Green Bay Packers

Nick Perry: 5 best fits in NFL free agency

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:14 p.m. ET

Fansided, John Buhler/Fansided

Nick Perry has become an important piece of the Green Bay Packers defense. Here are the five best free agency landing spots for the Packers defensive end.

In his fifth season out of USC, defensive end Nick Perry definitely had his breakout season with the 2016 Green Bay Packers. He started a career-high 12 games, finishing with 11.5 quarterback sacks, also a career best.

Perry will enter unrestricted free agency this winter. Green Bay may choose to slap the franchise tag on their newfound pass rusher. It will likely end up costing the Packers’ brass $17 million. That could be a tad out of Green Bay’s price range for the soon-to-be 27-year-old defensive end.

Either way, Perry is about to get paid. Here are the five landing spots that would make a ton of sense for Perry in 2017 NFL free agency.

Miami Dolphins

AFC, East

The Miami Dolphins are coming off their best season in eight years. Miami qualified for the AFC Playoffs for the first time since the 2008 NFL season. The Dolphins seem to have one of the best young head coaches in Adam Gase. They are looking to get better in 2017.

One thing that Miami needs to be careful about is ensuring that its defense can find build off last season’s so-so performance despite changing coordinators. Gase knew that former defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was going to become an NFL head coach one day soon. Joseph is now the main man in Denver and it is now Matt Burke running the Dolphins defense.

Miami is already strong in the pass rush with guys like Cameron Wake and Ndamukong Suh. However, Wake is getting up their in age and Suh can only create so much havoc as an interior pass rusher as a defensive tackle. Perry could play defensive end, but could project as a guy that could play some outside linebacker in certain schemes.

The Dolphins made a ton of investments in improving on the offensive side of the ball. One would have to believe that the Dolphins will hone in on defense in the NFL offseason. Perhaps going after the best player available wouldn’t be a terrible idea for the Dolphins to improve their fourth-worst defense.

Miami doesn’t have an absurd amount of salary cap space, but the Dolphins front office could get creative with the $29,379,383 they’ll have at their disposal. Given that Perry likely won’t command the $17 million annually from the franchise tag, maybe Miami is a player in the Perry sweepstakes this spring?

Jan 16, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Green Bay Packers linebacker Nick Perry (53) against the Arizona Cardinals during the NFC Divisional round playoff game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Buffalo Bills

AFC, East

With Sean McDermott getting his first head coaching opportunity, one would think that he would want general manager Doug Whaley to target a few top-tier free agents to help solidify his defense. Yes, the Buffalo Bills have limitations offensively, but winning with defense is paramount for the success of the McDermott era in Orchard Park.

Buffalo has been a dysfunctional organization for well over a decade. The Pegula Family has brought some degree of stability to the club, ensuring that the team wouldn’t leave Western New York. Bringing in one of the best defensive coordinators of the last half decade in McDermott could translate into success for the bewildered Bills franchise.

Though McDermott specializes in coaching secondaries, it has been strong front-seven play that helped make him a hot coaching commodity while with the Carolina Panthers. Carolina won three straight NFC South division titles from 2013-2015 thanks to its elite front-seven.

While McDermott may want to bring a former Panther or two with him to Buffalo, that seems to be easier said than done. His best bet is to get a player like Perry who comes from a strong front-seven team in free agency.

Buffalo will have $26,627,670 to work with in the offseason. Assuming the market doesn’t drive Perry’s value over the projected $17 million franchise tag for pass rushers, the Bills could be in the running to land Perry in that $10 to $12 million range.

Jul 31, 2016; Green Bay,WI, USA; Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Nick Perry looks on during the team’s 16th annual Family Night practice at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY Sports

Denver Broncos

AFC, West

Joseph will have his work cut out for him in Denver. The Broncos still don’t know what they have at quarterback in Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch. Gary Kubiak abruptly retired from coaching and Wade Phillips left the vaunted Broncos defense to work with Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams.

General manager John Elway will not be as lenient as he was with his former backup quarterback in Kubiak. If Joseph wants to succeed in Denver, he’ll need to prove that he is an elite defensive coach. He may have rose to prominence as the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator, but his 2016 defense wasn’t really that good.

Some of these aging veterans on the Broncos defense are getting a tad pricey. Might it be time to bring in yet another pass rusher that is entering the prime of his NFL career? Perry would be leaving an outstanding football culture in Green Bay for another one in Denver should he sign with the Broncos.

In all fairness, the Broncos secondary was still excellent in 2016. What hurt Denver more than anything on the defensive side of the ball was the front-seven. The opposition would exploit the Broncos up the middle after being weakened there by virtue of last year’s free agency period.

Perry would provide another strong front-seven piece to keep this Broncos defense dominant. Denver will have $33,281,140 to work with this offseason. Since they have young quarterbacks under contract, Denver can splurge more than it should on a promising player in his prime like Perry to bolster the front-seven once again.

Jul 31, 2016; Green Bay,WI, USA; Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Nick Perry is shown during the team’s 16th annual Family Night practice at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City Chiefs

AFC, West

Before they even think about going after any free agents of note, the Kansas City Chiefs will have to let some key players go. Kansas City is in terrible position with the 2017 NFL salary cap with only a projected $2,151,147 worth of space.

Overall, Kansas City will end up losing three of these players next season: Eric Berry, Jamaal Charles, Nick Foles, and Dontari Poe. Kansas City may experience a bit of a downtick in 2017, but can essentially reload with the right free agency acquisition or two.

Perry would fit seamlessly into Bob Sutton’s defense. It has been a huge reason that the Chiefs have been so solid under head coach Andy Reid the last four seasons. Given that Reid has his coaching roots in Green Bay, it would not be a swift departure in terms of football coaching for Perry to sign with the Chiefs.

Even with a slight step back, the Chiefs should still be a serious playoff contender in the AFC. The Oakland Raiders should still be good in the AFC West, but Kansas City already has too much talent to nosedive out of contention in 2017.

If Perry is somewhere in that reasonable $10 million a year range, he could be a Chief if the Packers don’t want to re-up with him on another contract extension. Adding Perry would make the Chiefs defense strong as they enter their next life cycle.

Green Bay Packers

NFC, North

When quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that Green Bay needs to reload, not rebuild after the Packers’ embarrassing road loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the 2016 NFC Championship, he probably meant for general manager Ted Thompson to be aggressive in 2017 NFL free agency.

Thompson has been painfully reluctant to sign players in unrestricted free agency. He prefers to get his players through the draft and retain his guys in-house. If Thompson wants to stay true to his team-building philosophy, he’ll ante up the dough to pay Perry this spring.

Perry’s 11.5 sacks will make him a serious contender for a pay-day in 2017 NFL free agency. Pass rushers don’t grow on trees and Green Bay would be letting an emerging one go out the door if he isn’t re-signed.

Green Bay may consider slapping Perry with the projected $17 million franchise tag, but could in theory get him at a lower rate than that this cycle. Perry was only making $5 million in 2016. Green Bay could triple his annual salary to $15 million and still be $2 million short of the franchise tag.

The Packers will have $43,568,612 to keep its best players happy and in-house. With Perry’s on-field production in his breakout 2016 NFL season, he will command at least eight figures this spring when he hits free agency. Will Green Bay pay the market rate to keep their defensive end around for a few more years on a new deal?