Bryan Bulaga

[Dantés]

Just to outline the FA situation at tackle for this upcoming offseason, here are the notable right tackles who are currently scheduled to be free agents:

• Jack Conklin (26), TEN: Conklin has been a decent starter, but has never quite lived up to the hype after his rookie season. He tore his ACL in 2018. He's a strong candidate to be resigned before FA begins.
• Brandon Shell (28), NYJ: Shell has quietly been a pretty solid RT for the Jets. He has missed time each season with various ailments (knee, concussion, neck). He is a strong candidate to be resigned.
• Daryl Williams (28), CAR: Williams was an ascending RT before dislocating his knee cap and tearing his MCL leading into the 2018 season. He is back with CAR on a one year deal this season and hasn't been the same player.
• D.J. Humphries (26), ARI: Humphries has been a decent left tackle, but has typically struggled when asked to play on the right side. He's missed a lot of time with knee injuries. It would not be surprised if ARI resigns him.
• Germain Ifedi (26), SEA: Ifedi has struggled at both guard and tackle for the Seahawks. He has led the league in past seasons in penalties at the tackle position. I am not sure if his play has improved this season, but Seattle declined his 5th year option.
• Marcus Gilbert (32), PIT: Gilbert was a solid RT for a long time in Pittsburgh, but they unloaded him to ARI this last offseason as he was in decline. He is currently on IR.
• Mike Remmers (31), NYG: Remmers was ousted from Minnesota despite OL being a long time need for that team. He is currently playing in New York out of necessity.

My guess is that Conklin and Shell are resigned by their current teams, leaving players like Williams and Ifedi a the best UFA options on the market.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Oh, believe me, I’ve seen every bit of tape available on him. I know how he looks, and he does need technique work. Oftentimes he does not look fluid, at all. I get all of that, and I’m not one who falls in love with the measureables over talent. I TOTALLY get it.

My thing with Yosh Nijman is:
1. He DOES have rare athletic gifts for a man his size

2. He has proven through 3 years as a starter, and 4 years of play for VT, in a Power 5 Conference at both LT & RT, to have been effective in his play, no matter how unorthodox he may look.

3. All of the work he did at VT was out of a 2 pt. stance. Conversion to a 3 pt. stance may help him immensely, along with a year or two of NFL coaching & development (which MOST rookie OL are afforded anyway).

4. While he doesn’t look refined, all of those positive attributes that Nijman possesses are VERY difficult to find, at one of the most important positions on any team. “You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” essentially.

If Nijman ever gets to play and then turns out to be a good player, that would be pleasant and helpful surprise. In this discussion, who will play RT tackle next season, I don't think we should take him under consideration. Can you even tell me their not working him at OG now?

 

[mradtke66]

Oh, believe me, I’ve seen every bit of tape available on him. I know how he looks, and he does need technique work. Oftentimes he does not look fluid, at all. I get all of that, and I’m not one who falls in love with the measureables over talent. I TOTALLY get it.

My thing with Yosh Nijman is:
1. He DOES have rare athletic gifts for a man his size

2. He has proven through 3 years as a starter, and 4 years of play for VT, in a Power 5 Conference at both LT & RT, to have been effective in his play, no matter how unorthodox he may look.

3. All of the work he did at VT was out of a 2 pt. stance. Conversion to a 3 pt. stance may help him immensely, along with a year or two of NFL coaching & development (which MOST rookie OL are afforded anyway).

4. While he doesn’t look refined, all of those positive attributes that Nijman possesses are VERY difficult to find, at one of the most important positions on any team. “You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” essentially.

I dunno. He might just be a guard. Looking at that film, I just kept thinking he looks like guard who had to swing out to tackle to cover an injury.

 

[Dantés]

Nijman is all of 6'7". I don't think that would play well inside.

 

[Poppa San]

Just to outline the FA situation at tackle for this upcoming offseason, here are the notable right tackles who are currently scheduled to be free agents:.....

Jason Spriggs is still on the roster. Jest sayin'

 

[Pkrjones]

Jason Spriggs is still on the roster. Jest sayin'

Think it's more of a "gum on the bottom of your shoe" situation, though . Physical tools are there, just not progressing. Maybe getting cut (then IR'd) is a wake-up call to him?

 

[hasamikun]

I dont get why Free agency is an option for BBs replacement. He is playing on an elite level right now and seems to be the healthiest since a long time. If that continues, the Packers gonna resign him. As someone wrote before: A 2 year deal for BB and taking a shot in the midrounds of the drafts makes perfect sense in that situation.

Ofc it all depends on the contracts Kenny Clark and Blake Martinez will get but with around 31 M in available cap in 2020, it should be possible.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Jason Spriggs is still on the roster. Jest sayin'

I'm surprised the Packers haven't worked out an injury settlement with Spriggs so far.

 

[swhitset]

I'm surprised the Packers haven't worked out an injury settlement with Spriggs so far.

Based on the way he has played in the past... I agree with you. I’m a little worried that all of the uncertainty re Bulaga etc... has caused the Packers to hang on to him.

 

[Dantés]

I'm surprised the Packers haven't worked out an injury settlement with Spriggs so far.

I know Spriggs has been dealing with some nagging injury issues for a while. It could be that they've decided to give him an entire year away from football and then re-assess him in camp next year.

 

[RRyder]

Just to outline the FA situation at tackle for this upcoming offseason, here are the notable right tackles who are currently scheduled to be free agents:

• Jack Conklin (26), TEN: Conklin has been a decent starter, but has never quite lived up to the hype after his rookie season. He tore his ACL in 2018. He's a strong candidate to be resigned before FA begins.
• Brandon Shell (28), NYJ: Shell has quietly been a pretty solid RT for the Jets. He has missed time each season with various ailments (knee, concussion, neck). He is a strong candidate to be resigned.
• Daryl Williams (28), CAR: Williams was an ascending RT before dislocating his knee cap and tearing his MCL leading into the 2018 season. He is back with CAR on a one year deal this season and hasn't been the same player.
• D.J. Humphries (26), ARI: Humphries has been a decent left tackle, but has typically struggled when asked to play on the right side. He's missed a lot of time with knee injuries. It would not be surprised if ARI resigns him.
• Germain Ifedi (26), SEA: Ifedi has struggled at both guard and tackle for the Seahawks. He has led the league in past seasons in penalties at the tackle position. I am not sure if his play has improved this season, but Seattle declined his 5th year option.
• Marcus Gilbert (32), PIT: Gilbert was a solid RT for a long time in Pittsburgh, but they unloaded him to ARI this last offseason as he was in decline. He is currently on IR.
• Mike Remmers (31), NYG: Remmers was ousted from Minnesota despite OL being a long time need for that team. He is currently playing in New York out of necessity.

My guess is that Conklin and Shell are resigned by their current teams, leaving players like Williams and Ifedi a the best UFA options on the market.

So resign Bulaga to a 1 or 2 year deal and draft a Tackle in round 2/3 or draft a Tackle in round 1..... That's what I took from this list

 

[Pugger]

Ideally, Bulaga plays the vast majority of the season and we extend him a 2 year deal. That would allow us to prioritize other positions next draft, while giving us some continuity until we find his replacement. It also allows us to take a stab in the middle rounds for OT if we think a prospect just needs a year or two of polishing. This might not be in the Cap cards if they rework Bak’s deal also. One thing is for sure, GB needs to keep the throttle down and keep Rodgers upright.
I like the idea of pointing our resources towards this Offense this coming draft. We could use another WR and TE (unless Jace is able to return and prove himself worthy in 2019). I like the idea of targeting another OL earlier day 3 draft (4-5th). If Bulaga does go down, it would be good to feel good about shuffling things around and having some options.

We thought we found Brjyan's replacement in Spriggs....

 

[OldSchool101]

Just to outline the FA situation at tackle for this upcoming offseason, here are the notable right tackles who are currently scheduled to be free agents:

• Jack Conklin (26), TEN: Conklin has been a decent starter, but has never quite lived up to the hype after his rookie season. He tore his ACL in 2018. He's a strong candidate to be resigned before FA begins.
• Brandon Shell (28), NYJ: Shell has quietly been a pretty solid RT for the Jets. He has missed time each season with various ailments (knee, concussion, neck). He is a strong candidate to be resigned.
• Daryl Williams (28), CAR: Williams was an ascending RT before dislocating his knee cap and tearing his MCL leading into the 2018 season. He is back with CAR on a one year deal this season and hasn't been the same player.
• D.J. Humphries (26), ARI: Humphries has been a decent left tackle, but has typically struggled when asked to play on the right side. He's missed a lot of time with knee injuries. It would not be surprised if ARI resigns him.
• Germain Ifedi (26), SEA: Ifedi has struggled at both guard and tackle for the Seahawks. He has led the league in past seasons in penalties at the tackle position. I am not sure if his play has improved this season, but Seattle declined his 5th year option.
• Marcus Gilbert (32), PIT: Gilbert was a solid RT for a long time in Pittsburgh, but they unloaded him to ARI this last offseason as he was in decline. He is currently on IR.
• Mike Remmers (31), NYG: Remmers was ousted from Minnesota despite OL being a long time need for that team. He is currently playing in New York out of necessity.

• 
  That list proves to me that we are not the only ones dealing with an oft injured RT. Bulaga looks like the mode of health compared to this list.

 

[Packer Fan in SD]

Bulaga is a bad man on the o line

 

[Poppa San]

Bulaga is a bad man on the o line

So play Jason Spriggs. If he's healthy enough to come off IR.
Oh you meant Ba-a-a-a-d man. Carry on

 

[HardRightEdge]

I'm surprised the Packers haven't worked out an injury settlement with Spriggs so far.

Injury settlements can be a tricky business. Here's one ex-agent's take:

https://nationalfootballpost.com/negotiating-an-injury-settlement/

"I have an internal policy not to attempt an injury settlement if there’s a prognosis of 10 weeks or more. I would prefer to put the responsibility on the team to carry the player on IR until it can either prove the player is healthy or the player tells me he’s healthy enough to play."

This leaves several possibilities. The agent may be letting it ride until the Packers are able to demonstrate he's healthy enough to play. The agent may judge that if Spriggs is deemed healthy he'll not likely get picked up for 53 man roster game checks (a probable scenario) so it would behoove him to stretch the process out as far as possilble. The Packers may have determined he's healthy, that the player is sandbagging, and moved to release him, but the agent has filed a grievance and the matter is in arbitration.

I know Spriggs has been dealing with some nagging injury issues for a while. It could be that they've decided to give him an entire year away from football and then re-assess him in camp next year.

Maybe. He'll be a free agent and I can't imagine he'll enter a camp next season with anything guaranteed other than his camp per diem checks. However, my sense would be that after 4 years of trying to get him from a project to a player they will not want to invest any more time. He might be looking for a fresh start in another organization on a 90 man roster. Or he may not love the game, has another option, and is done with it.

Frankly, the possibilities are numerous. But after three years prior to his injuries, including the dislocated knee cap last December, showing little to no progress other than a weight gain, this is probably more digital ink than the matter deserves.