The Green Bay Packers have been prohibitively bad at stopping the run throughout Matt LaFleur’s tenure as a head coach. They are 32nd in run EPA allowed per play since 2019. Even as a decent unit against the pass, they are not dominant enough to justify such a poor performance on the ground.
This is in part related to the coaching philosophy. Both former and present defensive coordinators, Mike Pettine and Joe Barry, prioritize the passing game. But it’s also a personnel matter. Throughout this period, the Packers haven’t added enough players who are well-suited to foiling the ground attack. And it’s happening again this year. Besides Kenny Clark, who is a complete player, the Packers don’t have specific role players who can stop the run. After losing Jarran Reed in free agency, the front office replaced him with two drafted defensive linemen, but Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks are better as pass rushers.
That’s why it’s time to sign free agent Matt Ioannidis.
The free-agency period has been extremely quiet in Green Bay. Aside from rookies, the team has basically only added depth safeties and a long snapper. The Packers addressed their tight end need in the draft, so adding a veteran would just take snaps from the promising young players. But defensive tackle is a real concern. Green Bay will rely heavily on their defensive efforts to be good while the young offense develops.
And while the team has a number of players after the draft, none of them plays the same role Ioannidis would.
The 29-year-old defensive tackle played the first six years of his career in DC, where he lined up alongside Preston Smith for three seasons. After the Washington Commanders released him last year for cap reasons, he spent one year with the Carolina Panthers. His PFF grade in 2022 was 66.4, higher than the Packers had with Jarran Reed (61.9) and Dean Lowry (59.3).
Ioannidis is an average pass rusher — he had one sack and 12 quarterback pressures last season. In the run game, he had 17 solo tackles, five tackles for loss, and seven run stuffs. Ioannidis, 29, might not be a long-term option, but the Packers don’t need that. They need a solid veteran option while the younger guys develop this part of their game.
Here, you can see Ioannidis’ versatility in the game against the Arizona Cardinals, affecting both the run and the passing game.
And here is an example of what Ioannidis and Preston Smith can do together.
The Packers are not comfortable from a cap standpoint; they have almost maxed out what they can do in terms of simple restructures to create cap space this season. Extending Rashan Gary is the only move left to free up significant space, which depends on when the deal will get done and how it will be structured.
This means the front office has to be smart. They have $16.57 million in cap space, and some room is needed to operate throughout the season — teams account for at least $5 million to $8 million to make in-season moves, practice squad promotions, and replace injured players.
Considering how tight the situation is, the Packers have just a couple of relatively bigger moves left. But nothing the Packers could make right now would be more important than trying to stop the bleeding in the run game. At this point, it’s hard to find just one player to solve any big issue, but Ioannidis is someone who could help mitigate a long-term problem in Green Bay.
Generally, the Packers carry five defensive linemen on their 53-man roster. They already have five locks — Kenny Clark, T.J. Slaton, Devonte Wyatt, Colby Wooden, and Karl Brooks. Jonathan Ford and Chris Slayton are also alternatives but are mostly suited for the practice squad, barring injuries. But two of those players projected to make the 53 are rookies, and Wyatt is a second-year player who hasn’t lived up to his draft status yet. All of them have the potential to be good, though, and this is a perfect scenario to use an extra roster spot for the unit.
The Packers might not value the run defense as highly as other teams do. But it can’t be so bad anymore, and Ioannidis is the best path to competency available so late in the offseason.
