NO SURPRISES IN FREE AGENCY

Free agency is in its second wave and the Packers have lost two players in each wave and retained six of their own.

 

To be honest I was beginning to get nervous about losing wide receiver Randall Cobb, but General Manager Ted Thompson pulled his head out of his very tight ass and re-signed him two days before free agency opened to a 4 yr. $40,000,0000 contract, which is probably a bargain. GOOD MOVE.

 

Davon House

Then word came down that reserve cornerback Davon House had been signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars to a four-year $25,000,000 contract. I went back and forth on keeping House and eventually decided it would be right to let him go for two reasons.

 

First, he was injury prone. Leaving out his rookie season he's played 38 games out of a possible 48 since he was drafted in 2011 in the fourth round. He's had injuries every year. His rookie year he began the season with an ankle injury. 2012 it was a separated shoulder during training camp when he was supposed to challenge for a starting job.

 

In fact, it seemed that every time he would start or get a chance to start he would come up with an injury. In 2013 it was a knee injury that bothered him and last year it was a knee, then a dislocated finger and finally a shoulder. It seems it’s always something.

 

Tramon Williams

Second, to pay him the amount he wanted and eventually what he got would mean Tramon Williams would have to be let go.

 

I felt Tramon still had around two good years left in him and that would be enough time to find out if Demetri Goodson is a legitimate prospect or to draft a genuine outside cornerback in the upcoming draft.

 

Following his rookie year Casey Hayward looked like the heir apparent to Tramon or a replacement for Sam Shields, who has some liabilities that start with him being short, a problem that was shown to all on the catch-no-catch by Dez Bryant in the playoffs.

 

But, it seems, Joe Whitt, Dom Capers and Mike McCarthy don't think Hayward has what it takes to man the outside. They like him in the slot, but due to later developments (scroll down) he will now have a chance to show he has what it takes to be a shutdown corner on the outside or not.

 

Later in the week it was beginning to look like Thompson was going to let right tackle Brian Bulaga (or it is Buluga, old joke, but one I still like) go and put Aaron Rodgers' health in the hands and feet of Don Barclay, who is coming off a very severe knee injury. But once again, Thompson did the right thing and signed Bulaga to a 5 yr. $33,750,000 contract, which is a bargain. ANOTHER GOOD MOVE.

 

Before I go any farther I want to say Thompson is lucky most players like the Packers so much they will sign less than market value contracts to stay. I think of the Packers as the best franchise in any sport and it bothers me that Thompson takes advantage of that to low ball some very deserving athletes. I have said it before and will continue to say it Thompson seems to think of the money allocated for player salaries as his own and he has pinched more pennies than Jack Benny (for those of you that under 50 years old look him up).

 

Along the way four more free agents re-signed with the Packers. Exclusive right free agent safety Chris Banjo re-signed (1 yr. $585,000) and that was somewhat a surprise considering he regressed last year and ended up on the practice squad for a while after having a very solid first year in 2013. But ERFA's seldom have any suitors and almost always re-sign.

 

The same can be said for restricted free agents and both Barclay and safety Sean Richardson re-upped for another year at $1,542,000 in salary.

 

The next unrestricted free agent to sign on the dotted line was third-string quarterback Scott Tolzien. He has an arm and seem to have an up-side and it was smart of him to stay with the Packers.

 

His re-signing could also mean that Matt Flynn's second tour with the Green and Gold will come to an end. I wasn't impressed with him last year, so if he goes I'm fine with that.

 

I will say though, during his first stint and when he was re-signed two years ago he was one of the best backup quarterbacks the Packers have had since Zeke Bratkowski (for those of you under 50 look him up). He kept the Packers in contention while Rodgers was recovering from his broken collarbone. It may be time to go, but thanks for the memories Matt.

 

So as the first wave of free agency ended it seemed that it was only a matter of time before Tramon Williams would be re-signed. But when he was allowed to enter the second wave I knew (as much as I know anything, even though my sister doesn't think I know anything) he was gone.

 

Tramon had visited the Saints and wasn't signed. That was Thompson's window, but evidently the decision had already been made to let him go. If Tramon, who has been a rock and at times a legitimate star, wouldn't come groveling back with his tail between his legs and sign an embarrassing contract he could leave. So when Cleveland showed him some respect he took it.

 

Good luck Tramon. You are a class act and a fine player. I know he will be 32 soon, but other corners have thrived until they were in the mid to late 30's. I think his loss will be a big problem next year. You heard it here first (I think).

 

Today well known woman beater and intimidator defensive end Greg Hardy signed with the dreaded Cowboys. I'm quite aware he is not the kind of person Thompson likes, but I think for what he signed for he would have been a great acquisition. He would have been the opposite heat for Clay Matthews. McCarthy could have short-leash him and watch him sack the quarterback or chase him into Matthews' arms. BIG MISTAKE.

 

Second big mistake concerns the nose tackle spot. The Packers have seven free agents still on the market and two of them are the starting nose tackles, B. J. Raji and Letroy Guion. It seems nothing has been done either to replace them or re-sign them. Guion has a marijuana legal problem and Raji is just not liked by Thompson. Be careful B.J. The last player Thompson hated ended up in New York and became a dreaded Viking.

 

Reggie White

There was a player available that would have made re-signing them mute, but, of course, he cost too much for Thompson's tastes. Think back to Reggie White. He, who made the defense and, along with Favre, brought the Super Bowl back to Green Bay, wouldn't have been on the radar if Thompson was in charge and not Ron Wolf. White would have been too expensive and he would have ended up in San Francisco. The Packers would have been good, but not great. The signing of White brought other key players to town (defensive end Sean Jones, defensive tackle Santana Dotson, safety Eugene Robinson) to put the Packers over the top.

 

Now back to the present. The Lions lost Ndamukong Suh to the Dolphins and instead of sitting on his pile of money in his ivory tower like Thompson the Detroit GM traded fourth and fifth round draft choices for the best nose tackle in the game Haloti Ngata from the Ravens. I wrote a column a few weeks ago about how Ngata should have been drafted instead of A. J. Hawk and now he was available for a meager price. He carried with him a big contract ($8.5 million), but not too big. I think he could have been persuaded to renegotiate that contract down and solve the Packers' nose tackle problem. However, the second golden opportunity was lost.

 

Just think with Ngata in the middle and Hardy and Mike Daniels around him who would have a better defensive line than the Packers. With Nick Perry and Julius Peppers on the outside and Clay Matthews and Sam Barrington on the inside the Packers front seven would be super. If you noticed I like Matthews on the inside, but I will address that in a later post.

 

So as we sit the free agents left aren't worth much and anyway Thompson won't sign them anyway. Still waiting for some love are Packer unrestricted free agents fullback John Kuhn, cornerback Jarrett Bush, Flynn, Raji, Guion and linebacker Jamari Lattimore, who is visiting the Giants today.

 

Restricted free agent wide receiver Jarrett Boykin is also unsigned, but it seems the Packers have moved on from him after he crapped out last year and Davante Adams didn't. The Packers also have formally released running back ERFA DuJuan Harris, who was an up-and-coming two years ago like Boykin, but injury wiped out his 2014 season and any chance to stay with the Packers.

 

The Packers also lost three other players who were released and got snatched up by other teams already. Linebacker A. J. Hawk was signed with Cincinnatti (thank you, thank you, thank you), linebacker Brad Jones with the Eagles and TE Brandon Bostick with the Vikings.

 

Once again another free agency period and silence from Thompson. The talking heads have pointed all day yesterday and today that the Packers have only one player (Peppers) who has played for another team. I supposed that is technically true, but not entirely. They are not counting nose tackle Letroy Guion, who spent six years with the Vikings with 31 starts, and fullback John Kuhn, who played nine games for the Steelers, because they are an unrestricted free agents and I guess technically not on the roster.

 

But the reason they are saying that is to highlight how Thompson only keeps homegrown players, but as shown above that is not true and here is a list of current players who came from other organizations to prove it (even though none of these players played a down during the regular season with another clubs).

 

1. QB Scott Tolzien was signed by the Chargers and the 49ers.
2. DT Bruce Gaston was signed off the Cardinals' practice squad.
3. OT Aaron Adams was acquired off waivers from the Browns.
4. S Jean Fanor was waived by the Chiefs and played in the Arena League.
5. LB Josh Francis played for Winnipeg of the CFL and the Indoor League.
6. CB Tay Glover-Wright was acquired off waivers from the Falcons.
7. C Garth Gerhart was on the Browns practice squad in 2012.
8. LS Brett Goode signed after being cut by the Jaguars twice.
9. C Joe Madsen was with the Steelers and played in the Arena League.
10. RB DuJuan Harris was with the Jaguars and Steelers.
11. S Chris Banjo was acquired off waivers from the Jaguars.
12. Jarrett Boykin was acquired off waivers from the Jaguars.
13. Jarrett Bush was acquired off waivers from the Panthers.

 

Only Harris, Boykin and Bush, in addition to Guion and Kuhn are free agents, so the 10 other players, albeit low reserves or lower, came from other organizations. I like to be technically right even if the national media are slipshod at best.

 

Until next time America.