Packers exploring bid for Browns free-agent inside linebacker Joe Schobert
INDIANAPOLIS – The fate of the Green Bay Packers inside linebacker position is still being decided and Blake Martinez isn’t the only name in play.
According to multiple agents who have been tracking the free-agent market, the Packers are exploring what it would take to sign former Wisconsin inside linebacker Joe Schobert of the Cleveland Browns.
It doesn’t mean the Packers aren’t interested in re-signing Martinez, the team’s leading tackler each of the three past seasons, but they are apparently covering all their bases before free agency begins March 18.
The 6-1, 245-pound Schobert is considered one of the top inside linebackers in a thin class of free agents that includes Martinez and the Los Angeles Rams’ Cory Littleton. Schobert and Littleton haven’t accumulated the tackles Martinez has, but they are both considered better in coverage.
Schobert, a Waukesha native, made more big plays in 2019 than any of the three, totaling two sacks, four interceptions, 13 passes broken up and two forced fumbles. In 2017, Schobert tied with Martinez and Buffalo’s Preston Brown for the league lead in tackles with 144.
Present at the NFL scouting combine this week, Packers executive vice president/football operations Russ Ball has been gauging the inside linebacker market. Free agency might not start for another 2½ weeks, but clubs and agents met all week to discuss free-agent possibilities.
The Packers can’t sign other teams’ free agents until March 18, but they can sign their own at any time.
According to the agents, Martinez is seeking a deal of at least $10 million per year, which would put him just inside the top 10 of inside linebacker salaries. The Packers want to pay less, potentially in the $8 million per year range, depending on the structure of the deal.
Because of the emphasis on pass defense in the NFL and his skill in coverage, Schobert will be seeking at least $10 million per year and may get more depending on how many teams get involved.
For whatever weaknesses Martinez showed, he was invaluable to defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, playing 98.7% of the defensive snaps the last two seasons. Martinez relays Pettine’s call from the sideline to the rest of the defense and oversees communication with the front seven.
Last year, Martinez did not have the benefit of regularly playing with another inside linebacker. Run-stuffer B.J. Goodson played just 24.4% of the snaps and Pettine used a safety the rest of the time.
Schobert would be a good fit not only because he can cover but he has natural pass-rush ability. His senior season with the Badgers, he was a second-team All-America at outside linebacker, finishing with 9.5 sacks, 19.5 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles.
Pettine blitzed Martinez quite a bit last year and would be able to make use of Schobert’s versatility to rush from both inside and outside.
According to Sports Info Solutions, Schobert allowed 64.9% of passes thrown in his vicinity to be completed, which is a much better percentage than Martinez’s 82.5. However, Schobert missed 11.7% of his tackle attempts, which is worse than Martinez’s 9.9.
Both players were fourth-round picks in the 2016 draft. Schobert was taken No. 99 overall and Martinez No. 131.
If the Packers don’t want to meet the price of Martinez or Schobert, they could go for cheaper options such as Chicago’s Nick Kwiatkoski and Danny Trevathan, Baltimore’s Josh Byne and Washington’s Jon Bostic.
Up to three inside linebackers are expected to be picked early in the NFL draft in April — Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons, LSU’s Patrick Queen and Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray. Simmons will be gone long before the Packers select at No. 30 and there’s a pretty good chance Queen and Murray will be off the board as well.
