Packers mailbag: Roster priorities, Bakhtiari's future and expectations for 2024
Every Friday through the offseason, we will do a Green Bay Packers mailbag. Without further ado, let's go to your questions. There have been conflicting reports about this, Pedro. But my sense is that head coach Matt LaFleur and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will evaluate the situation case by case. It was smart from the […]
Every Friday through the offseason, we will do a Green Bay Packers mailbag. Without further ado, let's go to your questions.
There have been conflicting reports about this, Pedro. But my sense is that head coach Matt LaFleur and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will evaluate the situation case by case. It was smart from the Packers' perspective to retain all the assistants, so Hafley can keep whoever he thinks is worth it.
However, LaFleur imposed his old coaching staff to Joe Barry going from Mike Pettine, and I don't think it was the correct approach. The third consecutive coordinator with the same position coaches group — even though there have been smaller changes through the years — doesn't seem like the best path forward.
Actually, the new defensive coordinator hopefully gives the Packers more leeway to invest in the offense. The biggest (and fair) complain about Joe Barry was that he didn't maximize the defensive talent, and that implies that there is enough defensive talent to work with.
Sure, there are some holes, especially in the back end. But the Packers can probably sign mid-level safeties in free agency, for example. My plan here would be investing the high capital in the offense, and add to the defense via later rounds in the draft and trying to find fits to Hafley's system in free agency.
Internally, I have no doubt that the Packers are thinking Super Bowl. And for real. Sure, externally they said that expectation never changed, but obviously they didn't enter the 2023 season thinking they were contenders. They wouldn't have traded Rasul Douglas if they did.
But it's still too early to predict. Actions speak louder than words, and what the Packers do in free agency will give us a better indication of what they think about themselves.
Brian Gutekunst was pretty definitive about Jaire Alexander and Aaron Jones during his end-of-season press conference on Thursday. In comparison, the lack of direction about David Bakhtiari's situation is telling and could be something to watch.
First of all, Bakhtiari won't play in Green Bay if he's not willing to adjust his contract. The cap hit is just too heavy for a player who missed basically two and a half of the last three years.
But if the Packers are able to convince Bakhtiari to take less money and if there isn't a strong trade partner to acquire him, I would still rather just keep him than release him — and that's because even through the last three years, Bakhtiari has still played at a high level when available.
That's a good one because Okudah played so well for Hafley at Ohio State that he ended up being the third overall pick in 2020. However, he's been bad with the Detroit Lions and not much better with the Atlanta Falcons in the league. Maybe it's a worth depth signing since he's a free agent, but there are other Hafley connections that could make more sense.
I'll probably write more about it over the next few days, but some names to watch are linebacker Malik Harrison and safety Jordan Fuller, who played under Hafley at Ohio State too, but also two players who were coached by him with the San Francisco 49ers: cornerbacks Emmanuel Moseley and K'Waun Williams.
Why would they ever do that? They simply can't make the same mistakes they did when Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback. Find a good defensive coordinator and let him work with the talent they already have, plus some fits in free agency and later rounds, and use your best resources to build around Love.
The offense is deep and young, but you need top-level talent on offense to win in the NFL. The Packers can certainly use a true number one receiver, another running back, and they need to upgrade the interior of the offensive line. That's way more important than the defense at this point.
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