Green Bay Packers Re-Sign or Let Go & Prediction: Whitney Mercilus
By Paul Bretl
Up next in my Re-sign or Let Go & Prediction series is Whitney Mercilus, who was an effective in-season addition made by the Green Bay Packers in 2021 prior to his biceps injury.
In this series, I will be going through each of the Packers’ 14 unrestricted free agents, taking a look at why Green Bay could re-sign that player, why they could let them walk, and at the end, I make my prediction.
Below you can find the first article of this series if you missed it.
Why the Green Bay Packers could re-sign Whitney Mercilus?
Prior to joining the Green Bay Packers, Whitney Mercilus was really struggling with the Houston Texans. For what it’s worth, he was PFF’s lowest graded edge rusher in 2020, and in six games with Houston in 2021, Mercilus had generated only five total pressures.
But in Green Bay, we saw a much different version of Mercilus. Perhaps it was the change in scenery, but also, lining up with Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, and Kenny Clark helps as well. As a rotational player utilized on third downs or in obvious passing situations, Mercilus ranked 32nd out of 105 edge rushers from Weeks 7 through 9 in PFF’s pass-rush productivity measurement–which is an efficiency metric.
Mercilus gave Green Bay some reliable pass-rush depth, something that they were lacking last season outside of Gary and Smith, and as we look ahead to the 2022 roster, the Packers once again may be lacking depth at one of the game’s most important positions.
If both Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith are cut for cap savings, edge rusher is without a doubt the biggest offseason need–Gary simply can’t do it all on his own. But even if one of the Smiths is brought back, finding reliable edge rusher depth should still be a high priority. When Green Bay had to lean on Jonathan Garvin, La’Darius Hamilton, or Tipa Galeai last season, there was a noticeable dropoff in performance against both the run and pass.
Mercilus can be that player for the Green Bay Packers in 2022. It’s also worth mentioning that he was a tremendous off-the-field presence with this Packers team as well.
Of course, cost is going to be an important factor in all of this, especially with Green Bay’s cap situation. If Mercilus is willing to come back on a veteran minimum deal, then I see this as an easy decision to make–you re-sign him.