Green Bay Packers Free Agency: Will Eddie Lacy be back in Titletown?

Eddie Lacy. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Eddie Lacy has had an up and down career over the past four seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

The free-agent-to-be went into last season hoping to prove that he was “the guy” everyone expected after a nosedive in production and attitude during the 2015 season in Green Bay.

After all, Lacy was entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2016. Eyeing the bigger, long-term contract that all NFL players seek, Lacy and his fandom were hoping he proved all over again that he is the bruising, hard charging running back that we all saw during his first two seasons.

Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy. Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

At 26, Lacy is one of the younger free agent running backs in the league and one of top “star power” players who could demand a hefty wage increase.

But is Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy willing to open the check book for Lacy, given his most recent past that has included weight, attitude and injury issues?

That remains to be seen.

What Thompson has to weigh when considering Lacy for another contract round in Green Bay is which Lacy he will be getting if he re-signs him?

Will it be the Eddie Lacy of his first two seasons when he was the running game for Green Bay; when he rushed for more than 1,100 yards and provided the Packers and Aaron Rodgers with a threat that could help break games open?

Or will it be the Eddie Lacy of the past two years when the weight, attitude and injury issues began to overtake the young man?

Let’s take a closer look …

Why the Packers should re-sign Eddie Lacy

All Ted Thompson has to do to be convinced to re-sign Eddie Lacy is to turn on game film from 2013 and 2014.

What he will see is a running back who turned potential losses in the backfield into four-yard gains; a player who ran over linebackers and defensive backs routinely and a running back who would refuse to go down, making him one of the most difficult players in the entire to tackle.

When defensive players tackled Lacy, he made them pay for it.

Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Packers 17-14. Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

During his Rookie of the Year season in 2013, Lacy played in 15 games, rushing 284 times for 1,178 yards and 11 touchdowns. With a 4.1-yard average, Lacy’s presence helped provide the Packers with a two-pronged offensive attack that made the Packers one of the best units in the league.

Lacy did the same in 2014, nearly duplicating 2013 with 246 attempts for 1,139 yards and nine touchdowns. His per-rush average rose to 4.6 in 2014 and he also caught 42 passes out of the backfield for 427 yards (10.2-yard average) and four touchdowns through the air.

That’s production.

If that’s what Ted Thompson looks at, the re-signing of Eddie Lacy is a no-brainer. You bring the guy back and feed him the rock.

But there’s the other side of things with Lacy and something that Thompson must consider when thinking about re-signing this guy.

Let’s take a look …

Will the Packers let Eddie Lacy walk?

The first two seasons of Eddie Lacy’s career were fantastic. The Packers felt they had their running back of the future and, if he stayed healthy and in shape, he could be a franchise find that could lead the team for a decade.

Then came the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Weight issues seemed to be the issue in 2015 when Lacy’s production dropped nearly in half of what he was garnering his first two seasons.

He rushed 187 times in 2015 for 758 yards in 15 games. Though his average per-rush was a respectable 4.1 yards, his overall production slid significantly as even his head coach thought his conditioning wasn’t where it should be.

That was going to all go away as Lacy committed himself to losing weight and coming into training camp in football shape.

And it seemed to be ringing true as Lacy was running hard in the early going.

In the season opener at Jacksonville, Lacy battled the heat and rushed 14 times for 61 yards; against Minnesota, he rushed only 12 times for 50 yards; against Detroit in week three, he rushed 17 times for 103 yards and against the New York Giants he was 11-for-81 yards (7.3-yard average).

Those are numbers the Packers can live with, especially when you’ve got Aaron Rodgers under center.

Though he rushed 17 times for 65 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in a 30-16 loss, it was also his final game of the season as he was later shelved on injured reserve.

Lacy is a punishing player who runs hard and makes defenses pay.

Contrast that with the route Green Bay went the last half of the season without Lacy and when they ran the table all the way to the Championship Game.

When James Starks was also ruled out for the season, the Packers went with wide receiver Ty Montgomery out of the backfield and the versatile player proved that with solid blocking, they had an answer.

Do the Packers re-sign Lacy to a new contract (be it one year or multi-year) and go back to a power running game (mixing in Montgomery and Cobb) or do they go the route they did the last half of 2016?

That’s the question Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy need to answer.

Many question Lacy’s commitment and whether he go back to the weight and attitude issues if given a long-term contract with a huge signing bonus.

Are the Packers willing to give up big money on a player who has been inconsistent and plagued with injuries the past couple of seasons?

Are the Packers willing to let Lacy walk and sign with another team (enter the Minnesota Vikings)?

Tough questions that will be answered sometime within the next couple of months.

Here are Lacy’s statistics from 2016:

Eddie Lacy’s career statistics:

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/28/2017.

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