The Top 10 Free Agent targets for Green Bay in 2018
The Packers will have roughly $21M dollars in cap space in the 2018 off-season for use on current players and/or free agents. Here are some great ones from different positions of need that could make an impact for the organization heading into the 2018 season.
#10: Trey Burton, TE, Philadelphia Eagles.
Last season, Burton caught 23 passes for 248 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in 15 games, playing behind Pro Bowler Zach Ertz. Burton, an undrafted free agent, made one start in 2017 and saw his snaps increase while Ertz recovered from a concussion suffered in Week 13 against the Seattle Seahawks. In four seasons with the Eagles, Burton has had 63 catches for 629 yards and six total touchdowns. He’s not the top offensive target nor even the top Tight End target for Green Bay, but he could still make an impact for them.
#9: Cameron Brate, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brate is set to become a restricted free agent in 2018 which leads me to believe that Tampa Bay will end up getting a deal done to get him to stay with them. In his four years with Tampa Bay, Brate caught 129 passes for 1,556 yards and 17 touchdowns. Brate had a catch percentage of 62.3% in 2017 which ranked 4th among the 7 free agent tight ends.
#8: Tramon Williams, CB, Arizona Cardinals.
The former Pro Bowler left Green Bay to play for Mike Pettine in Cleveland in 2016. He’ll be turning 35 in March, but he’s also coming off of one of his best seasons as a pro and still has gas left in the tank. According to Pro Football Focus, Williams allowed a catch percentage of 49.7 percent & a passer rating of just 58.4 percent over 666 total snaps on defense for Arizona in 2017. He knows Green Bay’s scheme, he knows their staff, and he won’t be too expensive. What’s not to like?
#7: Donte Moncrief, WR, Indianapolis Colts.
A third round draft choice out of Ole Miss in 2014, Moncrief was the #2 wide receiver behind T.Y. Hilton during his tenure with the Colts. The biggest problem with him is the fact that he only has 1,875 yards and 18 total touchdowns in his career so far. Getting that little of production in 4 years as the #2 wide receiver on the team is a red flag and the main reason I have him so low on this list. Sure, if Green Bay gets rid of Cobb (which they could), Moncrief could be his replacement in the slot but even still, I don’t think he gets the job outright if Cobb gets cut and Ty Montgomery switches back to wide receiver. It’ll be tough for him to out-dual Montgomery for that position.
#6: Trumaine Johnson, CB, LA Rams.
A third round draft choice out of Montana in 2012, Johnson has become one of the league’s best defenders. In 2012, his rookie season, he appeared in all 16 games, recording 31 tackles, 8 pass deflections and had 2 interceptions. He followed that up by recording 68 tackles, 11 pass breakups, and 3 interceptions in 16 games in 2013. He missed extensive time due to a knee injury 2014, only playing in nine games. Even though he started in a little more than half the games that year, he was still able to rack up 36 tackles, 6 pass deflections, and have 3 interceptions. In 2015 he had the best season of his NFL career thus far. In 14 games with 13 starts he recorded 71 tackles, 17 pass breakups and had 7 interceptions. In 2016, he recorded 57 tackles, 11 pass breakups, and had 1 interception. Per Pro Football Focus, Johnson was targeted 89 times in the passing game last year, allowing just 51 catches for 759 yards and only one touchdown. Opposing quarterbacks recorded just a 79.8 passer rating when throwing in his direction in 2017. He could also be an upgrade to a very porous pass defense in Green Bay.
#5: Aaron Colvin, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars.
Left in the dust behind two Pro Bowl cornerbacks in Jacksonville, Colvin quietly pieced together another great season in 2017. He never gave up a touchdown pass despite facing 62 targets while playing a total of 700 snaps on defense, per Pro Football Focus. Quarterbacks completed 45 total passes for just 315 yards when targeting him in coverage. The 26-year-old can play inside or out and is an aggressive tackler. In Green Bay’s scheme under Pettine, he’d be an immediate starter & an upgrade over Davon House.
#4: Tyler Eifert, TE, Cincinnati Bengals.
Tyler Eifert, 27, was selected in the first round of the 2013 draft out of Notre Dame. He started 30 of 39 games in his career. He’s had 127 receptions for 1,537 yards and 20 touchdowns. He had an 80% catch percentage in 2016 (he only played in two games in 2017), which ranks 1st among the 7 other free agent tight ends. The biggest issue with Eifert would be injury. He hasn’t played all that much from 2013 to now. Do I think he could flourish in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers throwing to him? Absolutely. Can he stay healthy enough? That I don’t know the answer to and that is the million dollar question when it comes to him.
#3: Malcolm Butler, CB, New England Patriots.
Malcolm Butler, the former Super Bowl MVP who famously picked off Seattle’s Russell Wilson from one yard away on the goal-line in Super Bowl 49, is set to hit the open market. While he won’t be cheap, he would make a lot of sense for a team like Green Bay that struggles on defense- mainly against the pass. Butler has developed into a real star at his position and New England is probably unlikely to pay him in the offseason. They already were rumored to be trying to deal him this past offseason, probably in hopes of getting something better than a compensatory pick for his contributions. Green Bay has some young talent in the secondary, but their coverage still lacks in key positions. Butler would immediately be their top coverage guy. Through four years, he’s been proven to force turnovers. He has eight career interceptions and four forced fumbles-all over the past three seasons as he wasn’t a regular contributor as a rookie. His presence could greatly increase the pass defense in Green Bay, which would in turn help them win more games and possibly another Super Bowl-which is the ultimate goal.
#2: Austin Safarien-Jenkins, TE, New York Jets.
Safarien-Jenkins, 25, is the youngest of the bunch for tight end free agents in 2018. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014 in the second round out of Washington. He played two years in Tampa Bay from 2014-’16. He got released in late September due to a DUI charge and was claimed off of waivers by the New York Jets three days later. He had 105 career receptions for 1,070 yards and 10 total touchdowns. He had a 67.6% catch percentage which ranks 3rd among the other seven free agent tight end targets in 2018. He could provide the necessary spark to a very anemic and vanilla Green Bay offensive scheme.
#1: Jimmy Graham, TE, Seattle Seahawks.
Graham, 31, was selected in the third round of the 2010 NFL draft out of the University of Miami by the New Orleans Saints. In 5 years with NOLA from 2010-’15 (78 total games, 50 starts), he caught 396 passes for 4,752 yards and 51 touchdowns. In 3 years with Seattle (43 total games, 39 starts), he caught 170 passes for 2,048 yards, and 18 touchdowns. In total, 556 receptions for 6,800 yards, and 69 total touchdowns. By far the most of all 7 free agent tight ends. The only concern I have with Graham is age. At 31, he’s the 2nd oldest free agent tight end behind Virgil Green. I think with Jimmy Graham in an Aaron Rodgers-led offense, it’ll make Green Bay that much harder to stop. I also think Jimmy Graham has the best ability to stretch the field than the other tight ends in this free agent class. It’ll be interesting to see which route Gutekunst ends up going as far as picking up free agents but I know that he wants to improve Green Bay and get them back to being a championship team.
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