OK, Monday is not Thursday, but if somebody could turn off the damn snow in this city I would have more time. This is getting ridiculous. Anyway, lets talk football. There were a lot of good comments about the offensive free agents available, but things might get interesting on defense. Names like Lance Briggs, Jared Allen, Marcus Trufant, Asante Samuel top the list.
The Packers could use help at linebacker but Briggs isn’t a good fit and the only other guy probably worth signing is the Cardinals Karlos Dansby and he just got nailed with the franchise tag, which means the price is too high. Other than Kawika Mitchell, the rest are a weak crop. Look for Ted Thompson to look to the draft here.
Spending some of their cash on defensive end Jared Allen would be certainly be a wise investment, but the Chiefs probably won’t let him go, but if they do I would fully expect the Packers to be aggressive in the bidding. What a replacement he would be for KGB or Cullen Jenkins. The Packers have to decide what to do with Corey Williams as well. It would be nice to keep him in the rotation but with Johnny Jolly the likely starter next year Williams will probably look elsewhere and will certainly get an offer the Packers won’t match even if given the chance. Without Williams the Packers will likely look to a second-tier player like Justin Smith or Tommy Kelly. My guess is last year’s first round pick Justin Harrell is given the first opportunity to replace Williams.
In the secondary if New England doesn’t lock up Samuel, I would thank Charles Woodson for his two years of service and wish him well in future endeavors, then upgrade to Samuel. Wouldn’t cost the Packers’ hardly anything on the Woodson side because his contract was front-loaded big time and the addition of Samuel might put the Packers’ defense over the top. Woodson is old and hurt and should be replaced. Trufant would be cheaper and could also do the job. At safety there is not a whole lot of help available. I can’t see the Packers being interested in Ken Hamlin or Sammy Knight, maybe Gibril Wilson, but look for Thompson to again look to the draft at safety.
Allen or Samuel would be a Reggie White-like signing. Does Thompson have the brass to do it? Is that all it takes to get the Packers over the hump? A little pressure on Eli Manning, a little better coverage and toughness in the secondary and who knows what happens. The problem is there is still two weeks until free agency begins, plenty of time for their own teams to work out a deal. I’d take either one.
More to come…