Packers Have Re-Signed Letroy Guion

It appears the Green Bay Packers have made a decision on their defensive line for the next few seasons. The team will re-sign Letroy Guion to a new, three-year deal.

Guion, who was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March, can make $11.25 million over the course of the contract.

#Packers and DT Letroy Guion have agreed in principle to a 3-year, $11.25m deal, per league source.

— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) February 12, 2016

This move is interesting for a number of reasons.

Guion was suspended for the first three games of 2015 because of his offseason arrest last February. That suspension, coupled with the fact that he was just a rotational player when he returned, resulted in Guion’s production dropping from the 2014 season.

In 2014, his first season with the Packers, Guion had 32 tackles and 3.5 sacks while playing nose tackle. In 2015, Guion played more defensive end, while B.J. Raji payed the nose. Guion finished 2015 with 21 tackles and no sacks.

Nose tackle seems to be Guion’s best position. We know it’s Raji’s best position, as he was completely ineffective during his time playing defensive end.

If the Packers brought Raji back, they might have a dilemma. However, Raji is also scheduled to be a free agent and it’s been suggested that the Packers would choose to re-sign only one of these guys.

We suspect Guion’s asking price was lower than Raji’s and so it appears that decision has been made.

Even though Guion’s production dipped in 2015, he is still a better long-term option than Raji. Not only is he likely cheaper, but Guion is a year younger and even though he played in two fewer games than Raji did in 2015, he only had one less tackle.

Throw in Raji’s injury history and the Packers had a pretty easy decision.