Last month, Green Bay Packers defensive end Kingsley Enagbare randomly saw his name pop up in trade chatter ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline. The Packers never indicated that they would move Enagbare, given that Lukas Van Ness suffered an injury in Week 6.
That was a good decision in hindsight, as Enagbare has played better lately, setting himself up to receive a pay raise in the offseason. Speaking of money, the Packers’ defender saw one of his classmates from the 2022 draft get paid on Thursday.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Cleveland Browns DE Alex Wright agreed to a three-year, $33 million extension ($21 million guaranteed). Despite not being a full-time starter, Wright has played better this season, racking up nine tackles for loss, five quarterback pressures, three QB hits, and three sacks across nine games (four games).
For his career, Wright has only 18 tackles for loss, 14 pressures, nine sacks, and nine QB hits, which is okay for a third-round pick. However, Enagbare has been way more impressive to start his NFL career with the Packers, meaning he has a case to get the same amount of money or more than Wright.
Packers Must Open Their Wallet to Keep Kingsley Enagbare Past This Offseason
Over his four-year career, Enagbare has been wreaking havoc on the field as a rotation pass rusher in Green Bay.
- 43 quarterback pressures
- 26 quarterback hits
- 21 tackles for loss
- 10 sacks
This season, Enagbare’s numbers don’t look as great compared to Wright's. However, one thing to keep in mind is that the former fifth-round pick was not playing much through the first five games of the season because of Van Ness. The 25-year-old defensive end only had eight combined tackles, three quarterback pressures, a quarterback hit, and played only 25.3% of defensive snaps.
However, Enagbare’s season took a significant turn when he immediately received more playing time in Week 7, with Van Ness going down with an injury in Week 6. The former fifth-rounder took advantage of the extra snaps with an impressive game against the Arizona Cardinals, where he had five combined tackles, a quarterback pressure, a half sack, a QB hit, and a tackle for loss (32 snaps).
Since that game, Enagbare has not looked back and has continued to receive more playing time, even outplaying a guy like Rashan Gary. While he hasn’t recorded any more sacks, he’s still impacting the game in other ways.
Now, if you’re the Packers, you’d like to see Enagbare get some more sacks, but you’ll live with a player who recorded at least one pressure in four out of his last five games. And to his credit, he’s shown over his career in Green Bay that he can get after the QB. He's also only turning 26 years old in January, so there's a chance that the best is yet to come. An earlier signing could be smarter in the long run.
The Packers likely didn’t expect to have to open up their wallets and pour more money into their edge. But seeing how Enagbare has played lately with Van Ness sidelined, plus Wright getting a $33 million extension, that’s the starting point for Green Bay. Only time will tell what the final financial figure will look like.