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Today, Acme Packing Company continues the examination of the Green Bay Packers’ 2016 roster. Each day over the next two weeks, we will break down a different position on the roster with examinations of the players on the 53-man roster in 2016, the contributions of new additions and players who signed new contracts, and players who have contracts expiring this offseason.
While the Packers have plenty of veteran free agents to consider this offseason, none play wide receiver. In fact, the team's only wideout not currently under contract for the 2017 season -- Geronimo Allison -- originally signed a multi-year deal that would have kept him off the market. However, due to roster moves, Green Bay either needs to re-sign him or let him walk.
Geronimo Allison
Free-agent status: Exclusive rights
Experience: One year
2016 statistics: 12 receptions, 202 yards, two touchdowns
Expiring contract: One-year, $450,000 deal
Had the Packers retained Geronimo Allison coming out of the preseason, he would have two years remaining on his contract. Instead, the team made him one of their final cuts, eventually signing him to the practice squad. That meant that when Allison received his promotion to the 53, he did so on just a one-year deal.
Allison, of course, looks like a player on the rise after making a series of key plays during the end of the regular season and the playoffs. His length and catch radius make him unique among Green Bay's receiving corps, which includes only one other wideout (Jordy Nelson) standing 6-foot-3 or above.
Because Allison has only accrued a single season in the NFL, he becomes an exclusive-rights free agent rather than unrestricted or restricted. That means the Packers can tender him on a one-year deal at the league minimum and keep all rights to any new contract. In all likelihood, Allison will return to Green Bay next season.