Green Bay Packers Re-Sign or Let Go & Prediction: Whitney Mercilus
By Paul Bretl
Prediction: The Green Bay Packers won’t re-sign Whitney Mercilus
I really went back and forth on this one–as I said, I do believe there is a lot of value in bringing Mercilus back in a similar pass-rushing rotational role that he was in this past season given the depth of this unit. However, my gut says it isn’t happening.
One reason is the money. I’m just not confident at this point to say that given the Green Bay Packers cap situation, they are going to allocate resources towards bringing Mercilus back. He is almost 32, after all, and that type of signing would go against the grain for the Packers. I know they’ve added veterans to this roster in the past, but many of those signings under Brian Gutekunst have been in-season additions to plug holes on the roster.
And while perhaps there is the possibility to bring Mercilus back on that veteran minimum deal, if another team has an interest, odds are the Packers won’t be able to compete very well from a financial standpoint. I also need to mention that if Green Bay feels confident in either Jonathan Garvin or Tipa Galeai entering their third season to fill a similar role, then that too is going to make the return of Mercilus more unlikely.
If you’ve read my Cut ’em or Keep ’em & Prediction series, you know that I think Preston Smith is coming back–and when you couple that with this being a very good edge rusher class, I tend to think Green Bay will look for depth in the draft, and adding a higher ceiling player with a controllable contract to their roster over Mercilus. The Packers could look to repeat the same process they took with Rashan Gary, by having two veteran players to lean on while a rookie develops.