GREEN BAY, Wis. -- If the Green Bay Packers want to keep linebacker Nick Perry around for the long haul, they best get working on a contract now. The longer they wait, the more money it will cost.

Perhaps only Mike Daniels has made a bigger impact on the Packers’ defense so far this season. And with Daniels locked up thanks to the four-year, $41 million deal he signed last December, Perry would seemingly be next in line for an extension.

But there’s a catch: Perry’s injury history gives general manager Ted Thompson reason to wait and see if the former first-round draft pick can make it through this season unscathed.

No one should question Perry’s production. In 57 career games, Perry has 24 sacks. His average of .42 sacks per game is not all that far behind teammate Julius Peppers’ output since he came to Green Bay in 2014. Peppers is at .56 sacks per game over the last two-plus seasons.

Nick Perry already has a career-high 5.5 sacks this season. Dylan Buell/Getty Images

It might finally be time to stop calling Perry an injury risk. In the two-plus seasons since he missed 17 out of a possible 35 games (including playoffs) in his first two NFL seasons, he has played in 39 of a possible 42 games. Yes, he played hurt in some of those, most notably with an ailing shoulder for much of 2014 that required offseason surgery.

This past spring was the first time he didn’t have to spend an offseason rehabbing an injury or recovering from surgery, which meant Perry could fully participate in OTAs and minicamp for the first time in his career -- something head coach Mike McCarthy believes has a direct correlation to his strong play to start this season.

“He’s definitely in the best shape of his career,” McCarthy said after Perry recorded another sack -- to give him a career-high 5.5 for the season -- in last Thursday’s win over the Bears. “I think that’s obvious to everybody.”

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers has used Perry in a full-time role for the first time in his career, in part to keep the veteran Peppers fresh for the long haul. Perry has responded not only as a pass-rusher but deserves his share of the credit for the strong start against the run, minus the Week 6 struggles against Cowboys rookie Ezekiel Elliott.

“Nick’s very comfortable in what we’re asking him to do,” McCarthy said. “His versatility is very important. We’re moving him around and having him in different packages. He’s a tough matchup. He’s a tough matchup for any tackle in this league.”

In reality, Perry’s rise started last postseason, when he recorded 2.5 sacks in the wild-card win over the Redskins and another in the divisional loss to the Cardinals. Still, it wasn’t enough to get Thompson to commit for the long haul. Instead, Perry returned on a one-year, $5 million prove-it contract after the Packers declined to pick up his fifth-year option.

It will likely cost Thompson much more if he brings Perry back.

Including the playoffs last season, Perry has nine sacks in his past eight games.

“It’s a combination of things,” Perry said. “I think the opportunities are here, and so far I haven’t really dealt with any injuries. I’m one year [older] with more experience. Every year, you take something from each year and you continue to build off of that. I think once you put together what you can get out of the game, things get slower for you, things come to you. Certain things that you haven’t seen before, definitely you pick up on things a lot more quicker. So it’s a combination of things. Opportunities, all of that stuff.”

Other issues could complicate Perry’s possible return. Even though Thompson already re-signed left tackle David Bakhtiari to a four-year, $48 million contract extension, he still has several other key players who could be re-signed. That list includes running back Eddie Lacy, guard T.J. Lang, center JC Tretter, defensive end/outside linebacker Datone Jones and defensive back Micah Hyde.

Perry, however, won’t look too far ahead.

“So far so good,” he said.