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OneTwoSixFive

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I'm looking at the O line here, specifically Elgton Jenkins (though the post title is meant to be all-inclusive).

What is his future ? He has already proved he can handle LT against the best pass rushers, and he likes playing at tackle, so what happens after 2021 ?

Well, his contract ends in 2022, so it looks very likely he will get a really big contract early in 2022, very possibly the highest ever contract for a guard (currently $18m for Brandon Scherff)...........and here's why, he doesn't stay at LG.

RT Turner (who has played really well this year) will be 32 in 2023 and his contract ends at the end of 2022. That could be a landing spot for Jenkins after the 2022 season - but there is more. It is very possible that Bakhtiari is gone after the 2023 season. I doubt he goes before that because quite apart from his stellar play, his dead cap hit if released early in 2023 would be $17.5m, (according to spotrac). In 2024, he would be 33 and costing over $30m for that season, if he were not extended (dead cap if released, would be half that of 2023). That could signal the Packers moving on from him. This is what could signal a move from RT to LT for Jenkins, because RT is an easier spot to fill than LT (though the two are not viewed as being so different, in recent years).

All of this is very speculative and I personally find it hard to move on from good players (see Clifton and Tauscher for example - Clifton especially was one of my all-time favourite Packers), but a love of the current players at tackle (the under-rated Turner and Bakhtiari when he returns) does not preclude me from thinking about the future. 2024 looks a hell of a long way ahead when things can change so fast in the NFL, but the Packers are known as a team that does exactly that.

Edited by OneTwoSixFive
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1 hour ago, OneTwoSixFive said:

What is his future ? He has already proved he can handle LT against the best pass rushers, and he likes playing at tackle, so what happens after 2021 ?

Top OG money and top RT money isn't too far off.  He's not playing LT, and he probably won't get elite LT money.  Or even close to it.

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2 hours ago, CWood21 said:

You think he's getting $22M+/year?

I wouldn’t be shocked. The cap will go up on a year so the markets will be reset. A young guy that can do what he has done at a high level is very rare. The case that he is more valuable than a pure LT would not be hard for his agent to make. 

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Having Jenkins is a boon right now.

If Bakhtiari returns from injury to his (or close to) former level of play, I would expect Jenkins to return to LG.  It just makes the most sense to me with the roster as constructed.

 

Between now and next year, a lot of things could happen, including the draft.  RT with Billy Turner is solid, if unspectacular play.  There's no reason to rush that transition unless there is a serious cap squeeze.  In that case, you can save 4M by releasing Turner a year early and try to get creative with Jenkins at RT.

 

Still, switching from LG/LT to RT can be a really hard transition, and i don't think the coaching staff would even consider it unless it was really evident that we had both

1) a strong viable LG 

2) no viable option at RT other than Jenkins.

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If you're looking for the "best 5" at OL you start with Bakh/Jenkins/Myers/Turner and then you have 1 more spot to fill.  Coaches seem to value Newman, probably for his run-blocking.

 

If you're losing Turner, you have 2 spots.  Losing turner you might even consider Nijman and see if he can hang on the right side.  You almost definitely have a draft pick to consider.

Lucas Patrick - probably a better backup than starter because of his flexibility.
Jon Runyan - smaller, not a mauler.  Better than Newman in pass pro, even comparing rookie season to rookie season
Royce Newman - still starting at RG, so the coaches see something.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don’t pencil seriously injured players back in until they’re playing again.  Back in the old days if a guy got an ACL he was written off.  GMs immediately started the replacement carousel. Not many out of a hundred came back to play again. With little success. I don’t know what the percentage is nowadays but it’s not 100%.  It doesn’t take much loss of function to fall below NFL athletic standards.  Jenkins probably only plays half the games next year if everything goes perfectly.  You can’t run a team thinking or hoping these guys recover to what they once were.  This is the wildcard for GMs. You can have every piece in place and still fail 

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It's a good thing that Myers and Newman (he's not good but he's a rookie, and he's starting) are locked up through 2024, and Runyan through 2023. If you can lock up Nijman for relatively cheap that's not a bad quartet to have, and the cost is really low. Then you can make decisions on Jenkins/Bak/Turner, and look to bring in vet backups or bring back guys like Patrick. Outside of the Bak contract, and health, the OL situation is in really good shape.

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