While neither move made the middling 3-3-1 Packers instantly better for 2018, it might not have made them much worse. Montgomery’s spot on the team became untenable, especially after his comments Monday following his fumbled kickoff return in the final minutes of Sunday’s loss at the Rams, and after Clinton-Dix’s unpredictable play became a point of frustration for the team.
Meanwhile, Gutekunst’s first draft looks strong. No less an authority than Bill Belichick gave a glowing review of first-round pick Jaire Alexander in advance of Sunday’s Packers-Patriots game in New England.china nike nfl jerseys cheap
Gutekunst’s stock of draft picks is replete next year with 10 selections: his own in every round plus an extra first (from the Saints in the draft-day trade), an extra fourth (from the Redskins) and an extra sixth (from the Seahawks for quarterback Brett Hundley this summer) plus whatever compensatory picks he’s awarded.
The fourth-rounder for Clinton-Dix was a solid value at the trade deadline, even for a former first-round pick. That’s probably about what the Packers would have gotten for him in the compensatory-pick formula had he left in free agency — something Clinton-Dix said he expected — but that pick wouldn’t come until the 2020 draft. And it also could’ve been jeopardized had Clinton-Dix gotten hurt or flamed out in the second half of the season and didn’t sign a high-priced deal with another team.
It also created salary-cap space. A total of $3,533,028 will come off the Packers’ books for this season — $3,153,705 (or nine-seventeenths of Clinton-Dix’s $5.957 million salary) plus $379,323 (nine-seventeenths of Montgomery’s base of $716,500). There will be some cap charges for the players who replace those two on the roster, but if they’re minimum-salaried players it will be less than $1 million. That cap savings can be carried over to next year.nfl cheap jerseys nike
The Packers weren’t exactly stellar at safety with Clinton-Dix. In the interim, don’t be surprised to see veteran cornerback Tramon Williams play some at safety; he moved inside to a slot position Sunday against the Rams. That could get rookie second-round pick Josh Jackson on the field more after he played only three defensive snaps against the Rams. It also might force the Packers to finally play 2017 second-round pick Josh Jones, who had a standout special-teams game in Los Angeles but surprisingly has played only four defensive snaps all season while sitting behind former undrafted free agents Kentrell Brice and Jermaine Whitehead. There’s also the possibility that cornerback Bashaud Breeland, who was signed last month but has yet to play in a game, could move to safety.
