Four Questions From the Packers' Offseason So Far

The Packers have had an interesting offseason. Every offseason is interesting in its own way, but this one has been interesting in a number of positive ways — and most of the Packers offseasons recently have not been particularly positive. 

Dating back to the end of the 2020 season, we’ve had several offseasons in a row that have been highlighted, I would say, but their negativity. After the Packers lost to the Buccaneers in the 2020 NFC Championship Game, we had an entire offseason of Aaron Rodgers discontent that actually lasted well beyond the offseason into training camp itself. Then, Rodgers launched his well-publicized diatribe against the front office, which led to a contract extension the following offseason.

However, that next off-season was still fairly negative in its own way. The Packers traded Davante Adams, and Rodgers continued his manipulation as he tried to do whatever it was he was trying to accomplish by playing general manager. 

The next offseason Rodgers was finally traded, a negative in its own right, but at least an end to the back-and-forth drama. But that led to the remainder of the offseason being spent discussing something nobody could really know: how Jordan Love would fare in his first season as the Packers’ starting quarterback.

But finally, this year we have what I think we could characterize as a normal offseason, one that is only interesting for normal, expected reasons and not due to controversy with Hall of Fame-level talent. The Packers have spent on some players and cut others, but that is all within the normal course of doing business. 

Normal, sure, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have questions. And given that there’s still about a month to go before the draft, I think we should talk about the story so far. 

Each of the Packers moves or non-moves so far have left me with a few questions and I think it’s time even though we’re still about a month off from the draft and there’s a lot of off-season to come to talk through a few of those questions. 

How will the Packers use Josh Jacobs?

The first that comes to mind is how the Packers will use Josh Jacobs. I feel like a bit of the broken record at this point, but I can’t help but be fascinated by Brian Gutekunst’s continued pursuit of and fascination with a certain kind of running back. Dating back to last season and maybe even prior to that, the Packers have been fairly open in their interest in big-bodied workhorse backs. Last year we heard about the Packers’ supposed interest in Jonathan Taylor in Indianapolis and Saquon Barkley in New York, and this year they’ve signed Jacobs and re-signed AJ Dillon.

Jacobs is at least sturdily built if not overly big, but I think he fits the archetype that Brian Gutekunst has been pursuing. So how are they going to use him? 

A lot of people have tended to focus on the productivity he had in Las Vegas, which is fair because he was at times quite prodigious, but I think the usage question is is significant.

We have seen evolution in the Packers’ running game over the past couple of years and Jacobs seems to dovetail with that, but Matt LaFleur likes to do things with his running backs in addition to what we seen from Jacobs. He likes to motion his running backs out into the into the slot. He likes to split his running backs out wide on occasion, and Jacobs really hasn’t done those kinds of things to this point in his career.

 think it’s fair to question how he’s going to be used in Green Bay, not from a perspective of whether or not he can do it, but just from a standpoint of what he’ll actually be doing.

How will Xavier McKinney affect the Packers’ defense?

The second question is related to the first: how are the Packers going to use Xavier McKinney?

McKinney has been characterized far and wide as the Packers’ next deep safety, and it’s true that historically he’s done a lot of the things you’d expect from someone in that position. But he’s also a very versatile player, and he mentioned his conversations with Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to that end in his introductory press conference. He’s very comfortable being moved around, but the question remains: exactly how will the Packers do it?

We won’t of course, know what the Packers will do until this fall, but we may get a preview of what the Packers have planned for McKinney through the draft. If the Packers move to acquire another safety in the vein of McKinney, I think that tells us the Packers are looking for an overall versatile safety room that they can line up in a couple of different ways depending on matchups in a given week. But if they take a guy who usually plays more of a box safety role, I think we’ll see more clearly defined responsibilities for McKinney, playing primarily a deep safety role and maybe moonlighting close tot he line of scrimmage on occasion.

Incidentally, I think we need to monitor Darnell Savage’s use in Jacksonville. The Jaguars say intend to play Savage primarily or exclusively in the slot, and that is something the Packers experimented with to limited success but never fully committed to doing. But this could, theoretically, be another instance where the Packers misused a defensive back who went on to be successful in a different role with a different team. I’m skeptical of that being the case with Savage, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

How will the Packers handle their offensive line?

The third question has to do with basically the whole offensive line. Right now the Packers have one position firmly open and two more that are at least potentially up for grabs.

The open position is obvious: they need a right guard. Jon Runyan is off to New York and there is no obvious replacement in house. Royce Newman could be an option, but I think we would all prefer to avoid going down that path if it all possible. 

I think we should also consider the left tackle spot open for competition, though Rasheed Walker is the heavy favorite. He beat out Yosh Nijman for the top backup spot in training camp and got first crack when David Bakhtiari went down after the season opener, then held off Nijman decisively during the in-season competition.I like Walker and I think even if he’s a backup swing tackle, he’s going to be quite a draft steal for the Packers, but I think he’s also going to have to win the job again this summer. 

Center, in my estimation, should also be up for competition. Despite what the Packers said last offseason, Josh Myers has never really faced serious competition for his job. There were some overtures toward Zach Tom last year, but that was all but shut down by training camp, probably because Tom is more valuable at tackle than at center even if center might be his better spot. But with Myers heading into a contract year, I think the Packers owe it to themselves to add some real competition there, if only because next offseason we’ll probably see Myers get a deal similar to what Jon Runyan got this year. 

Why haven’t the Packers extended Kenny Clark yet?

The final question has to do with Kenny Clark: why haven’t the Packers extended his contract yet?

Clark is entering the final year of his contract and remains a valuable player. Even if he declines somewhat over the next two to three seasons, I don’t know if we should anticipate a precipitous dropoff. He’s only entering his age 29 season, and the standard three-year or four-year extension that’s really just a two-year extension would only take him through his age 31 season. To be sure, that is a roll of the dice, but not a big one for a guy who has been generally healthy in his career.

I can see two possibilities for why this might be the case. First, the Packers might be planning an extension for later in the year. Jordan Love’s new contract probably takes organizational priority right now, and although a new deal for Clark would create some cap space, they really don’t need the space right now; any imminent free agent deals would probably be cheap enough that they don’t require significant space. The Packers have historically extended contracts at or around the start of training camp, so if Love’s deal happens in May or June, an extension for Clark could happen in July or August.

But the second possibility is that Clark is not a future priority for the Packers. Even if he doesn’t decline that much into his early 30s, how much of a decline can the Packers afford? De’Vondre Campbell’s play fell off so hard that they are probably rightly leery about any kind of age-related decline, and the conclusion of the David Bakhtiari saga probably makes them equally skeptical about handing out third contracts.

Could the Packers let Clark leave in free agency? I don’t think we can rule it out, and if we can’t rule that out, I don’t know if we could fully rule out the possibility of the Packers trading Clark, either. A post-June 1 trade would let them split the cap hit over two years and net them far more than the compensatory pick that Clark would bring for whatever free agent deal he signed. Plus, a trade would get the picks to the Packers for the 2025 draft (happening in Green Bay, it should be noted), when a comp pick wouldn’t arrive until 2026. 

I know that sounds crazy, but I’ve now lived through the Packers trading Brett Favre, trading Davante Adams, and trading Aaron Rodgers. If they can do that, they can trade Clark, too.