Green Bay Packers: 5 Realistic midseason free agent signings to make
By Joe Kipp
4. Nick Perry, OLB
Like Muhammad Wilkerson, outside linebacker Nick Perry is another former Packer who makes sense as a potential midseason free-agent acquisition. Perry was extremely disappointing in 2018, which is why the Packers released him this past March, despite him carrying a dead cap hit of $11.1 million. Green Bay still saved roughly $3 million in cap space with his release.
The problem for Perry isn’t that he hasn’t been a good player throughout his career, but rather he hasn’t been healthy enough to be productive. For nearly his entire career, Perry has been sidelined by various injuries. In 2016, his healthiest season as a full-time starter (14 games, 12 starts), Perry recorded 11 sacks, 52 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 46 quarterback pressures on 603 snaps. He was also extremely useful as a run-defender, producing 37 run stops.
Because of his impressive play in 2016, Perry inked a five-year, $60 million contract extension the following offseason. His productiveness slowly declined the following two seasons, largely due to injuries, forcing the Packers to release him in favor of signing free agents Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith.
The Smiths have been extremely productive this season and currently lead the NFL in combined sacks (16.5) between two teammates. Perry could potentially be signed on the cheap as a rotational pass rusher and wouldn’t have to be relied on as a starter like he was in the past, which makes this signing somewhat intriguing.