When compared to the Chicago Bears’ Montez Sweat, the Packers’ extension of Rashan Gary is already looking good.
Last week, the Chicago Bears traded for former Washington Commanders pass-rusher Montez Sweat at the trade deadline. The Bears ended up giving up a second-round pick to Washington for the move. Before Sweat ever played a down for Chicago, the team awarded him with a four-year, $98 million contract that gives him an average salary of $24.5 million per year in new money — just north of what Rashan Gary received in his extension with the Green Bay Packers. Over the first three years of their new deals, Gary will receive $65.5 million compared to Sweat’s $63.1 million — which means it’s not “funny money,” either
With that in mind, let’s compare the two players. Personally, I don’t think that Sweat is in the same tier as Gary as an edge defender, but let’s check some third-party sources to make sure I’m not being biased. In the summer, Pro Football Focus dropped their edge rusher rankings, which listed Gary, coming off a since healed ACL tear, as their eighth overall player at the position while they slotted in Sweat as a “Tier 3” player. Here’s what they had to say about Gary:
Gary missed time last season, but he ranks sixth in pass-rush grade (90.2), fourth in pass-rush victory percentage (19.7%), and second in pass-rush productivity over the last two years.
If you want a more recent set of rankings, Montez Sweat was ranked as the 26th edge defender by Pro Football Network only last week. To put things in context, the only edge defenders expected to make more each season than Sweat on their current contracts are Nick Bosa, T.J. Watt, Joey Bosa, and Myles Garrett, the top every-down players in the league outside of perhaps Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby. Yikes.
As I noted when Gary’s extension was announced, his new contract with the Packers was about as excellent as Green Bay could have hoped for. He finished barely above Bradley Chubb, a guy who isn’t in his tier as a pass-rusher, but he didn’t much advance the edge rusher market. The Packers paid market value for Gary right before a predicted surge in demand for pass-rushers owing to a glut of expiring contracts at the position.With Sweat’s contract in place, you can expect that guys like Carolina’s Brian Burns and Jacksonville’s Josh Allen — both of whom could be unrestricted free agents this offseason — will earn substantially more than Gary agreed to.
Timing is everything at times. Who knows if Gary and his counsel would have agreed to the terms that they did if Sweat had been traded and extended a week or two sooner, knowing what Sweat would eventually make without even having reached free agency. Although hindsight is 20/20, I’m sure the guys at Lombardi Avenue are glad they got the Gary deal done when they did. They’ll undoubtedly be counting their blessings when new edge defender contracts arrive next season.
At times, timing is everything. Who knows if Gary and his counsel would have agreed to the same terms if Sweat had been traded and extended a week or two earlier, knowing what Sweat would eventually make without even reaching free agency. Although hindsight is 20/20, I’m sure the guys at Lombardi Avenue are relieved they got the Gary transaction done so quickly. When new edge defender contracts become available next season, they’ll definitely be thankful.
MORE NEWS;
Another week has passed, which can only mean one thing: it’s time for another round of mock drafts. Since our last mock draft, the Green Bay Packers have filled a new defensive void by trading cornerback Rasul Douglas (and a fifth-round pick) to the Buffalo Bills in return for a third-round draft pick.
Will the loss of Douglas alter the Packers’ far-too-early predictions for what they will do in April? To answer that question, let’s look at some of the picks allocated to Green Bay in recent first-round mock drafts.
Notre Dame has had a fairly poor season this year, but Joe Alt, the 6’8″ son of former All-Pro tackle John Alt, is living up to the promise. Alt is a good athlete who excels at pass protection, where he’s been practically faultless this season. He was also the Packers’ most popular pick in this round of mock drafts, getting selected four times. Consider Alt to be a lengthier version of Jake Matthews, who has been the Atlanta Falcons’ starting left tackle since 2014.
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