Green Bay Packers: Junior Galette should be a free agent target

The Green Bay Packers need to address their pass rush this offseason. Junior Galette could give them a nice boost at a reasonable price.

Adding to the pass rush can seem like a daunting task. Some players fit certain schemes better, or need to play in a certain spot to succeed. Due to that, making moves to enhance the pass rush can seem like a daunting task. This gets even more true through the draft (see Dion Jordan and the Miami Dolphins).

At the same time though, if you hit a home run it can change the defense entirely. It’s not all boom-or-bust though. There are some players that just know how to work over an offensive line. They can create havoc and help a defense in multiple ways.

Someone who finished the year as an underrated talent is Junior Galette. After a fantastic start to his career with the New Orleans Saints, he joined the Washington Redskins in 2015. Things got rocky from their though. He tore his achilles before the season and missed all of 2015. The same thing happened in 2016.

Last season he was finally healthy, and he showed it. This is a classic situation where the numbers don’t tell the story. So please don’t come crying that he only had three sacks on the year if you didn’t watch him play.

Galette will be 30 next season, and has plenty of solid football left. He was one of the most efficient pass rushers on the Redskins last year despite getting sporadic playing time.

The sporadic snaps had nothing to do with Galette’s ability though. First off, Washington boasted a strong rotation of outside linebackers. Second, not playing a snap in two years probably led to the Redskins being a little cautious with him. While I don’t agree with the low use of him, it’s at least a semi-credible excuse.

The rust was off quickly for the Haitian, and he was showing off those incredibly quick hands his ability to get off the ball. A few productive individual plays by Galette (including sacks and disruptions), were negated by a teammates penalty. Even without those though, he showed enough to prove he’s still an elite talent.

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There’s good news and bad news for the Packers though. The good news is that Galette could still be a relative cheap option and would boast any pass rush (especially Green Bay). The bad news however, is that he should have a lot of suitors. Only time will tell with Junior Galette, but the Packers would be smart to at least throw their hats in the ring.