The Green Bay Packers made arguably the biggest move in the NFL offseason. Trading for star pass rusher Micah Parsons was supposed to take Jeff Hafley's defense to a whole new level, and so far, that has seemed to be the case. At least, for the most part.
Any defensive success that the Packers have seen so far isn't largely because of Rashan Gary. He was supposed to be half of one of the most crushing pass-rushing duos in the league alongside Parsons. Instead, he's either been a liability or a non-factor more often than not, sometimes looking like he isn't motivated enough to be out there. Much to the dismay of fans, that trend continued against the New York Giants on Sunday.
Gary didn't do much in Week 11, tallying two pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, and a pair of tackles. His 52.7 pass rush grade was a new season-low, and that's without mentioning how he was also out-snapped by backup pass rusher Kingsley Enagbare (40-39).
Rashan Gary's Struggles Can't Be Ignored by Packers
The Packers gave Gary a four-year contract extension worth a whopping $96 million back in October 2023. He's signed through the 2027 season and was expected to take a big leap with Parsons by his side, hopefully making his deal age like fine wine as time went on.
Instead, Gary has been inconsistent more often than not this season. He isn't the worst player on the field, but he also hasn't exactly looked like he's been worth this year's $25.7 million salary cap hit, especially when it comes to his PFF rankings among exterior defenders:
- Overall defense: 69.6 (T-50th)
- Run defense: 72.2 (T-20th)
- Tackling: 66.5 (64th)
- Pass rushing: 62.5 (84th)
While his play against the run has not necessarily been terrible, his poor pass-rushing performance is definitely not what the Packers are paying for. He isn't living up to expectations, and continuing to do so will put his future with Green Bay in jeopardy.
The Packers will have some big decisions to make to keep the band together next season. That's when Gary's contract could be a bit of an issue, especially if the front office wants more cap space. As such, they could choose to cut him after June 1, and while they would have to take an $8.5 million dead cap hit, they would clear $19.5 million in cap savings, according to OverTheCap.
That isn't to say that the Packers should start filing divorce papers, but it's clear that there is a path to separation.
If Gary doesn't give this team more in the final stretch of the season, it might make more sense to just let him go and roll with someone like Lukas Van Ness opposite Parsons. Either way, something has to give if Gary can't become the player that the Packers are paying him to be.