Veteran defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson signed

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a one-year deal with the Packers last offseason to rebuild his value.Now , after having his ankle rebuilt, he’s hoping to do it again.Wilkerson told Michael Cohen of that he’s hoping to return to Green Bay for another year after his first season there lasted three games. He suffered a compound fracture of his left ankle, including ligament damage, in a game at Washington.He’s still in the process of rehabbing after two surgeries to repair the injury, but made it clear he wanted to continue playing.“I still love the game,” he said. “I feel like once I get to that point where I’m questioning myself or I feel like I don’t want to do this, then it’s time to walk away. But I’m still getting up every day rehabbing, working. I got my mindset on what I need to do, what I want to do once I’m able to get to certain parts of my rehab. I still love the game and I still love to play, definitely.”The 29-year-old would prefer to do that in Green Bay, where he was eager to reunite with former Jets coach Mike Pettine last year.“I like it here a lot,” Wilkerson said. “I came here to prove that I can play at a high level and that was cut short. But that’s how the game goes sometimes. I definitely want to get another shot to show what I can do. . . .“I’m going to speak things into existence and say that we’ll be fine here in Green Bay.”Whether General Manager Brian Gutekunst agrees remains to be seen , but Wilkerson’s ready to try to prove himself all over again. Green Bay has strayed away from extending players at or over the age of 30, and that trend continued this offseason."Shouts of joy and hurrahs filled the air on March 12 when the Green Bay Packers uncharacteristically leaped head-first into free agency. After plenty of years in which the team shied away from acquiring external free agents, the Packers, under second-year GM Brian Gutekunst, created waves within NFL free agency. But even in a more active signing period than usual, Green Bay’s watchful eye over the age of 30, a trait emphasized by Gutekunst’s predecessor Ted Thompson, remained.The Packers signed four significant free agents on the second day of free agency — all between the ages of 25 and 27. This is nothing new, as the Packers have rarely given multiyear deals to position players close to exceeding the age-30 mark — Charles Woodson, Julius Peppers, and Tramon Williams are a few rare exceptions. But the Packers’ pickiness with age extends to internal signings as well, and they have been successfully cautious in recent memory. That may bode well with the Packers’ Wednesday decisions to let Clay Matthews and Randall Cobb walk. Morgan Burnett is the latest example of Green Bay’s keen foresight. A free agent last offseason at age 29 and already impacted by nagging injuries , Burnett was not a long-term priority for Green Bay. Instead, the eight-year veteran signed a three-year contract with Pittsburgh. After an injury-laden first season with the Steelers in which he played in only 37% of the team’s defensive snaps, Burnett was reportedly set to be released as of Friday. While the fit in Pittsburgh on a new squad certainly played a role in the versatile Burnett’s short stay, the safety is just one of many key former Packers whom the team allowed to leave before signing a third contract.Here are a few other notable recent cases of the Packers moving on from starters hovering around age 30.Recent Packer starters to leave GB near age 30YearPlayerAge left GBContractLength of stay with new teamYearPlayerAge left GBContractLength of stay with new teamOutside of Lang’s Pro Bowl season in his first year in Detroit, the names on this list underwhelmed once leaving Green Bay and never stayed the full length of their new contracts. Even Sitton and Hawk, whose contracts were terminated prior to their final contract seasons by the Packers, never found a stable home and level of production elsewhere. It is safe to say that the Packer front office judged their impending internal free agents wisely.The question then becomes what Green Bay will do with their rising free agents in Mike Daniels, Bryan Bulaga, and Blake Martinez. As APC’s Wednesday curds pointed out, the Packers’ spending in the 2019 free agency could limit the money available to re-sign these players. But perhaps the biggest factor remains age.Daniels and Bulaga will be ages 31 and 30, respectively, at the end of their deals. With injury concerns to both and rumors last offseason that the Packers were hoping to restructure Bulaga’s contract , it is reasonable to believe that Green Bay will move on from both players based on precedent. Martinez, on the other hand, will be 26 years old and in the prime of his career. Steadily improving each year in the league and at a position in which the Packers have limited depth, Martinez may be in line for an extension.Green Bay’s decisions this week to let Cobb and Matthews sign elsewhere, particularly Cobb on a Cowboy-friendly one-year, $5 million deal, point to the team’s continued hesitancy with players near the age of 30. And with free agency looming for another pair of long-time contributors like Daniels and Bulaga at the end of the year, it is likely they will be looking for new homes.

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