The Packers don’t make many forays into free agency, but they did dip their toes into the pool last season to sign Julius Peppers.
The move paid off well for Green Bay as Peppers played in every game, picked up seven sacks, forced four fumbles and scored twice on interceptions. He added 2.5 sacks and two more forced fumbles in the playoffs, which put some gilding on an excellent first season with the team.
Peppers and the Packers would love more of the same in 2015 and one way they think they can get it is by cutting down on Peppers’s snaps in order to limit the wear and tear on his 35-year-old body.
“There’s a lot of games played, a lot of snaps played over the long haul,” Peppers said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I think those things could pile up and have a toll at the end of the season. It’s a tough call for the coaches, it’s a tough spot for me as a player because they want me out there and I want to be out there. At the same time, we all know if I’m out there a little bit less maybe that’s a better situation at times.”
Defensive coordinator Dom Capers said that it would be ideal to cut down on Peppers’s playing time to ensure he’s energetic throughout the season after he played more snaps than anyone in the front seven other than Clay Matthews last year. Doing so will take other players stepping up to show him that the Packers won’t take too big a hit by taking Peppers off the field, so figuring out what else they have on hand should be a big part of the preseason in Green Bay.