The idea does have merit....
5 posters
Page 1 of 1
The idea does have merit....
by KBen Thu Sep 13, 2012 8:55 am
Packers would be wise to deal Jennings
Green Bay - If the Packers are as convinced as I am that this
is Greg Jennings' final season in Green Bay, Ted Thompson should do
all he can to attract fair market value and move him before the Oct. 30
trading deadline.
A confluence of factors almost all suggest that the Packers, as
painful as such a decision would be, would be wise to deal one of their
elite players.
One would think that as a championship-caliber team, the Packers
should be doing all they can to win another Super Bowl this season.
In reality, keeping Jennings would just be a quick fix. And,
assuming Jennings shrugs off his alarming rash of injuries and plays
back to his Pro Bowl level, the Packers would benefit immensely from
his presence this season.
But general managers, unlike coaches, are paid to think long term.
Trading Jennings would be the kind of bold stroke that Thompson
generally has been averse to making, but if handled properly could keep
Green Bay in the Super Bowl hunt for years.
Talks with Eugene Parker, the agent for Jennings, have gone nowhere
and, in all likelihood, aren't going to go anywhere. For a variety of
reasons, the Packers can't pay Jennings what he wants and probably
deserves, and no one should expect him to settle for less.
Like decision-makers across the league, Thompson, negotiator Russ
Ball and key members of the personnel department discuss these kinds of
scenarios many times over before decisions are made.
They have to know that bringing Jennings back just isn't in the cards.
Jennings, whose expiring contract averages $9.2 million and ranks
ninth among wide receivers, should want considerably more than the
free-agent deal Vincent Jackson signed in March with Tampa Bay that
averaged $11.1 million. He's better than Jackson.
He might be eyeing more closely the $16.1 million that Larry
Fitzgerald averages to rank a close second at the position to Detroit's
Calvin Johnson. Parker negotiated Fitzgerald's extension with Arizona a
year ago.
The Packers simply can't do that.
If Jennings is 1-a on their depth chart, then Jordy Nelson is 1-b.
Twelve months ago, Ball got Nelson signed to a three-year extension
averaging $4.2 million. As unassuming as Nelson might be, no team can
have one veteran of comparable value making three times another veteran
at the same position.
If the Packers did re-sign Jennings for, say, $13 million per year,
the end result probably would be the sacrificing of a good younger
player in free agency.
Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji, both 26, will be up after the 2014
season. The Packers would like to extend them during the next
off-season as well as Aaron Rodgers, whose deal expires in March 2015.
It's hard to project how these players will have performed by
season's end, but Marshall Newhouse, Morgan Burnett and Jermichael
Finley all would become unrestricted in March 2014 as well.
Presently, the Packers rank 16th in salary-cap room at $6.7 million.
It's the tightest they've been in years, and with the cap not expected
to increase much, they figure to be even tighter a year from now.
Another reason the Packers can't go all in on Jennings is their abundance at wide receiver.
Sure, they could place the franchise-player tag on Jennings in
March, but the cap charge for that would be about $10 million and would
do nothing to ease the logjam at the position and at the negotiating
table.
Thursday night at Lambeau Field, the Chicago Bears are in town for a
rivalry game against a fellow NFC North contender and Jennings isn't
expected to play.
Late in the fourth quarter against San Francisco, he was running a vertical route and suffered a groin injury.
Injuries have never been part of the equation with Jennings. He's
proved time after time that he can take a hit, avoid kill shots and
play hurt.
But now, with his 29th birthday approaching next week, Jennings
can't stay on the field. Of the last three games that he's played, he
hasn't been able to finish even one.
Jennings suffered a sprained medial collateral knee ligament in
mid-December against Oakland and sat out three games. He returned for
the playoff game against the Giants but then was able to play just two
of the final 23 snaps because of a rib injury.
Less than a week into training camp, Jennings experienced headaches
after taking a hit in practice, had to leave the intrasquad scrimmage
two days later after absorbing another blow and sat out the next 2½
weeks with a concussion. It was the second concussion of his career;
the first came against Arizona in August 2009.
At 5 feet 11 inches and 198 pounds, Jennings was the second-smallest
wide receiver on the training-camp roster. As resilient as Jennings
has been, the Packers and most other teams prefer more size at the
position.
It truly is a big man's game. What's happening to Jennings makes the
durability of Donald Driver, who is about the same size as Jennings
but eight years older, all the more remarkable.
In the opener, Mike McCarthy basically used Jennings in the slot as
his new Driver. Out of 63 snaps, Jennings lined up alone to a side only
eight times.
No one can run a more crisp 15-yard comeback pattern than Jennings.
His ability to get on top of cornerbacks and make stunning adjustments
on take-off routes is reflected in his 30 receptions for 40 or more
yards since 2007, an NFL best.
But against San Francisco, almost all those opportunities went to Nelson and James Jones.
From the slot on Sunday, Jennings made four of his five receptions
that totaled 34 yards. The only ball he caught outside was a quick
glance that Rodgers converted from a called run.
For whatever the reason, Jennings didn't seem comfortable in close
quarters ducking the 49ers' headhunting collection of inside
linebackers and safeties. It's not easy work, as Driver can attest.
Jennings carried the offense in 2010 after Finley blew out his knee
in Game 5 and before Nelson caught fire in late December and the
playoffs. He was equally special last year until the knee injury.
Besides injury, the only other red flag in 2011 was his career-low
average of 4.04 yards after the catch. His average was 6.53 as recently
as 2009 and then 4.91 in '10.
If Jennings were to walk in free agency, the Packers could bank on
receiving a compensatory selection in the 2014 draft. The highest
compensatory pick awarded since 1996 has been the 91st pick at the end
of the third round.
Not only should the Packers be able to attract more handsome
compensation in a trade, it would be their prerogative to have the pick
or picks come to them in 2013 instead of waiting a year.
In recent years, the Packers settled for compensatory picks for the
likes of Aaron Kampman, Cullen Jenkins, Scott Wells and Matt Flynn.
Jennings is a better player than any of them.
Could the Packers obtain a first-round draft choice for Jennings at some point in the next seven weeks?
"Everybody will posture as high as they can get," an executive in
personnel said. "But I would think Green Bay would be comfortable
taking a second-round pick. It's much better to get something for him
than just let him go in free agency.
"I certainly would be comfortable with a two. Pushing 30. Injury
stuff. Has had a little bit of a slow start. He's looking for a lot of
money so people will say, 'I have to pay this amount of money; I don't
know if I want to give up the one and the money.'"
Before a deal can be completed, the Packers would have to give
Parker permission to negotiate a new contract with the other team.
The last wide receiver to fetch a first-round draft choice was Roy
Williams at the trading deadline in 2008. When Detroit GM Martin Mayhew
extracted first-, third- and sixth-round picks from Jerry Jones of
Dallas and later used the top pick to draft tight end Brandon Pettigrew,
it was the start of the Lions' rebirth.
At the time, Williams was 26. Deion Branch was 27 in September 2006
when Bill Belichick stole a first-round pick from Seattle's Mike
Holmgren.
In 2005, the Vikings gained a first from Oakland for Randy Moss, 27.
In 2003, the Bills peddled Peerless Price, 26, to Atlanta for a first.
Joey Galloway, 28, moved from Seattle to Dallas in 2000 for two
firsts. Two months later, 27-year-old Keyshawn Johnson went from the
Jets to the Buccaneers for two firsts as well.
Among the wide-receiver trades involving less than first-round
compensation were Brandon Marshall (two thirds) in 2012, Anquan Boldin
(third and fourth) and Marshall (two seconds) in '10, Chris Chambers
(second) in '07, Javon Walker (second) in '06, and Justin McCareins
(second), Terrell Owens (second) and Keenan McCardell (third, sixth) in
'04.
Almost every team in the league would like to have a thoroughbred
such as Jennings, whose value is only enhanced by his unselfishness and
high character.
The most logical landing spots would be Miami, Buffalo, Cleveland,
Indianapolis and Oakland in the AFC and Carolina, Seattle and St. Louis
in the NFC.
Bereft of talent at the position, Dolphins coach Joe Philbin always
has spoken of Jennings in glowing terms and has extra picks in the
second, third, sixth and seventh rounds for 2013.
The Rams have an additional first-round selection.
It isn't Thompson's nature to act prematurely. He will utilize
Jennings, assuming the groin injury isn't problematic, and evaluate
what life on offense would be without him.
A depth chart of Nelson, Jones, Randall Cobb, Driver and Jarrett
Boykin still would be the envy of some teams. Diondre Borel is back on
the practice squad, and as well as the Packers have drafted at wide
receiver, a contributing player could be found in the fourth or fifth
rounds come April.
Using compensation for Jennings, compensatory choices for Wells and
Flynn and picks from their full draft list, the Packers can go about
replacing aging Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett on defense and adding
some more physical players.
Meanwhile, Jennings can continue to build on a career elsewhere that, barring injury, really should have no limitations.
Perhaps Thompson will refuse to disrupt the offense and, with it,
Rodgers' close relationship with Jennings. Maybe he just can't part
with Jennings, the jewel of his second draft class.
If so, the Packers' future just won't be as bright.
Green Bay - If the Packers are as convinced as I am that this
is Greg Jennings' final season in Green Bay, Ted Thompson should do
all he can to attract fair market value and move him before the Oct. 30
trading deadline.
A confluence of factors almost all suggest that the Packers, as
painful as such a decision would be, would be wise to deal one of their
elite players.
One would think that as a championship-caliber team, the Packers
should be doing all they can to win another Super Bowl this season.
In reality, keeping Jennings would just be a quick fix. And,
assuming Jennings shrugs off his alarming rash of injuries and plays
back to his Pro Bowl level, the Packers would benefit immensely from
his presence this season.
But general managers, unlike coaches, are paid to think long term.
Trading Jennings would be the kind of bold stroke that Thompson
generally has been averse to making, but if handled properly could keep
Green Bay in the Super Bowl hunt for years.
Talks with Eugene Parker, the agent for Jennings, have gone nowhere
and, in all likelihood, aren't going to go anywhere. For a variety of
reasons, the Packers can't pay Jennings what he wants and probably
deserves, and no one should expect him to settle for less.
Like decision-makers across the league, Thompson, negotiator Russ
Ball and key members of the personnel department discuss these kinds of
scenarios many times over before decisions are made.
They have to know that bringing Jennings back just isn't in the cards.
Jennings, whose expiring contract averages $9.2 million and ranks
ninth among wide receivers, should want considerably more than the
free-agent deal Vincent Jackson signed in March with Tampa Bay that
averaged $11.1 million. He's better than Jackson.
He might be eyeing more closely the $16.1 million that Larry
Fitzgerald averages to rank a close second at the position to Detroit's
Calvin Johnson. Parker negotiated Fitzgerald's extension with Arizona a
year ago.
The Packers simply can't do that.
If Jennings is 1-a on their depth chart, then Jordy Nelson is 1-b.
Twelve months ago, Ball got Nelson signed to a three-year extension
averaging $4.2 million. As unassuming as Nelson might be, no team can
have one veteran of comparable value making three times another veteran
at the same position.
If the Packers did re-sign Jennings for, say, $13 million per year,
the end result probably would be the sacrificing of a good younger
player in free agency.
Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji, both 26, will be up after the 2014
season. The Packers would like to extend them during the next
off-season as well as Aaron Rodgers, whose deal expires in March 2015.
It's hard to project how these players will have performed by
season's end, but Marshall Newhouse, Morgan Burnett and Jermichael
Finley all would become unrestricted in March 2014 as well.
Presently, the Packers rank 16th in salary-cap room at $6.7 million.
It's the tightest they've been in years, and with the cap not expected
to increase much, they figure to be even tighter a year from now.
Another reason the Packers can't go all in on Jennings is their abundance at wide receiver.
Sure, they could place the franchise-player tag on Jennings in
March, but the cap charge for that would be about $10 million and would
do nothing to ease the logjam at the position and at the negotiating
table.
Thursday night at Lambeau Field, the Chicago Bears are in town for a
rivalry game against a fellow NFC North contender and Jennings isn't
expected to play.
Late in the fourth quarter against San Francisco, he was running a vertical route and suffered a groin injury.
Injuries have never been part of the equation with Jennings. He's
proved time after time that he can take a hit, avoid kill shots and
play hurt.
But now, with his 29th birthday approaching next week, Jennings
can't stay on the field. Of the last three games that he's played, he
hasn't been able to finish even one.
Jennings suffered a sprained medial collateral knee ligament in
mid-December against Oakland and sat out three games. He returned for
the playoff game against the Giants but then was able to play just two
of the final 23 snaps because of a rib injury.
Less than a week into training camp, Jennings experienced headaches
after taking a hit in practice, had to leave the intrasquad scrimmage
two days later after absorbing another blow and sat out the next 2½
weeks with a concussion. It was the second concussion of his career;
the first came against Arizona in August 2009.
At 5 feet 11 inches and 198 pounds, Jennings was the second-smallest
wide receiver on the training-camp roster. As resilient as Jennings
has been, the Packers and most other teams prefer more size at the
position.
It truly is a big man's game. What's happening to Jennings makes the
durability of Donald Driver, who is about the same size as Jennings
but eight years older, all the more remarkable.
In the opener, Mike McCarthy basically used Jennings in the slot as
his new Driver. Out of 63 snaps, Jennings lined up alone to a side only
eight times.
No one can run a more crisp 15-yard comeback pattern than Jennings.
His ability to get on top of cornerbacks and make stunning adjustments
on take-off routes is reflected in his 30 receptions for 40 or more
yards since 2007, an NFL best.
But against San Francisco, almost all those opportunities went to Nelson and James Jones.
From the slot on Sunday, Jennings made four of his five receptions
that totaled 34 yards. The only ball he caught outside was a quick
glance that Rodgers converted from a called run.
For whatever the reason, Jennings didn't seem comfortable in close
quarters ducking the 49ers' headhunting collection of inside
linebackers and safeties. It's not easy work, as Driver can attest.
Jennings carried the offense in 2010 after Finley blew out his knee
in Game 5 and before Nelson caught fire in late December and the
playoffs. He was equally special last year until the knee injury.
Besides injury, the only other red flag in 2011 was his career-low
average of 4.04 yards after the catch. His average was 6.53 as recently
as 2009 and then 4.91 in '10.
If Jennings were to walk in free agency, the Packers could bank on
receiving a compensatory selection in the 2014 draft. The highest
compensatory pick awarded since 1996 has been the 91st pick at the end
of the third round.
Not only should the Packers be able to attract more handsome
compensation in a trade, it would be their prerogative to have the pick
or picks come to them in 2013 instead of waiting a year.
In recent years, the Packers settled for compensatory picks for the
likes of Aaron Kampman, Cullen Jenkins, Scott Wells and Matt Flynn.
Jennings is a better player than any of them.
Could the Packers obtain a first-round draft choice for Jennings at some point in the next seven weeks?
"Everybody will posture as high as they can get," an executive in
personnel said. "But I would think Green Bay would be comfortable
taking a second-round pick. It's much better to get something for him
than just let him go in free agency.
"I certainly would be comfortable with a two. Pushing 30. Injury
stuff. Has had a little bit of a slow start. He's looking for a lot of
money so people will say, 'I have to pay this amount of money; I don't
know if I want to give up the one and the money.'"
Before a deal can be completed, the Packers would have to give
Parker permission to negotiate a new contract with the other team.
The last wide receiver to fetch a first-round draft choice was Roy
Williams at the trading deadline in 2008. When Detroit GM Martin Mayhew
extracted first-, third- and sixth-round picks from Jerry Jones of
Dallas and later used the top pick to draft tight end Brandon Pettigrew,
it was the start of the Lions' rebirth.
At the time, Williams was 26. Deion Branch was 27 in September 2006
when Bill Belichick stole a first-round pick from Seattle's Mike
Holmgren.
In 2005, the Vikings gained a first from Oakland for Randy Moss, 27.
In 2003, the Bills peddled Peerless Price, 26, to Atlanta for a first.
Joey Galloway, 28, moved from Seattle to Dallas in 2000 for two
firsts. Two months later, 27-year-old Keyshawn Johnson went from the
Jets to the Buccaneers for two firsts as well.
Among the wide-receiver trades involving less than first-round
compensation were Brandon Marshall (two thirds) in 2012, Anquan Boldin
(third and fourth) and Marshall (two seconds) in '10, Chris Chambers
(second) in '07, Javon Walker (second) in '06, and Justin McCareins
(second), Terrell Owens (second) and Keenan McCardell (third, sixth) in
'04.
Almost every team in the league would like to have a thoroughbred
such as Jennings, whose value is only enhanced by his unselfishness and
high character.
The most logical landing spots would be Miami, Buffalo, Cleveland,
Indianapolis and Oakland in the AFC and Carolina, Seattle and St. Louis
in the NFC.
Bereft of talent at the position, Dolphins coach Joe Philbin always
has spoken of Jennings in glowing terms and has extra picks in the
second, third, sixth and seventh rounds for 2013.
The Rams have an additional first-round selection.
It isn't Thompson's nature to act prematurely. He will utilize
Jennings, assuming the groin injury isn't problematic, and evaluate
what life on offense would be without him.
A depth chart of Nelson, Jones, Randall Cobb, Driver and Jarrett
Boykin still would be the envy of some teams. Diondre Borel is back on
the practice squad, and as well as the Packers have drafted at wide
receiver, a contributing player could be found in the fourth or fifth
rounds come April.
Using compensation for Jennings, compensatory choices for Wells and
Flynn and picks from their full draft list, the Packers can go about
replacing aging Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett on defense and adding
some more physical players.
Meanwhile, Jennings can continue to build on a career elsewhere that, barring injury, really should have no limitations.
Perhaps Thompson will refuse to disrupt the offense and, with it,
Rodgers' close relationship with Jennings. Maybe he just can't part
with Jennings, the jewel of his second draft class.
If so, the Packers' future just won't be as bright.
KBen- Posts : 173
Join date : 2012-01-24
Re: The idea does have merit....
by duck Thu Sep 13, 2012 10:00 am
As I suggested a while back, Jennings is as good as gone... or should be. As this article points out, signing Jennings for approximately three times what Nelson makes just isn't going to sit well with most players.
The interesting thing is that there might be a bit of time urgency regarding Jennings. He certainly seems to be dropping in production and becoming injury prone lately. Hopefully the Packers can unload him before his value plummets dramatically.
What's happening now it is that the Packers are paying a price for their success in Thompson's early drafts. Many of TT's early scores such as Jennings, Matthews, Raji and of course Rodgers are soon due for new contracts -- and they are going to be whoppers. TT has to decide if he can really afford to keep each one of these guys because keeping each one means that there will be less money in the coffers for the rest of the team. For a GM committed to a draft-and-develop philosophy, he may find it sensible to let some of them go.
He undoubtedly has a plan and a timetable for all this and it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
The interesting thing is that there might be a bit of time urgency regarding Jennings. He certainly seems to be dropping in production and becoming injury prone lately. Hopefully the Packers can unload him before his value plummets dramatically.
What's happening now it is that the Packers are paying a price for their success in Thompson's early drafts. Many of TT's early scores such as Jennings, Matthews, Raji and of course Rodgers are soon due for new contracts -- and they are going to be whoppers. TT has to decide if he can really afford to keep each one of these guys because keeping each one means that there will be less money in the coffers for the rest of the team. For a GM committed to a draft-and-develop philosophy, he may find it sensible to let some of them go.
He undoubtedly has a plan and a timetable for all this and it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
duck- 1st Round Pick
- Posts : 2790
Join date : 2012-01-23
Location : The bar at Cheers
Re: The idea does have merit....
by JnC4GB Thu Sep 13, 2012 11:46 am
Even if it's the right call, I'd be surprised to see Thompson pull the trigger on trading Jennings away. Throw in the fact that there's likely no team willing to 1. Put a deal in place signing him for the long-term for the price he and his agent are eyeballing in the free agent market this offseason and 2. Give Thompson the value he desires to offset the risk of making this trade.
I'd be surprised to see it happen.
I'd be surprised to see it happen.
JnC4GB- 3rd Round Pick
- Posts : 1394
Join date : 2012-01-23
Re: The idea does have merit....
by Guest Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:02 pm
KBen wrote:Packers would be wise to deal Jennings
Green Bay - If the Packers are as convinced as I am that this
is Greg Jennings' final season in Green Bay, Ted Thompson should do
all he can to attract fair market value and move him before the Oct. 30
trading deadline.
A confluence of factors almost all suggest that the Packers, as
painful as such a decision would be, would be wise to deal one of their
elite players.
One would think that as a championship-caliber team, the Packers
should be doing all they can to win another Super Bowl this season.
In reality, keeping Jennings would just be a quick fix. And,
assuming Jennings shrugs off his alarming rash of injuries and plays
back to his Pro Bowl level, the Packers would benefit immensely from
his presence this season.
But general managers, unlike coaches, are paid to think long term.
Trading Jennings would be the kind of bold stroke that Thompson
generally has been averse to making, but if handled properly could keep
Green Bay in the Super Bowl hunt for years.
Talks with Eugene Parker, the agent for Jennings, have gone nowhere
and, in all likelihood, aren't going to go anywhere. For a variety of
reasons, the Packers can't pay Jennings what he wants and probably
deserves, and no one should expect him to settle for less.
Like decision-makers across the league, Thompson, negotiator Russ
Ball and key members of the personnel department discuss these kinds of
scenarios many times over before decisions are made.
They have to know that bringing Jennings back just isn't in the cards.
Jennings, whose expiring contract averages $9.2 million and ranks
ninth among wide receivers, should want considerably more than the
free-agent deal Vincent Jackson signed in March with Tampa Bay that
averaged $11.1 million. He's better than Jackson.
He might be eyeing more closely the $16.1 million that Larry
Fitzgerald averages to rank a close second at the position to Detroit's
Calvin Johnson. Parker negotiated Fitzgerald's extension with Arizona a
year ago.
The Packers simply can't do that.
If Jennings is 1-a on their depth chart, then Jordy Nelson is 1-b.
Twelve months ago, Ball got Nelson signed to a three-year extension
averaging $4.2 million. As unassuming as Nelson might be, no team can
have one veteran of comparable value making three times another veteran
at the same position.
If the Packers did re-sign Jennings for, say, $13 million per year,
the end result probably would be the sacrificing of a good younger
player in free agency.
Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji, both 26, will be up after the 2014
season. The Packers would like to extend them during the next
off-season as well as Aaron Rodgers, whose deal expires in March 2015.
It's hard to project how these players will have performed by
season's end, but Marshall Newhouse, Morgan Burnett and Jermichael
Finley all would become unrestricted in March 2014 as well.
Presently, the Packers rank 16th in salary-cap room at $6.7 million.
It's the tightest they've been in years, and with the cap not expected
to increase much, they figure to be even tighter a year from now.
Another reason the Packers can't go all in on Jennings is their abundance at wide receiver.
Sure, they could place the franchise-player tag on Jennings in
March, but the cap charge for that would be about $10 million and would
do nothing to ease the logjam at the position and at the negotiating
table.
Thursday night at Lambeau Field, the Chicago Bears are in town for a
rivalry game against a fellow NFC North contender and Jennings isn't
expected to play.
Late in the fourth quarter against San Francisco, he was running a vertical route and suffered a groin injury.
Injuries have never been part of the equation with Jennings. He's
proved time after time that he can take a hit, avoid kill shots and
play hurt.
But now, with his 29th birthday approaching next week, Jennings
can't stay on the field. Of the last three games that he's played, he
hasn't been able to finish even one.
Jennings suffered a sprained medial collateral knee ligament in
mid-December against Oakland and sat out three games. He returned for
the playoff game against the Giants but then was able to play just two
of the final 23 snaps because of a rib injury.
Less than a week into training camp, Jennings experienced headaches
after taking a hit in practice, had to leave the intrasquad scrimmage
two days later after absorbing another blow and sat out the next 2½
weeks with a concussion. It was the second concussion of his career;
the first came against Arizona in August 2009.
At 5 feet 11 inches and 198 pounds, Jennings was the second-smallest
wide receiver on the training-camp roster. As resilient as Jennings
has been, the Packers and most other teams prefer more size at the
position.
It truly is a big man's game. What's happening to Jennings makes the
durability of Donald Driver, who is about the same size as Jennings
but eight years older, all the more remarkable.
In the opener, Mike McCarthy basically used Jennings in the slot as
his new Driver. Out of 63 snaps, Jennings lined up alone to a side only
eight times.
No one can run a more crisp 15-yard comeback pattern than Jennings.
His ability to get on top of cornerbacks and make stunning adjustments
on take-off routes is reflected in his 30 receptions for 40 or more
yards since 2007, an NFL best.
But against San Francisco, almost all those opportunities went to Nelson and James Jones.
From the slot on Sunday, Jennings made four of his five receptions
that totaled 34 yards. The only ball he caught outside was a quick
glance that Rodgers converted from a called run.
For whatever the reason, Jennings didn't seem comfortable in close
quarters ducking the 49ers' headhunting collection of inside
linebackers and safeties. It's not easy work, as Driver can attest.
Jennings carried the offense in 2010 after Finley blew out his knee
in Game 5 and before Nelson caught fire in late December and the
playoffs. He was equally special last year until the knee injury.
Besides injury, the only other red flag in 2011 was his career-low
average of 4.04 yards after the catch. His average was 6.53 as recently
as 2009 and then 4.91 in '10.
If Jennings were to walk in free agency, the Packers could bank on
receiving a compensatory selection in the 2014 draft. The highest
compensatory pick awarded since 1996 has been the 91st pick at the end
of the third round.
Not only should the Packers be able to attract more handsome
compensation in a trade, it would be their prerogative to have the pick
or picks come to them in 2013 instead of waiting a year.
In recent years, the Packers settled for compensatory picks for the
likes of Aaron Kampman, Cullen Jenkins, Scott Wells and Matt Flynn.
Jennings is a better player than any of them.
Could the Packers obtain a first-round draft choice for Jennings at some point in the next seven weeks?
"Everybody will posture as high as they can get," an executive in
personnel said. "But I would think Green Bay would be comfortable
taking a second-round pick. It's much better to get something for him
than just let him go in free agency.
"I certainly would be comfortable with a two. Pushing 30. Injury
stuff. Has had a little bit of a slow start. He's looking for a lot of
money so people will say, 'I have to pay this amount of money; I don't
know if I want to give up the one and the money.'"
Before a deal can be completed, the Packers would have to give
Parker permission to negotiate a new contract with the other team.
The last wide receiver to fetch a first-round draft choice was Roy
Williams at the trading deadline in 2008. When Detroit GM Martin Mayhew
extracted first-, third- and sixth-round picks from Jerry Jones of
Dallas and later used the top pick to draft tight end Brandon Pettigrew,
it was the start of the Lions' rebirth.
At the time, Williams was 26. Deion Branch was 27 in September 2006
when Bill Belichick stole a first-round pick from Seattle's Mike
Holmgren.
In 2005, the Vikings gained a first from Oakland for Randy Moss, 27.
In 2003, the Bills peddled Peerless Price, 26, to Atlanta for a first.
Joey Galloway, 28, moved from Seattle to Dallas in 2000 for two
firsts. Two months later, 27-year-old Keyshawn Johnson went from the
Jets to the Buccaneers for two firsts as well.
Among the wide-receiver trades involving less than first-round
compensation were Brandon Marshall (two thirds) in 2012, Anquan Boldin
(third and fourth) and Marshall (two seconds) in '10, Chris Chambers
(second) in '07, Javon Walker (second) in '06, and Justin McCareins
(second), Terrell Owens (second) and Keenan McCardell (third, sixth) in
'04.
Almost every team in the league would like to have a thoroughbred
such as Jennings, whose value is only enhanced by his unselfishness and
high character.
The most logical landing spots would be Miami, Buffalo, Cleveland,
Indianapolis and Oakland in the AFC and Carolina, Seattle and St. Louis
in the NFC.
Bereft of talent at the position, Dolphins coach Joe Philbin always
has spoken of Jennings in glowing terms and has extra picks in the
second, third, sixth and seventh rounds for 2013.
The Rams have an additional first-round selection.
It isn't Thompson's nature to act prematurely. He will utilize
Jennings, assuming the groin injury isn't problematic, and evaluate
what life on offense would be without him.
A depth chart of Nelson, Jones, Randall Cobb, Driver and Jarrett
Boykin still would be the envy of some teams. Diondre Borel is back on
the practice squad, and as well as the Packers have drafted at wide
receiver, a contributing player could be found in the fourth or fifth
rounds come April.
Using compensation for Jennings, compensatory choices for Wells and
Flynn and picks from their full draft list, the Packers can go about
replacing aging Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett on defense and adding
some more physical players.
Meanwhile, Jennings can continue to build on a career elsewhere that, barring injury, really should have no limitations.
There is no doubt putting him on the market is the right move... The price should be set at a #1 and a #3 initially for purposes of assessing the market, level of desperation of the players in it and also to maintain control of what team he goes to. You drop back to a #1 (if necessary) for the team you'd prefer to see him go to based on competitive considerations and likely draft position...
There are LOTS of teams desperate for a true #1 WR out there... Hopefully Dez Bryant fucks up again and Jerry Jones enters the market... I still LMFAO at what the walrus did to him in that Joey Galloway trade... TWO #1's... Beautiful...
so, the Packers' future just won't be as bright.
Guest- Guest
Re: The idea does have merit....
by milani Thu Sep 13, 2012 5:57 pm
This is interesting. Rather than a #1 pick who would get too much $ and wait out til late August would we consider going after a player on the offensive line or someone on the D side of the ball who commands a lot of attention?
Rodgers would not like it. Driver would not like it. Ringo would not like it. Now Sherman would love getting him down in Miami.
Rodgers would not like it. Driver would not like it. Ringo would not like it. Now Sherman would love getting him down in Miami.
milani- 3rd Round Pick
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Re: The idea does have merit....
by MB20 Thu Sep 13, 2012 11:40 pm
That article is the canary in the coal mine. I'd be kind of surprised if Jennings is still on this team in November.
MB20- 7th Round Pick
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