Green Bay Packers: Don’t Bank on Clay Matthews Returning

The Rams recently released Clay Matthews, but I wouldn’t anticipate a reunion with the Green Bay Packers in 2020.

Nostalgia is a funny thing and there is a lot of it in Green Bay, Wisconsin – and for good reasons. The Green Bay Packers have one of the richest histories in sports and for fans everywhere, being reminded of the days of Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and many others, certainly brings back fond memories.

Well on Friday it was reported that the Los Angeles Rams have decided to move on from longtime Green Bay Packer, Clay Matthews. And his release sparked a lot of conversation about whether or not the Packers should bring him back for the 2020 season.

He is, of course, the Packers’ all-time sack leader and his tenure in Green Bay included six Pro Bowls, an All-Pro selection, and a Super Bowl title. Over those 10 years, he would total 356 tackles, six interceptions, 41 pass breakups, 15 forced fumbles, and 83.5 sacks along with 189 quarterback hits.

But does it make sense to bring him back for the 2020 season?

The soon to be 34-year-old had shown last year in L.A. that he still has some gas left in the tank. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), in 295 pass rush opportunities last season, Matthews generated eight sacks, six quarterback hits, and 42 total pressures. Certainly not bad production at all.

On top of that, he would provide the Packers with depth at two positions. With the departure of Kyler Fackrell, Green Bay only has three edge-rushers at the moment and even with the addition of Christian Kirksey, there are still some concerns about the linebacker position.

Clay is, of course, remembered by many as a pass rusher, and in 2019 he had shown that he can still be effective in that role, but he had also spent some time at linebacker during his time in Green Bay as well.

However, after that reason, I can’t really think of many more that help this move make any sense and even this logic comes with a few holes in it.

For one, Rashan Gary needs to see the field more in 2020 and if the Packers do sign Matthews, it isn’t to be the fourth pass-rushing option. Meaning, Gary could very well once again be on a snap count. And that just isn’t going to help his development.

Second, we saw all last season that Green Bay needs to get faster at the linebacker position and having Matthews playing significant snaps there at this point in his career could lead to him being exposed. Especially in coverage. It’s also worth asking, does Matthews even want to play off-ball linebacker?

Lastly, he is still Clay Matthews and he is coming off an eight sack season. So he likely won’t come cheap either. And for a Packers team with limited cap space this offseason, they have to be very calculated in who they decide to add.

While Matthews coming back to Green Bay would be a nice story, ultimately, it just doesn’t make much sense. Reportedly the Packers had the opportunity to bring him back in 2019 at a bit of a discount but they chose not to. So a year later I can’t imagine that much has changed.

If you’re wanting to see Clay Matthews back in Titletown for 2020, I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high for a reunion.