Packers Offseason/Free Agency/ Non-Draft Thread

[run pMc]

Mike McCarthy on Micah Hyde "we think he would be a sub par Safety"

LOL

IIRC Iowa did try Hyde at safety and he wasn't very good; he was better at corner. I don't think M3 is the keenest judge of talent. Exhibit A: as the SF OC he preferred Smith over Rodgers.

[Joemailman]

Jordan Schultz
@Schultz_Report

Sources: The #Packers are exercising the fifth-year option on DT Devonte Wyatt, locking in a guaranteed $12.9M for the 2026 season.

The No. 28 pick in 2022 has totaled 12 sacks in three seasons with Green Bay.

[run pMc]

Wyatt just turned 27, and has 12 career sacks in 47 games (5 starts). Given what a lot of pass rushing 3T's got in FA, this isn't bad. Not a huge fan of giving him or Quay a lot of money -- I don't think they've been consistently good enough, but I could see wanting to give him a prove-it year.

Re: Quay, no word yet, but JAX didn't exercise the option on Devin Lloyd. Speculation is that they are working on a long term deal with Quay. Do you want to keep him for 4/65M? That would basically be Nick Bolton money, not sure he's there. Everybody in the building loves him, so who knows.
It's not my money.

[smuggler]

I think more like 4 years $40 million for Quay. He's not there yet.

[Deputy Nutz]

I think Quay has gotten better each year, he wasn't 100% ready when he was drafted, his reaction time wasn't quite there and he wasn't even the most productive linebacker at Georgia. I thought the Packers reached on him in the first round and it was a head scratcher for me. I think they were hoping that he could develop behind Campbell and that never materialized and Campbell turned into a head case.

[run pMc]

well they did not pick up his option, so they are either going to let him play out his contract or extend him. I don't think he's a bad player, I think he's a great athlete who hasn't put it together. He has had both good and bad moments, and ILBs get picked on a lot by offenses, but he leaves me wanting more. I don't know that I wouldn't let him walk and try again with a couple of Day 3 guys to battle it out. ILB is not a considered a "premium position" and I'd rather save the LB contract money for Cooper down the road anyway.

If they offer him a deal in the 8-10M range that would feel a little pricey but it's not the worst contract they've done. 12-15M/yr is too much IMO. It's like overpaying for a RB.

[Joemailman]

It's official: No 5th year option for Quay.

https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/g...k-on-extension

Unlike Wyatt, the Packers have elected not to exercise the option on Walker, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. His option would have added the 2026 season onto his contract with a fully-guaranteed base salary of $14.75 million, an extremely high number for an off-ball linebacker. In fact, only six players at Walker’s position have contracts with an average annual value higher than that number.

The reason for the high number is that off-ball linebackers and 3-4 outside linebackers all get lumped together for the purposes of calculating 5th-year option values. As a result, much of the value is based on pass-rushers, who generally draw significantly higher-value contracts. While Wyatt’s option makes him the 26th-highest-paid defensive tackle, making Walker the 7th-highest-paid off-ball linebacker does not reflect the caliber of play that he has provided to the Packers through his first three years.


With that said, general manager Brian Gutekunst told the media last week that the team intends to keep Walker in their long-term plans. Demovsky’s report notes that the team will try to work on a contract extension for Walker this offseason, further confirming Gutekunst’s comments about the team’s view of Walker as a building block for the defense. For now, however, he is under contract only through the end of the upcoming season and is set to earn roughly $2.6 million in base salary for 2025.

[Fosco33]

I’m not a fan of quay. I think we need smart defensive playcallers and we seem to play better when he’s off the field. Perhaps that’s unfounded / but while a freak athlete - just a little dumb.

[run pMc]

I don't think he's dumb, I think he's not instinctive, or he doesn't trust his eyes. A lot of offenses try to force LBs to making false steps, and late in the season QB's attacked the MOF between the LBs and safeties (see: Tua's 2nd half vs GB for example), and he's made some head-scratching reads against the run. I think he's willing, but I just think he's more natural athlete than natural linebacker.

Doesn't help that he landed in Barry's scheme, which is more reactive than aggressive, and he had learn and now unlearn that. It would be fantastic if the light went on for Quay, but I think he's going to be a half-beat slow unless Hafley and Co. can coach that out of him.

All of this to say, I don't think he's worth the 5th year option. I'm not even sure he's worth a sizable extension, but GB likes him so they must know something I don't.

[Teamcheez1]

I think it’s interesting that neither player was signed to a long term deal.
The Packers, at least publicly, stated that was the goal. However, they wanted the deals to run less than the 5th year option amount per year.
Obviously, the players didn’t agree at this time.

They have some long-term decisions to make on defense.
You already have Clark at $20M per year.
Do they really want to add Wyatt and Walker for $30M+?

There’s a chance all three could be gone in a year, replaced by the draft and free agency.

[Fritz]

I don't think he's dumb, I think he's not instinctive, or he doesn't trust his eyes. A lot of offenses try to force LBs to making false steps, and late in the season QB's attacked the MOF between the LBs and safeties (see: Tua's 2nd half vs GB for example), and he's made some head-scratching reads against the run. I think he's willing, but I just think he's more natural athlete than natural linebacker.

Doesn't help that he landed in Barry's scheme, which is more reactive than aggressive, and he had learn and now unlearn that. It would be fantastic if the light went on for Quay, but I think he's going to be a half-beat slow unless Hafley and Co. can coach that out of him.

All of this to say, I don't think he's worth the 5th year option. I'm not even sure he's worth a sizable extension, but GB likes him so they must know something I don't.

They seem to like him more than most fans do. It's a bit of a head-scratcher because he does seem a little out-of-position often, even to the casual fan like me. But they do seem to like him.

I don't know if they're working out a long-term extension for him, as they've led us to believe, if a snag has come up, or if really maybe they do intend to let him walk after the season. Could Ty'ron Hopper become Quay 2.0 on a cheaper contract?

[Patler]

Walker's situation is just one of the examples were the "average salary" calculations come up short. Linebackers are lumped together, but the highest paid ones are the pass-rush OLBs in 3-4 defenses. That's not Walker. Instead of paying him $15M for 2026, they'll give him that and maybe a bit more in guaranteed money for a four-year contract averaging less than the 5th year single season salary.

GB will sign the rookies, then work on extensions for Wyatt, Walker and Thom yet this offseason and early in the season.

[Teamcheez1]

Packers sign QB Taylor Elgersma from Canada.
Won the equivalent of the Heisman trophy.
Supposedly looked good in his tryout and has a live arm.

The Sean Clifford fan club may be shutting down soon.

[bobblehead]

Packers sign QB Taylor Elgersma from Canada.
Won the equivalent of the Heisman trophy.
Supposedly looked good in his tryout and has a live arm.

The Sean Clifford fan club may be shutting down soon.

Pretty sure that party of one has mostly disappeared already other than the once in a while bad game by Love.

[Guiness]

Packers sign QB Taylor Elgersma from Canada.
Won the equivalent of the Heisman trophy.
Supposedly looked good in his tryout and has a live arm.

The Sean Clifford fan club may be shutting down soon.

I've seen Elgersma play - he looks really good on the field, very commanding presence. Scrambles effectively. We'll see how he adapts to the differences between the games, the Canadian QBs who like to throw have to adapt to the smaller field and endzones, giving them less to work with.

He's a big guy, 6'5". A bit of a slight build at 227lbs

https://laurierathletics.com/sports/football/roster/taylor-elgersma/21178