I'd be ok bringing back Matthews for a team friendly deal. People forget, but he played decent at MLB and would be good depth for OLB/MLB, but the transition should take place from him to a rookie this year (or Fakrell).
Depth, leadership. For a team attempting to make a run experienced bodies are necessary. Obviously, if another team wants to pay him big money then let him go. The expectation, however, is that he would no longer be any every down player.
Expecting Matthews to play ILB except for the occasional blitz is playing the game from a decade ago, not today's game. In the 3-4 today you better have a speed component to cover RBs, TEs and even slot isolation. Martinez is not that guy and neither is Matthews.
The Packers recognized this fact in first drafting Jones and then Burks. We even saw Whitehead play that role for a couple of games, whether you want to call him a dime box safety in a distinction without a difference, until he got ejected and cut. And I keep going back to the fact, for the umpteeth time, that Matthews went two consecutive games at ILB without making a tackle which seems impossible. He's a backside run defender from his OLB position who gets washed out playing off the ball.
Clearly an upgrade is needed at ILB (or dime box safety if you prefer) which amounts to something like 75 - 80% of the snaps, or they roll with Burks looking for that second year jump, but it would be a mistake to think that Matthews should be anything other than a rotational OLB if he is retained and paid accordingly.
As for leadership, I wish I could find the quote from early last year where Matthews said, "I am not a leader." Not a shocking fact, but a bit shocking he'd admit it. He's been a solo performer, not a conductor of the orchestra.
As for "making a run", I'd be thinking more in terms of a 2 year plan.
