Biggest Needs At Midseason

The Packers are tied for the best record in the league after eight games, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have needs heading into the second half of the season. A rash of injuries has already sent nine players to injured reserve, and some of them won’t be back until 2022.


If general manager Brian Gutekunst wants to strengthen a certain position via trade, he has until tomorrow afternoon to get it done. And while that seems unlikely due to his history and the team’s very limited cap space (approximately $3.5 million), nothing should be dismissed entirely in what still feels very much like an “all-in” season.

Here’s a list of the Packers’ four biggest needs at (kind of) midseason, along with the names of players who could help:

 

1) DEFENSIVE END

Dean Lowry and Kingsley Keke have played fairly well, but the former has never shown the ability to make an impact against quality guards and tackles, and the latter is currently dealing with his second concussion since December. The first sidelined him for the final three games of last season and bothered him for months. Tyler Lancaster and rookies T.J. Slaton and Jack Heflin are the backups, but all three are better suited to play nose tackle.

If Gutekunst makes a trade, it would most likely be to improve the depth. But if he wants to get better at the position, Emmanuel Ogbah (Dolphins) would be worth pursuing. After bouncing around for a few seasons, the former No.1 pick of the Bengals is finally living up to his potential (28 pressures and 2.5 sacks). Whether he’s available and whether the Packers could afford him are legit questions. Ogbah has been arguably the Dolphins’ best defensive player through eight games, and he’s still owed just over $3.5M for the remainder of the regular season.

2) TIGHT END

This position became a need the minute Robert Tonyan’s knee buckled last Thursday night. Green Bay still has plenty of bodies, but none have the pass-catching skills of No. 85. Dominique Dafney and Josiah Deguara are more fullbacks than tight ends, and 37-year-old Marcedes Lewis is pretty much just a blocker at this point in his career. Tyler Davis is an intriguing prospect. Like Tonyan, he’s a college quarterback turned wide receiver turned tight end. But the former Georgia Tech star is a very raw prospect who’s probably not ready to play on offense just yet.

Evan Engram (Giants) would be the ideal replacement for Tonyan. He’s a similar type of player, but he’d cost a little over $3M for the remainder of the season. Cheaper and more realistic options are Jordan Akins (Texans) and Tyler Kroft (Jets). While Akins hasn’t done much this season, he did show some potential a year ago with Deshaun Watson at QB. Kroft is a steady veteran who can block. They both have less than $1M left on their contracts.

3) CORNERBACK

How big a need depends on what the doctors really think about Jaire Alexander. If there’s legitimate confidence that the All-Pro will be able to return later this season, then the Packers are just fine with rookie Eric Stokes and vets Kevin King, Rasul Douglas, and Chandon Sullivan. But that quartet without Alexander probably wouldn’t be good enough to shut down multiple elite offenses come the playoffs. The talented Stokes is still learning, King can’t be counted on to stay healthy, Douglas has been with five teams in the past nine months, and Sullivan is just a guy.

The Broncos have made it clear that slumping Kyle Fuller is available, but no team is going to pick up the $4.5M+ left on his contract. If Denver is willing to pay part of it, some general manager might be willing to roll the dice on a 29-year-old who played well last season. That GM could be Gutekunst, who signed Fuller to a $56M offer sheet in 2018. Less talented and accomplished corners also figure to be available, but Green Bay already has plenty of them.

4) EDGE RUSHER

The arrival of veteran Whitney Mercilus and the recent optimism surrounding the potential return of All-Pro Za’Darius Smith later in the season makes this much less of a need than it appeared a few weeks ago. In fact, if Smith comes back, the Packers would have one of the deepest and most talented group of edge rushers in the league. Rashan Gary continues to get better, Preston Smith has rebounded from a disappointing 2020, Mercilus still has some tread left on his 31-year-old tires, and even young Jonathan Garvin has flashed a bit from time to time.

The best available edge rusher figures to be Dante Fowler (Falcons), who’s currently on IR. He’s expected to be back soon, and if available, he could be a big help to any team’s pass rush. Fowler has an explosive first step and had 15 pressures and two sacks before getting hurt in Week 5. In the last year of his contract, he’d cost his new team about $3M for the rest of the season. Melvin Ingram (Steelers) would be another less expensive ($650K) option.


Once again, I’m not expecting Gutekunst to do anything significant between now and tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. ET, but hey, what would a trade deadline be like for fans of the Green Bay Packers without some unrealistic expectations?

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Michael Rodney

Packers Notes is the creation of Michael Rodney, who has been writing about the Green Bay Packers for over 30 years. His first blog, Packer Update, hit the internet in 2004. Before becoming a public educator, Rodney worked as a journalist for a couple of newspapers in his home state of New Jersey and covered the Philadelphia Eagles for WTXF-TV. He's had numerous articles on the Packers published, and he's been featured on both television and radio over the years.

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