Plenty of people have suggested it. That the Green Bay Packers move on from Clay Matthews after the season.
Matthews has 7.5 sacks this year. He’ll enter the final year of his deal with an $11.4 million cap hit. The Packers would gain all of that back if they were to release Matthews.
So what does Clay think? Well, he wants to stick around and collect that check, of course.
“It’s something you think about. It’s not something you dwell on. I think about will I be able to play here for several more years or will I go somewhere else? At the same time, I’m approaching it as, I’ve still got a year left (here) until they let me know otherwise. Hopefully they don’t, though.”
Despite the sack numbers being down, Matthews has had himself a pretty good year. He has 51 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, three passes defended, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, 12 quarterback hits and 18 quarterback pressures.
Throw in the fact that pass rush has been one of the team’s biggest weaknesses and you’d have a hard time convincing me the Packers would even consider releasing Matthews.
Why would the Packers release Mathews, that’s not how you win in this league.
If you are the Packers you don’t change much of anything, year in, year out.
That’s how you build success. That’s how you win Championships.
He doesn’t give a damn. He has collected his tens of millions of dollars
Restructure.
Work out a sign and trade deal in principle with the Rams or the Chargers, get a player and/or a pick in return for him, use that $11.4M to acquire some additional help at OLB and CB through FA.
Clay was a great player for the Packers but it’s time to move on and use that salary cap on equal production with more upside and less injury susceptibility. Being available matters.
I half wonder if a permanent move to inside linebacker is in his future
“It’s something you think about. It’s not something you dwell on. I think about will I be able to play for State Farm Insurance several more years or will I go somewhere else, like Security Health, or both? At the same time, I’m approaching it as, I’ve still got a beef jerky gig and a pistachio thing until they let me know otherwise. Hopefully they don’t, though. Maybe Chunky Soup again too, who knows?”
You’ll be fine Clay. You’ll be okay.