Friday open thread: Which player on the Packers would you NOT want on the Lions roster?

Looking at which Packers players Lions fans should want to remain in Green Bay.

Each week, as part of our game preview articles during the 2021 season, I used the Question of the Day post to examine the roster of the Detroit Lions’ upcoming opponent. Back in Week 2, I asked which Green Bay Packers player Detroit would love to have on their roster. I picked All-Pro Davante Adams who is arguably the best wide receiver in the game today.

While identifying what the Lions need on the roster is important, the inverse of that question also has value. Knowing what to avoid, will also help the Lions navigate through their rebuild. So that brings us to the question of the day:

Which player on the Packers would you NOT want on the Lions roster?

First, let’s set the table. For the list of players I’ve chosen for this exercise, they each have two factors that I believe aren’t conducive for a rebuild: Age and expensive contract.

Some will argue that the price tags that are attached to each player below are justifiable, and that’s fine individually. But as things currently stand, collectively, the first four players on this list account for over 56-percent of the $208 million salary cap set for the 2022 season. With that much invested in just four individuals, it should come as no surprise that the Packers are currently more than $40 million OVER the 2022 salary cap.

Aaron Rodgers, QB
Age beginning of next season: 38
2022: $46,144,156

Because (expletive) this guy.

David Bakhtiari, LT
Age: 31
2022: $22,768,014 (2023: $26,268,014; 2024: $30,268,017)

When healthy, he is one of the best left tackles in the game. The problem is he always seems to be dinged up, has yet to play a snap this season, and has only played in 12 games in the past two years. At his price, that is highly disappointing, but he’s talented enough that it’s mildly palatable.

Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, EDGE
Ages: 30, almost 30
ZS 2022: $28,130,000
PS 2022: $19,750,000

I’m grouping the Smiths together so you can appreciate the (over)investment on the edge. Both players have been instant impact players since they signed with the Packers three years ago, but they are both in the final year of their contracts, and cost a combined nearly $48 million, roughly 23-percent of next year’s salary cap. Like Bakhtiari, you don’t hate the player, but you hate the price tag.

Randall Cobb, WR
Age: 32
2022: $9,641,666

The guy Rodgers had to have if he was going to return to Green Bay this season has produced a whopping 28 receptions, 375 yards, and five touchdowns—and is currently on injured reserve.

My choice: Randall Cobb

That contract is atrocious. Now to be fair, this contract was carried over from Houston, but the Packers still went after him with that contract, like a father desperately scrambling to procure a pacifier to calm a crying baby. If Rodgers returns to Green Bay in 2022, the consolation prize for the division will be that the Packers will surely have to also retain Cobb and his disaster of a price tag.

Am I right? Wrong? Which Packers player would you avoid? Vote and sound off in the comment section below: