The Green Bay Packers may not have the spending power to be aggressive Day 1 shoppers in free agency, but if GM Brian Gutekunst is willing to spend again, it’ll be tough to find a player that better answers a roster need with a schematic fit and ascending talent than linebacker Cory Littleton.
Littleton is 26, coming off two terrific seasons and hasn’t missed a game in his four-year NFL career. He’s entering his physical prime. His rangy, playmaking skillset keeps improving. An impressive blend of speed and elite coverage ability make him an ideal modern inside linebacker.
The schematic fit couldn’t be better. In Los Angeles, Littleton was often tasked with being the lone off-ball linebacker in Wade Phillips’ coverage-heavy scheme. Mike Pettine and the Packers operate in many of the same ways. In fact, last season, one of the defense’s preferred packages featured four upfront – generally two outside linebackers and two down linemen – with Blake Martinez and six defensive backs behind it. Littleton has more experience playing in this setup than maybe any other inside linebacker in the NFL, and he’s infinitely better operating sideline to sideline and covering the middle of the field than Martinez, who is also a free agent.
Littleton doesn’t just cover. He affects the passing game. Over the last two seasons, he has 22 pass breakups and five interceptions. Martinez has only 17 and three over his entire four-year career.
The need for a player like Littleton is clear. The Packers could both pressure the quarterback and cover downfield in 2019, but a soft middle was too easily exposed and eventually kept Pettine’s group from truly taking the step from good to great. Martinez, despite impressive tackle numbers, didn’t have the athleticism or coverage ability to consistently handle what Pettine needed from the position.
The Packers need to get better defending the run, but they also can’t overreact to one game. Yes, the San Francisco 49ers ran them over in the NFC title game. But the best defenses still disrupt the quarterback and cover all levels of the field, and Littleton would be a huge boost for the latter. He’s also improving as a run defender and reliable as a tackler (five missed tackles, 3.4 percent missed tackle rate), and his speed would help the Packers get better at stopping perimeter runs.
The prohibitive factor here is obviously cost. Littleton is going to get paid like a star on the open market. Teams are valuing inside linebackers more and more, and Littleton is clearly the best of the best of veterans about to be available in free agency.
Over the Cap estimates Littleton could command $12 million or more per year. Even $12 million per year looks conservative, considering players such as Myles Jack, Deion Jones, Shaq Thompson and Jaylon Smith all signed new deals worth over $12 million per year and approaching $15 million. Bobby Wagner ($18 million per year) and C.J. Mosley ($17 million) are the top of the market at the position. Who knows if the Packers can really afford to give out another major, multiple-year deal to a defender after signing three new starters to big deals last March.
However, Gutekunst and the Packers haven’t been shy about spending money to fix obvious needs, and inside linebacker might be the team’s biggest need this offseason.
For the Packers, Littleton might be the one player worth signing another big check to acquire. He’s young, emerging and healthy, fitting the mold set by Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos and Billy Turner. He’s a terrific player at an obvious need position, and his fit schematically is just about perfect. If the Packers want to spend again in free agency, Littleton should be a top target.
[vertical-gallery id=39138]