You Might Have Missed It, But the Off-Season Began 2 Weeks Ago

February 8 the NFL off-season officially began when players could be placed on waivers. The next day the teams began to sign players whose 2015 contracts have expired, but being Packer Backers this is the time of year we all take a Packers theme cruise with Ted Thompson until April.

However, this year before we all disembarked there actually was a transaction and when I say a transaction I mean it literally.



Ryan Williams When He Was a Miami Hurricane

Despite signing QB Ryan Williams on Jan. 1 and nine of the 11 practice squad players (LB Carl Bradford, DT William Campbell, TE Mitchell Henry, WR Jamel Johnson, DT Christian Ringo, OL Matt Rotheram, T Jeremy Vujnovich, WR Ed Williams, DE B.J. McBryde) on Jan. 18 to reserve/futures contracts Ted Thompson re-signed DT Letroy Guion to a 3-year contract worth $11.25 million on Feb. 12.

Letroy Happy To Be Back

It was the second signing that cut two off the free agent list. On Dec. 14 defensive end Mike Daniels signed a 4-year, $42 million contract extension making him the 3rd highest paid ($10.5 per year) 3-4 defensive end behind J.J. Watt ($16.7) and Arizona's Calais Campbell ($11.0) stopping him from testing the free agent market.

I like Guion and think he is a good player to keep, but his signing has a rippling effect. My favorite player on the defense "Do The Raji" is also a pending free agent and it is conventional wisdom that there is room in the budget for only one high paid nose tackle, so with Guion under contract it seems Raji will be let go.

B.J. Not So Happy

I'm not happy about Raji leaving, but it would be the best thing for him. Beginning with his third season he has been misused. He backed up Ryan Pickett at true nose tackle his rookie season and won the job his second year prompting the move of Pickett to left defensive end. However, that lasted only one season.

Pickett had just signed a 4-year contract after being tagged as the franchise player before the 2010 season, so I guess he didn't like being a defense end although at the time he was happy with it. So maybe it was just a call by Dom Capers.

B.J. Part of a Jimmy Fallon Bit

Raji had a stellar 2010 season registering 6.5 sacks lining up over center, but he was moved to left end and Pickett back to nose tackle for the next three years and his career went into suck a decline he was being tagged as a bust.

Raji had two sacks in his first seven games of the 2011 season. He had a sack in game 11. He then went 35 games without another sack. Dom Capers relented and moved him back to nose tackle for the 2014 season, but he tore his biceps and missed the entire 2014 season.

To reiterate after having 9.5 sacks in his first 27 games as a full-time starter (6.5 in 16 games at nose tackle and 3 in 11 games as left end) he went 35 games as left end without a sack.

He returned to the lineup this season and was still technically a nose tackle, but in name only. He snapped his sackless streak, sort of, with a half a sack in the first game this year, but that was it he never got another one for the next 15 games and there was a reason for it, at least in my estimation.

Dom Capers uses a two-man line most of the time with Daniels and Raji. So Raji, who is strong at the point of attack, is playing in a gap and not on the center. What makes him a such a good nose tackle is his strength and his ability to get a push, but in the gap he is just a big man playing in space with no leverage.

So as long as Dom Capers is Defensive Coordinator and that means as long as Mike McCarthy is Head Coach and I hate to say this, but it would be better for Raji to go somewhere that appreciates his abilities and plays him accordingly.

So that one transaction actually became two. Add one and subtract one. Good Luck Busari Alamu, Jr. in your new home. I will miss you and you deserved better as a Packer.

Next on the schedule is the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis February 23-29 and on February 27 a regional combine is being held at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Pickett and his Beautiful Family

Before I go. Ryan Pickett was one of the good guys and the second best free agent Ted Thompson has signed. He was solid on the field and even more solid in the locker room and as a person. He made it his business to make sure the youngsters and newcomers were comfortable. If they didn't have anywhere to go during the holidays they would have a place at his family table no matter how many.

Pickett as a Texan

When he was let go he signed with the Texans and played one season. He improved their run defense in his one season. At Green Bay he left a big void in leadership on the defense. He might have made a difference in the playoff collapse against the Seahawks. Considering defensive collapses at crucial times this season it seems no one has filled that void. Intangibles count on a winning football team.