Nick Kwiatkoski has steadily seen a market develop for his services with free agency almost at hand. His excellent play in the second half of 2019 clearly caught the attention of many. Enough to think that he is a starter in waiting. Several teams could have interest, but the one that has stood out the most consistently is the Green Bay Packers.
This isn't a huge surprise. They already had severe questions at inside linebacker and now seem to be letting their only productive one, Blake Martinez, walk in free agency. Their interest in Kwiatkoski though seems somewhat odd given his lack of proven experience. That is until one hears what Dan Pompei of The Athletic revealed this week.
It seems Kwiatkoski has a personal admirer up north.
Perhaps Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers would offer an endorsement to his general manager Brian Gutekunst. When Rodgers was asked about the Bears defense last season, the first player he mentioned was Kwiatkoski.
“Forty-four I’ve always thought is a really solid player,” he said. “I don’t want to butcher his last name, but he rocked me a couple years ago. I know where 44’s at most of the time when he’s in the game.”
Rodgers has enough pull to get Nick Kwiatkoski
Keep in mind this is the same man who has stated many times that Brian Urlacher is far and away the best linebacker he ever played against. So when he singles a player out at that position as being pretty good, it's the highest of compliments. All it would take is one word from the Hall of Fame quarterback to the front office and they would gear up to make a run at the said player. So the odds of Kwiatkoski ending up in green and gold just got a depressing boost.
This feels like it could be a repeat of last year when Adrian Amos headed north in free agency. Another solid Pace draft pick who worked his way up the depth chart and ended up getting paid by a division rival. Hardly the outcome people could want. Hopefully Kwiatkoski doesn't follow that same path.
