Green Bay Packers: Joe Schobert Should be a Top Free Agent Target

It was recently reported that the Cleveland Browns won’t be bringing back free agent linebacker Joe Schobert, but he should be a top offseason target of the Green Bay Packers.

A hot-button topic among Green Bay Packers’ fans for a while now has been centered around the play of inside linebacker, Blake Martinez. Over his career in Green Bay, Martinez has become the quarterback of the defense, has been a very durable player who rarely misses a snap, as well as someone who racks up a lot of tackles, including 286 over the last two seasons and a league leading 140 through 14 games in 2019.

However, he is also limited in coverage, really doesn’t make many splash plays, and while he totals quite a few tackles, they oftentimes happen five or six yards downfield rather than around the line of scrimmage.

Now in what is the final year of his rookie deal, Martinez is set to be a free agent in 2020 and in an article by Ryan Wood of Packers News, an anonymous agents suggested that Martinez could earn around $8-$10 million on the free agent market. While that is probably true, given his limitations, I don’t see the Green Bay Packers bringing him back at that price.

With that said, if the Packers do let Martinez walk they are going to be in a world of hurt at the inside linebacker position since it is quite clear that Oren Burks and B.J. Goodson are not long-term solutions. Meaning, GM Brian Gutekunst will have to tackle this issue in the NFL draft or in free agency. But considering this upcoming draft class isn’t very deep at inside linebacker, free agency might be the best route and current Cleveland Brown Joe Schobert should be the Packers’ top target.

While bringing Schobert back would seem like the prudent thing for Cleveland to do, in a recent article from Pro Football Talk the Browns haven’t made any offers and it doesn’t look like they plan to moving forward.

Schobert was drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 draft – just like Martinez – out of Wisconsin. He was a Pro Bowler in 2017 and for the most part, has been a reliable tackler totaling 245 during 2017 and 2018, although he did struggle in that department last season.

But where he begins to separate himself from Martinez is his playmaking. This season Schobert has two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and four interceptions. For reference, over his entire career, Martinez has two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions. Meanwhile both players have similar sack totals in their respective careers with Schobert tallying 8.5 and Martinez coming away with nine.

Another area that Schobert excels in that Martinez can struggle with is coverage. According to Pro Football Focus, in 2018 Schobert was graded as the second best coverage linebacker in the league. He was also first in snaps per reception (21.3), snaps per target (12.9), and yards per snap (0.42) among linebackers. This season, quarterbacks have a passer rating of 83.9 when targeting Schobert, which is nearly 15 points lower than Martinez’ and Schobert’s overall coverage grade of 73.8 ranks 25th out of 161 eligible linebackers, while Martinez is 58th.

Not to mention that Schobert has a higher ‘run stop percentage’ than Martinez which is a measurement from Pro Football Focus that only takes into account tackles that result in a “loss” for the offense and how frequently they occur.

Martinez may be a marginally better tackler, but he hasn’t forced turnovers or made plays at the line of scrimmage as often as Schobert has and he certainly can’t cover as well. Realistically, Schobert will command a similar salary to Martinez in free agency and perhaps even a little more. But for a Green Bay Packers team that is in need of help at the inside linebacker position, bringing Schobert back to Wisconsin would be well worth it.