It ended at least a week sooner than they expected but the off-season has arrived for the Green Bay Packers. With an NFC Wild Card berth on the line and winners of four straight, the Packers crashed out of the post-season by falling to the Detroit Lions 20-16 marking a third straight finish to a season at Lambeau Field but this time, coming one game short of the post-season.
The day after the last day is always difficult. Monday was a day for the players to clean out their lockers and bid farewell to teammates. For Head Coach Matt LaFleur, it was one last appearance at the media auditorium podium to put the wraps on his 4th season. After going 13-3, 13-3 and 13-4 in his first three, finishing 8-9 was a hard pill to swallow. The first order of off-season business was to meet with all of his players, and staff of assistants to assess the season just finished and lay out plans to move ahead.
LaFleur said he isn’t considering any changes to his staff, defensive coordinator Joe Barry included. He said he might consider bringing Nathaniel Hackett back. His offensive coordinator for the first three years, Hackett took the Head Coaching job in Denver but it did not go well, getting dismissed before finishing his first year on the job.
As for his team’s play in 2022, LaFleur said the offense was just never able to find consistency with two position groups. The offensive line waited for David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins to completely recover from 2021 knee surgeries (3 for Bakhtiari, not to mention a December apendectomy). At wide receiver, replacing the production of Davante Adams was difficult. The free agent signing of Sammy Waktins didn’t pan out, injuries also played a role, preventing Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard to mesh with rookies Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. While Watson was able to shake a knee procedure from the spring, hamstring and concussion issues made it hard for him to hit stride but when he did beginning the Dallas game, he became the big play threat the offense desperately needed. The play of Rodgers, the 4 time league MVP never rose to that level either. Statistically, it was the worst season of his career in which he started every regular season game. His passer rating of 91.1, yardage of 3695, average per attempt at 6.8 were all career lows. His 12 interceptions were the most since 13 in 2008, his first year as a starter.
Defensive play also never measured up to pre-season expectations. Stopping the run was difficult all year, the pass rush tailed off after Rashan Gary was lost for the season and while the secondary started racking up interceptions in bunches by December, a unit that thought of itself a top five NFL defense, wound up 17th overall on the year.
The Special Teams was the only phase that showed improvement. After the disasters of 2021, LaFleur convinced management a sizeable investment was needed. Coordinator Rich Bisaccia was brought on board and several players were signed solely with teams in mind. LaFleur said major strides were made in kickoff and punt coverage and of course, Keisean Nixon delivered a huge bonus once he became the primary returner. Nixon wound up leading the league in kickoff return yardage and average, just the third Packer in franchise history to finish number one joining Al Carmichael and Dave Hampton.
Several players met with reporters during the final open locker room session on Monday and the one most sought after was rookie linebacker Quay Walker. The top draft pick’s first season was eventful to say the least. A day one starter at inside linebacker, Walker finished just one tackle shy of the team’s rookie tackling record. But it was the last bump of the season that needed explanation. Walker was ejected from the season finale when he pushed a Detroit Lion trainer on the field as he was about to attend to injured running back D’Andre Swift, a former college teammate of Walker’s at Georgia. It was the second time this season Walker was disqualified from a game. The first time it happened he shoved a Buffalo Bills practice squad player dressed in sweats on the Bills sideline after a play. Walker issued an apologetic tweet on Monday morning and then faced the music when atoning for his ways in front of reporters.
LaFleur addressed the situation one last time saying while he’ll never defend the action, he will defend the person. LaFleur says Walker is a very good football player who must learn to control his emotions in the heat of battle, especially after incidents occurred twice this season. He believes the apologies were sincere and that Walker will work to make sure they don’t happen again.
The team won’t get together again until April 17th and it’s almost a certainty, the cast of players will change. 16 veteran players have contracts expiring in March when the 2023 NFL calendar year begins and speculation is already rising over how many won’t be back, especially if Aaron Rodgers decides to come back for a 19th season. Under contract for the next two years, Rodgers, who turned 39 in December, said he’s going to take some time to let the emotions subside before making a decision about retirement. If he does come back, he’ll have a salary of over 59 million dollars with 31 million counting against an already stressed salary cap. Big money will be paid out to others like David Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, Jaire Alexander and Kenny Clark. Elgton Jenkins just got a lucrative new deal a month ago.
Will there be enough money or roster room for the likes of Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis, Yosh Nijman, Dean Lowry, Adrian Amos, Jarran Reed and Mason Crosby, all on that free agent to be list?
General Manager Brian Gutekunst and Vice President of Football Operations Russ Ball are in for some serious deliberations in the coming weeks. Gutekunst will conduct his season ending press conference on Friday.
He was busy getting 13 players under contract. Young free agents signed Tuesday included 10 players who spent most or part of the season on the practice squad. That list included linebacker LaDarius Hamilton, running back Tyler Goodson, quarterback Danny Etling, defensive lineman Chris Slaton, defensive backs Kiondre Thomas and Benjie Franklin, receiver Jeff Cotton, tight ends Austin Allen and Nick Guggemos and guard Jean Delance. Newcomers brought aboard included defensive back Tyrell Ford who played with Winnipeg in the Canadian Football League last season, safety James Wiggins, a first year player from Cincinnati and another kicker, Parker White who just wrapped up his college career as South Carolina’s all-time leading scorer.
Finally, a couple of items to look forward to. By finishing 8-9, the Packers will have the 15th choice in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
The schedule of opponents for 2023 has also been determined. Aside from the NFC North affairs at home and on the road, the Packers will have 8 games at Lambeau Field and 9 away contests next year. The home opponents are Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, the Los Angeles Rams, the LA Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs. On the road, the Packers will travel to Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, Carolina, the New York Giants, Denver, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh.
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