The Green Bay Packers tried to trade inside linebacker Desmond Bishop during the draft. They failed and we thought that was the end of it, but now it’s clear that isn’t the case.
The Packers will reportedly trade Bishop or restructure his contract. If both of those efforts fail, they’ll release their best inside linebacker.
From the Packers perspective, the problem with Bishop is twofold. He missed all of last season with a hamstring injury. Although he says he’s 100 percent now, Bishop hasn’t participated in OTAs or minicamp.
The other issue is salary. Bishop is due a little over $3.9 million in salary and bonuses this season. That number rises to just north of $4 million next season. The team invested $11.75 million (over three years) to re-sign Brad Jones this offseason. They also have A.J. Hawk, who’s making $10.6 million over the next three years as part of a restructured deal he signed this offseason.
This could primarily be a money issue, although releasing Bishop now creates $1.8 million in dead money, so the team’s savings isn’t that substantial.
It could also be about the injury. The Packers released D.J. Smith — another inside linebacker and one-time starter coming off injury earlier this offseason.
In any case, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — stupid fucking move.
Bishop is hands down the Packers best inside linebacker when he’s healthy. He’s one of the defense’s top playmakers. In 2011, Bishop had 115 tackles, five sacks and two forced fumbles in 13 games.
We thought our A.J. Hawk nightmare might finally be over, but the Packers seem insistent that it will live on.
[schema type=”person” name=”Desmond Bishop” orgname=”Green Bay Packers” ]