"Offseason update, Friday 1/12"
Greetings from Green Bay on a mild, overcast morning:
And so the offseason is here, with the Packers having gone 9-7, beating the
Buccaneers 17-14 in the finale at Lambeau Field on Christmas Eve, but
missing the playoffs.
It's a quiet time on the beat these days. We're grateful for that, to be
honest. Between Super Bowls and coaching changes, the last 4 Januarys have
been quite a grind for those of us in the newspaper business, particularly
the beat writers.
-- The Packers are still about $4 million over the 2001 salary cap, which is
expected to be about $68.7 million. They need to get at or under the cap by
March 2. Unless they take pay cuts, look for RB Dorsey Levens, T Earl Dotson
and C Frank Winters to be gone. The savings under the cap if they're cut:
Levens, $4.6 million; Dotson, $1.95 million; Winters, $1.7 million.
-- SS LeRoy Butler took a pay cut, freeing up $980,000 under the cap. He'll
get about $4 million over the next 2 years -- about $1.75 million this year
and about $2.25 million in 2002. Other possible candidates for restructured
deals: DTs Santana Dotson and Russell Maryland, LB Brian Williams and
Bernardo Harris, and CB Tyrone Williams.
-- Doesn't seem as if Earl Dotson will be back. The Packers haven't talked
to him about a pay cut from the $2.5 million he's to make next season. The
offensive line may change greatly before next season. Dotson, Winters and LG
Ross Verba all may be gone. Only LT Chad Clifton is a lock. RG Marco Rivera
could move to LG if Mark Tauscher is moved to G. Mike Flanagan could take
over for Winters.
-- Free agency begins Feb. 16.
The Packers' unrestricted free agents, free to sign with anyone, are Verba,
FS Darren Sharper, K Ryan Longwell, TE Tyrone Davis, long snapper Rob Davis,
QB Danny Wuerffel, LB Mike Morton and TE Ryan Wetnight. The Packers want to
keep Sharper and Longwell, and they will cost the most. The Davises also
likely will be back, but Verba is almost certainly gone. Wuerffel, Morton
and Wetnight are iffy and will return only at the Packers' price. They've
already decided not to keep DT Austin Robbins.
The restricted free agents, for whom the Packers can match other teams'
offers, are RB Ahman Green, LB Nate Wayne, WR Corey Bradford, T Mike Wahle,
KR Allen Rossum, S Scott McGarrahan and T Barry Stokes. Green and Wayne
likely will get 1st-round tenders of $1.2 million each; the Packers would
get a 1st-round pick if another team signs either one. The others likely
will get tenders for 10 percent raises; if they sign with another team, the
Packers would get a pick in the round in which the player was drafted.
-- Rob Davis wants to return, and the Packers want him back. He's fine with
getting the veterans' minimum salary, but wants some kind of decent signing
bonus or a multiyear contract.
-- The Packers have signed 6 players since the end of the season, and 4 of
them are familiar names. TE Adam Newman, WR Kenny Coutain, S Werner Herndon
and G Ed Kehl, all of whom spent time on the practice squad last season,
have been re-signed. The 2 new faces are LB London Dunlap and TE Jason
Freeman. Dunlap is 6-3, 235, and was in the 49ers' training camp last year
as an undrafted rookie out of Texas Christian. Freeman is 6-3, 245, out of
Oklahoma. He spent a week on the Bucs' practice squad in 1999 and was in
camp with them last year. He also played for Berlin in NFL Europe last
spring.
-- Surgery has begun for several players. Bradford had scar tissue removed
from his left leg. He's expected back for the 1st minicamp in mid-March. ...
DE John Thierry had surgery last month on his left shoulder, will have it
this month on his right shoulder and will have a knee operation next month.
... TE Tyrone Davis had surgery to repair the torn rotator cuff in his right
shoulder. He's expected to be able to do limited work at the 1st minicamp.
... CB Tod McBride ended the season with a hairline fracture below his right
knee, but rest will take care of it, and he'll be ready for the 1st
minicamp.
-- QB Brett Favre says he'll make some minor changes in his offseason
workouts. He plans to start throwing lightly about a week before training
camp to avoid getting a blister on his throwing hand, which last year led to
tendinitis in his elbow. He otherwise doesn't throw during the offseason. A
quote from Favre: "I'm talking 20 throws a day just to get the skin used to
it. It's kind of like going out and shoveling the driveway for the 1st time
and getting blisters."
-- P Josh Bidwell, who had a disappointing season, will get plenty of
attention from special teams coach Frank Novak during the offseason. Bidwell
needs work on consistency, and Novak says most of his problems are
mechanical and can be corrected.
-- Coach Mike Sherman says the Packers need help at 4 positions. They are
seeking a play-making WR, a dominant pass rusher and depth on defense,
particularly in the middle of the defensive line and at LB and CB. There
isn't much room under the cap to pursue veteran free agents, so look for the
Packers to try to address it in the draft. Barring a trade, the Packers will
pick 17th in the 1st round. They drafted 14th last year.
-- The Packers need help at WR because of Antonio Freeman's decline. He's
clearly lost speed and the ability to get open. Freeman's rocky season ended
with him being left inactive for the Bucs game for missing 2 meetings on the
day before the game. Sherman was livid, but he met with Freeman on the
Tuesday after the season ended and put a positive, yet lukewarm spin on
their chat. A quote from Sherman: "It's too early to say anything's
corrected. He was very contrite, very accountable on what happened, blamed
himself for the problems that existed and looks forward to the future. He
would like to put things behind him and go forward, and I hope that's going
to be the case." Sherman tried to keep Freeman's deactivation quiet by
making it a game-day move, but someone leaked it to Bob McGinn of the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sherman was irritated by the detail in McGinn's
story, which said Sherman and Freeman argued on the practice field. Sherman
said no argument took place. You be the judge. In any case, the Packers are
stuck with Freeman because they can't afford to cut him and take a $7.1
million hit on the salary cap, and he has no one is interested in trading
for him.
-- Sherman said his only regret of the season is the onside kick late in the
Bears game at Lambeau Field, which left the Packers with bad field position
when they needed to make a drive to win the game.
-- The Packers' opponents for next year are set. Home games: Bears, Vikings,
Buccaneers, Lions, Ravens, Browns, Redskins and Falcons. Away games: Bears,
Vikings, Buccaneers, Lions, Titans, Jaguars, Panthers and Giants. The
schedule likely will be out in late March.
-- Thus far, RB coach Kippy Brown is the only assistant to leave the
Packers. He's coaching the Memphis Maniax of the XFL. ... DB coach Bob
Slowik interviewed for the Broncos' defensive coordinator's job. ... WR
coach Ray Sherman interviewed for the Georgia coaching job, but didn't get
it. ... LB coach Bo Pelini, an Ohio native and a former Ohio State player,
would love to be considered for the Ohio State coaching job, but he's
doesn't seem to be in the picture. ... The Packers' staff leaves Saturday to
coach the South team at next week's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
-- With the lease and construction agreement completed, they've started
digging up the pavement around Lambeau Field as work begins on the
renovation project. They're moving utilities. The steel framework for the
new atrium and offices will start to go up in early summer. An official
groundbreaking likely will be in late spring.
-- The Packers are allowed to move 2 preseason games from Lambeau Field in
2001 or 2002 to allow for construction, but must make them up from 2004 to
2009. The Packers must pay $250,000 if they are forced to move a preseason
game because of construction; a regular-season game would cost them
$500,000. Any moves must be made before schedules are released to the
public.
-- Season-ticket holders aren't happy with the Packers, who want all of the
personal seat license fees paid this year. The bills -- $1,600 per seat for
Green Bay holders, $400 per seat for Milwaukee holders -- come out at the
end of this month. The Packers had vaguely promised to spread out the cost
over a couple of years -- which some folks took to mean no interest charged
-- then came up with a 5-year, 10.9 percent loan offer from Associated Bank.
-- Some offseason dates to remember, with many specific dates to be
announced:
-- Feb. 15: The deadline for designating franchise and transition
players.
-- Feb. 16: Free agency begins.
-- Feb. 22-26: The NFL combine in Indianapolis, to scope out draft
prospects.
-- March 2: The deadline to be at or under this year's salary cap of $68.7
million.
-- Early March: Packers' preseason schedule is firmed up.
-- Mid-March: Packers' 1st offseason minicamp. No public access. It's inside
the Don Hutson Center.
-- Late March: NFL schedule comes out.
-- April 21-22: The NFL draft.
-- Late April: Packers' 2nd offseason minicamp. Probably will run April
26ish-30ish. Again, probably no public access.
-- Early June: Packers' final offseason minicamp. Some practices may be
outside, and open to the public, if the weather cooperates.
-- Mid-June: Packer Pro Shop's annual tent sale, usually on a Friday and
Saturday.
-- Mid-July: Training camp opens.
That's it. As always, your questions and comments are welcome at the new
address: jeffash@n...
Adventures with Evan: Janet baked cookies on Thursday, so we took some to
school today as a snack after the kindergartners' sledding outing with their
4th-grade buddies. Evan's school pairs the younger kids with the older kids
for reading, other activities and generally just getting acclimated to
school. Evan's buddy is Jordan, a nice kid. They're going sledding on the
hill just behind school. Evan loves doing that, especially now that he has a
new saucer that goes fast and far. It's great fun going over the bumps. That
is, it was, during Christmas vacation, until he landed hard on his butt.
That was the end of sledding for that day. ... The school store is open on
Thursday, and Evan usually earns a couple of quarters at home to spend
there. I spend some time in his classroom on Thursdays, and this week found
that Evan had lost one of his quarters and given the other one away. So I
put another quarter in his backpack. Turns out he got a 50-cent birthday
gift from the store -- he turns 6 at the end of the month -- and gave the
quarter to another kid. We need to have a little chat about that.
This week's sources: Green Bay Press-Gazette (http://www.packersnews.com),
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (http://www.jsonline.com/packer/news/) and
Packers (http://www.packers.com) web pages. Check the Packers' current
roster at packers.com
-- If you wish to show your appreciation for these Packers updates,
volunteer or make a donation to the charity of your choice. 'Tis the season
for that, you know.
Thanks as always to Janet for saving the papers and to Scott for providing
the mail service and the web space on South End Zone.
Thanks, Jeff
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