Green Bay Packers: Is Corey Linsley a Surprise Cut Candidate?

NFL teams make surprise cuts all the time, so in order to save some cap space is Corey Linsley a surprise cut candidate for the Green Bay Packers.

Now, before I dive into this topic I’m not advocating that the Green Bay Packers should cut Corey Linsley. In fact, I really hope that he is apart of this team in 2020 because, to put it simply, he has been excellent.

However with that said, the cap space that the Packers have to work with this offseason is tight, we’ve seen them make surprise cuts before, and Linsley is in the final year of his contract. So I don’t think that we can completely rule it out either.

Since taking over as the starting center in 2014 during his rookie season, Linsley has been incredibly durable, playing 100 percent of the Packers’ offensive snaps in three of his six NFL seasons. This includes back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018 where he never missed a snap. Linsley’s availability in itself, is already incredibly valuable.

Meanwhile on the field, during his first five seasons having played anywhere from 588 pass-blocking snaps to 774, Linsley had never allowed more than four sacks and three quarterback hits. Although this past season he did allow five sacks, which was a career high, according to Pro Football Focus.

So given Linsley’s availability combined with his performance on the field, just flat-out releasing him doesn’t make a lot of sense. But if we dive deeper, there are enough valid reasons that make it a possibility.

For one, and as I’ve already highlighted, the Green Bay Packers’ cap space in 2020 is tight and they have a number of needs to fill. According to Spotrac, the Packers have just under $22 million in available cap space. And while they could cut Jimmy Graham and trade Lane Taylor to free up more room, compared to the  rest of the NFL, they are still on a much tighter budget.

But if in addition to Graham and Taylor they also choose to move on from Linsely who comes with a cap hit of $10.5 million in 2020, Green Bay only suffers a dead cap hit of $2 million. Thus saving them an additional $8.5 million that can be put towards a tackle, inside linebacker, a wide receiver, or any other position of need.

The Packers also find themselves in a difficult situation with other members of their offensive line. As most know, Bryan Bulaga’s contract is up and he is projected to earn $10.1 million per year in free agency. Meanwhile, David Bakhtiari is a free agent after the 2020 season and will need to be paid once again.

And truthfully, given the Packers’ current cap situation, signing all three offensive linemen to new deals in the next year while also meeting other needs could be challenging. Which could very well put Linsley as the odd man out, given that tackle is a premier position in the NFL.

It’s also worth mentioning that this wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen the Packers make a surprise cut. Under Ted Thompson as GM we saw him cut T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton. Then just this past summer we saw Brian Gutekunst cut Mike Daniels. Take that as you will, but my point is that it’s happened recently.

So if Green Bay does take a chance and move on from Linsley, who is going to take over at center? Well, it would likely be Lucas Patrick who signed a two year – $3.6 million extension during the 2019 season.

During his short career, Patrick has shown versatility by being able to play multiple positions along the offensive line. And in his 437 total pass-blocking attempts, he has allowed just two sacks and eight quarterback hits.

While I don’t think anyone is going to argue that he is the same player that Linsley is, if the Green Bay Packers think that he can be close, then perhaps moving on from Linsley and saving that extra cap space to use elsewhere makes sense.

Having said all of that, once again I’m going to reiterate that I don’t think this is the best decision. As currently constructed the Green Bay Packers have one of the best offensive line units in the NFL, and to this point we haven’t seen a team win a Super Bowl with a bad offensive line.

So no, I’m not advocating that the Packers cut a key player like Linsely and create a new hole that they’ll potentially have to fill if Patrick struggles. But for reasons that I’ve pointed out, as well as past moves that this team has made, I just wanted to bring up that it could be a possibility.