his offensive quality control role. Henry Burris is now an offensive quality control coach after working as a Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellow last year.