In what could have been a boom year in free agency, because of the unlikely event a new collective bargaining agreement is reached between players and owners by March 5, 200-some players will not get their chance at a big payday. Of course that is part of the reason why some players haven’t been signed by now too – the owners knew there wasn’t going to be an agreement so why pay big money to a guy who isn’t going anywhere. The Packers’ Nick Collins is a perfect example.

Barring a miracle, and I do mean miracle because the NFL Players Association is once again failing to see the light, there will only be a handful of free agents worth signing and several of them may get a franchise or transition tag, essentially taking them off the market. When the owners used their option to end the current CBA early the players should have immediately said “OK, what can we do to get this done?” instead of getting defensive and basically forcing the owners into a lockout in 2011.

The owners hold all the cards and the sooner the players realize that the sooner a deal will get done. At least the late Gene Upshaw knew that and even though he was a hard bargainer, he got the job done before anything drastic had to happen. NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith has stated the players have no plans to make any concessions so a work stoppage is a certainty. The owners can sit out forever. Can the players? With that in mind I will only focus on the unrestricted free agents that might be available.

The Packers need offensive line help and that might be the slimmest pickings of all. There is simply nobody available. The Saints have two left tackles in Jammal Brown and Jermon Bushrod that are unsigned. The Packers would have to trade for one of them and Brown would probably bring the higher price tag even though he missed last year with a sports hernia. Bottom line though, don’t look for any movement here. I hope Ted Thompson finally gets lucky with offensive lineman in the draft. I also hope nobody goes hard after Chad Clifton, the best unrestricted offensive lineman out there.

Staying on the offensive side there are a couple of intriguing running backs in Chester Taylor and Willie Parker. Taylor I think for sure is starter material and if Parker can stay healthy he could be worth looking at. Myself I would be more inclined to look at Taylor if I was looking to replace Ryan Grant, which, by the way, I’m not. If the Packers could get Taylor and use him like they did in Minnesota, I’m all for it. He is heads and tails above Brandon Jackson, who has been a major bust for a second-round pick. Just re-sign Ahman Green and be done with it.

Defensively the Packers need help at linebacker and secondary and there may be some help available there. Linebackers Keith Bulluck, Karlos Dansby are available if the Packers don’t want to re-sign Aaron Kampman. Jason Taylor is also available but he won’t play in the cold in what could be his last year. Bulluck may come cheap coming off injury but Dansby won’t, in fact he will probably be tagged. Those are the outside linebackers, an interesting inside linebacker would be Gary Brackett. If the Packers don’t want to pay A.J. Hawk they might be thinking about Brackett. The thing is, Brackett will bring the leadership skills the young Packers need but in the end Hawk might be more worth the money down because of his youth. Tough call.

In the secondary guys like Leigh Bodden and Dunta Robinson at corner might be worth a look but other than Darren Sharper their is nobody of starting value at safety. Sharper back in Green Bay? I would love it! He’s today’s Deon Sanders – just following the ring.

The only guy I would open the vault to would be kicker Sebastian Janikowski. The Packers can’t afford to make another playoff run with a shabby kicker. I just wish there was a punter available.

All that said, you can see why the Packers won’t be finding any starters in free agency this year. They should just focus on guys like Clifton, Mark Tauscher, Ryan Pickett and Nick Collins and not worry about the rest. The Packers’ aren’t one player away from a championship, they have the pieces already in place, they just need a few complimentary players to get them through through the rough spots of a long season. With the work stoppage looming, the Packers might have the least worries of any NFL team going into this season.

It’s going to be an interesting off-season that is for sure.

The NFL is about to enter a very unique offseason and as usual the Packers will likely be quiet, especially in free agency. Here is my take on the Packers Dirty Dozen Thirteen free agents.

Chad Clifton – The 33-year old Clifton is still the Packers best option at left tackle. Cliffy stayed relatively healthy last year but did not start 16 games and at times the Packers missed him dearly, especially when Daryn Colledge was his replacement. Clifton won’t command a big salary so the Packers should be able to re-sign him if they want to, and I would think they would want to.

Mark Tauscher -  A year younger than Clifton Tauscher proved to be a savior last year when he joined the team mid-season and stabilized the offensive line after taking over for colossal failure Allen Barbre. Unlike Clifton, however, the Packers might have a better option at right tackle in 2nd year man T.J. Lang, who played left and right tackle but is better suited for right tackle. I hope Tauscher will come accept a similar one-year deal or something to come back and battle Lang for the job. My guess is Tausch wins. Lang can spell him during the season and replace him in 2011.

Aaron Kampman -  The Packers don’t really know what they have in Kampman anymore. It is clear he was special in a 4-3 defense but by getting hurt halfway through the season, Kampman never got to really develop in the new defense. He may have been missed late in the year when the Packers struggled against the Steelers and Cardinals when the Packers couldn’t even sniff the quarterback. I would like to see the Packers keep him if only for the intangibles he brings to the locker room.

Ryan Pickett -  Pickett is one of Ted Thompson’s few free agent signings and Thompson would be wise to sign him again. You can never have too much depth on the d-line and Pickett is a perfect role model for B.J. Raji. Pickett needs to be signed and it appears the Packers feel the same way as they have begun talks with Pickett’s agent.

Nick Collins -  At the beginning of last year I was with the Packers in not jumping in and giving Collins big money, but after another solid year and another Pro Bowl appearance it is time for the Packers to anti-up. Because of the uncertainty of the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players Collins will be a restricted free agent, however, the Packers cannot afford to send the wrong message here and need to get this deal done and done soon.

Johnny Jolly – The only thing stopping the Packers from paying Jolly may be his legal troubles. We’ll have to see how that plays out, but Jolly is a solid player and the Packers really need to keep him. A couple of bonehead penalties have raised some eyebrows about him and he may be as good as he is going to get, but either way he adds much need depth to the d-line.

Daryn Colledge -  This is the one guy the Packers should pay NOT to come back. How he lasted four years mostly in the starting lineup is a testament to how bad Thompson has been at drafting/finding offensive lineman. Colledge is not starting material at left guard and was absolutely horrible in replacing Clifton at left tackle. Colledge’s holding penalty in overtime against the Cardinals was enough to get him fired on the spot if you ask me. He followed that up by getting burned on the game-winning play two plays later. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Jason Spitz -  If Spitz is healthy and the Packers aren’t worried about his future availability they should definitely bring him back. Spitz should replace Colledge at left guard and let Scott Wells stay at center. A line of Clifton, Spitz, Wells, Josh Sitton and Tauscher would be just fine with me. Spitz is versatile and the Packers will almost assuredly bring him back if healthy.

Atari Bigby, Ahman Green, Will Blackmon, John Kuhn, Derrick Martin -  All of these players will come cheap but only ones I like are Bigby and Green and maybe Kuhn. Blackmon is an injury waiting to happen and not even that good, he won’t help the secondary any, that is for sure. Martin never showed up after coming in with high hopes having played in a 3-4 defense before. Didn’t happen.

I like Green for his leadership and change of pace to Ryan Grant. Green is a short-yardage specialist and can catch the ball and run the screen pass. Bigby is a starter but an average one at best. The Packers secondary needs a major overhaul but I would at least bring Bigby to camp. Ditto Kuhn, who is a beast on special teams and can catch the ball for a fullback that brings back memories of William Henderson If only he could block like Henderson.

I’ve got my list of potential NFL free agents and I’ll go over that Wednesday. The CBA is throwing a wrench into everything and I can’t believe the NFL players are going crazy about losing two years of free agency. Six years for free agency is a return to the seventies and eighties. Most players’ careers are lucky to be six years, not having a chance at the big payday has to be pissing a lot of guys off. It’s going to be interesting.

More to come…

Well, my pregame prediction was Colts 27, Saints 17, so far we are on pace for such a low scoring game. Some amazing bad play calling here in the last three minutes. Saints should have kicked the field goal on their first chance and the Colts should have tried to score with a minute-and-a-half left in the half and Peyton Manning at quarterback.

So far the game has been pretty boring. I have to believe the Packers could beat either one of these teams. I hope that is what the Packers’ players are thinking at this time too.

7:20 PM: The Who kicked ass!

7:30 PM:  Damn! There goes my bet! Gutsy call to try the onside kick and the Colts were caught hook, line and sinker.

7:53 PM:  At least we are getting a game now. If Manning wants to separate himself from the other one Super Bowl winners and proclaim himself the best ever he needs to win this one.

8:02 PM:  That was a gutsy call!

8:06 PM:  The Colts go for it from midfield but don’t go for it from the 34 and miss a 51-yard field goal. My Colts bet is done but the under is a lock.

8:21 PM:  Well, I didn’t want the Saints to win but unlike last year I can embrace the winner if it is the Saints. I hate the Steelers and and I love the Cardinals so in that game I was totally rooting for one team. This game I wanted the Colts to win but am fine if the Saints win. What a great story it would be.

8:56 PM:  Now I can really embrace the Saints as that pick-six put a cool 100 in my pocket. All in all a good day for the NFL. I couldn’t be happier for Drew Brees and the city of New Orleans. No matter what you allegiance is it was a good day for the NFL. The Saints did a great deal for the league today.

Before I take off on vacation in a week I will have my take on the Packers’ free agents and who might be available. After that it is a week in sunny FLA – hopefully it warms up by the time I get there.