Assume that Dillard is going to be on the roster bubble this summer, based on his one-year deal.
Last week, the Green Bay Packers made a last-second free agency signing when they added former Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans tackle Andre Dillard to the team. Dillard, a former first-round pick, was one of the most athletic offensive linemen ever as a draft prospect but has failed to translate that into a quality NFL career. At the moment, Pro Football Focus has graded his three seasons as a significant contributor as 61.2, 69.6 and 52.8 on their grading scale.
Last year, Dillard was benched mid-season for the Tennessee Titans, leading to his eventual release one year into his three-year, $29 million contract. When he signed with the Packers, the assumption was that he was going to come in as a depth tackle, even with the rumors swirling that the team views right tackle Zach Tom as a potential Hall-of-Fame center.
On the day of the draft, we got some confirmation on that front. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reported that Dillard did not receive a single dollar of guaranteed money, either in the form of a salary or a signing bonus. Essentially, Dillard must earn every dollar that he’s scheduled to make from his one-year deal. On top of that, if Dillard does make the 53-man roster his salary for this season will be just $1.125 million — the minimum for a veteran with his amount of experience.
You can firmly plug in Dillard on the roster bubble, assuming the Packers add a couple of players on the offensive line with their 11 picks in this week’s draft. Dillard is much closer to fighting for positioning with Kadeem Telfort, Caleb Jones and Luke Tenuta on the second line of the depth chart than he is threatening to take a job on the first line of it, based on what Green Bay is paying him.
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