Green Bay Packers Could Look to Add an Edge Rusher this Week
By Paul Bretl
As more and more players are placed on the reserve/COVID list each day around the NFL, the Green Bay Packers have suddenly become very thin at the edge rusher position.
On Saturday, the Green Bay Packers placed LaDarius Hamilton, a practice squad player, on the reserve/COVID list, and then just on Monday, Tipa Galeai was placed there as well.
Galeai has been on the field for 109 snaps, all since Week 11, and logged three pressures, one sack, and eight tackles per PFF ($$). For Hamilton, this is his second stint with the team this season. He has appeared in four games, been on the field for 60 defensive snaps, and tallied two pressures.
There is the possibility that Galeai could be back for Sunday’s game against Minnesota, and the same goes for Hamilton, who has already been on the reserve/COVID list for a few days.
But for the time being, this leaves the Green Bay Packers with only Preston Smith, Rashan Gary, and Jonathan Garvin as available edge rushers, and perhaps we see Oren Burks taking some additional snaps there as well–according to PFF, Burks has 63 snaps this season lined up outside of the tackle.
Even if both players are back — which they may or may not be — Green Bay can’t go through a week of practice with only three edge rushers. This is why I would anticipate them making a practice squad addition sometime in the near future–strictly for depth purposes.
As far as who Green Bay could target, well, that’s always difficult to gauge, but it could be off another team’s practice squad or perhaps an available free agent. What I wouldn’t expect is it to be a big name and this player may only be on the team until Galeai and Hamilton are both available. In terms of cap space, the Packers have $3.7 million available, according to Over the Cap, which is more than enough to make a late-season signing.
Despite the defense trending in the wrong direction as of late, the Green Bay Packers have been very good at pressuring the quarterback this season, ranking in the top-5 in total pressures generated along with Gary ranking sixth individually and Smith ranking 11th, according to PFF.
This week the Packers will face the Minnesota Vikings. The last time these two teams played, Green Bay was without Gary, and it forced Joe Barry to dial up some blitzes in an effort to pressure Kirk Cousins, something that Barry has not often had to do this season. The Vikings’ offensive line currently ranks 26th by ESPN’s pass-block win rate metric.
Although Smith and Gary are still available, it’s not as if they can play every defensive snap, so it’s important to make sure that Green Bay has the depth they need behind them.