The Green Bay Packers are keeping the guy that I put at the top of their free agent priority list, outside linebacker Nick Perry.
They will reportedly sign him to a new five-year deal on Thursday. That deal will pay him $60 million, with $18.5 million in guarantees.
Hearing Packers have a long-term agreement with Nick Perry. Huge win Green Bay. Keep the pass rushing LB. Should be announced today
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 9, 2017
Perry was reportedly drawing interest from the Colts and Jets earlier this week, while we heard the Falcons jumped in late.
We heard the price tag was going to reach $12 million annually and it obviously did.
That’s a lot of money for a guy who had one good season (52 tackles, 11 sacks) out of his five in the NFL. Still, the Packers didn’t have much choice.
Not only do they have a dearth of pass rushers — Perry was their only player with double digit sacks in 2016 — but Perry is their best run defender. Losing him would have been a double blow.
Even if he doesn’t put up the sack numbers again, Perry will be a boost to a defense that hasn’t been very good against the ground game either.
The Packers will also have to hope Perry stays healthy. He’s never played 16 games in a season. He posted his career numbers in just 14 games in 2016.