The Green Bay Packers didn't heavily invest in off-ball linebackers for quite some time. They were suboptimal, but not terrible with players like Blake Martinez and Jake Ryan. For two consecutive years, the Packers traded for Antonio Morrison and B. J. Goodson. Then, in 2021, they finally found gold when they signed De'Vondre Campbell to a one-year, $2 million deal, and he made the First Team All-Pro.

There are lessons to be learned, but the Packers did the wrong ones, and decided to invest more and more in a non-premium position — and for an outlier.

What happened

The Packers defense did benefit from having a good off-ball linebacker in 2021, so they decided it was important to use more resources there. So in the same offseason, in 2022, the Packers gave Campbell a five-year, $50 million extension, and used a first-round pick to select Quay Walker.

Two years later, off-ball linebacker is still a need for the roster.

What went wrong

First of all, it's pretty hard to find a First-Team All-Pro in free agency. Especially when the player wasn't signed until July. In Campbell's particular case, he had been an average player for two teams, the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals.

So the idea that he could replicate the 2021 performance was always unrealistic. Sure, he didn't need to play at such a high level to justify a new contract, but more likely than not he would be closer to what he had been throughout his career.

That's the result of the first wrong lesson the Packers learned. The right move was not to sign De'Vondre Campbell specifically. Instead, it was finding a cheap player who fit the scheme. Once he plays at a high level, you get the compensatory pick and try to find the next one.

Eventually, you won't. But if you are going to make a mistake, at least make an inexpensive one.

Draft

Any team has limited draft resources. Even if the Packers had extra picks in 2022 from the Davante Adams trade, the top of the draft is an important moment to get players from premium positions — and that's what the Packers have done for the most part, with quarterbacks, cornerbacks, edge defenders, and offensive tackles, plus defensive tackles to a lesser degree.

But in 2022, Brian Gutekunst used the 22nd overall pick to select Quay Walker, who was the 51st player on The Athletic's Consensus Big Board.

First of all, that was a bad process on multiple levels. First, because overdrafting players in relation to the consensus is usually a bad idea. And second, because the Packers did it to get a player from a non-premium position.

The third point is not exactly a mistake, but a case of when the modus operandi backfires. The Packers love drafting athletic players, even if they are raw. Sometimes it works, like it did with Rashan Gary, but it hasn't worked with Walker. And the biggest problem, going back to positional value, is that even if it had worked, the outcome wouldn't have been so positive like it was with Gary because off-ball linebacker simply isn't a position as impactful.

All those process-related problems are affecting the Packers. Quay Walker was the first player from his position drafted in 2022, and among 11 qualifying off-ball linebackers from that class, he had the worst PFF grade (58.5) in 2023.

He was worse than Leo Chenal, Devin Lloyd, Markquese Bell, Nate Landman, Jack Gibbens, Jack Sanborn, Terrel Bernard, Micah McFadden, Christian Harris, and Damone Clark. You probably haven't heard of many of these names, and that's how problematic the situation is.

How to attack it

The point here is not advocating for the team to give up the position. Obviously, it's better to have good linebackers than bad ones. But unless you have an elite one like Fred Warner or Roquan Smith, who are true game-changers, it's smarter to go cheap — both in free agency and in the draft.

Brian Gutekunst can attack the position with multiple players, but getting cheap options in free agency who are expected to fit Jeff Hafley's scheme, and drafting players later in the process.

Sometimes, it won't work. But that's always the case, so you better have a sound overall process.

Releases and tag options create more free agents options for the Packers

Xavier McKinney, Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs, and Jerome Baker are available