Bretsky
02-09-2011, 08:19 PM
I'm all for it
There absolutely WILL be a NFL Season next year; you can take that to the bank.
The owners have too much to lose and the players do as well. This will get done
So now I'm going into selfish mode.
It's hard for me to believe there is a team that would benefit from a lockout more than the Green Bay Packers.
This team is built through the draft; we're not looking at any expensive free agents. We're absolutely worried about losing several valuable players for the Super Bowl Run to free agency.
Jenkins is going to get money
Colledge seems like the guy who is going to look for the best money out there....aka....Mike Wahle
And the line is long
An extended lockout is going to hurt teams the teams the most who are looking to make a splash in free agency. And it's going to hurt the free agents looking to strike it rich.
Who would be hurt the least.........teams like Green Bay and Pittsburgh....who build through the draft and hope they don't lose too much this offseason.
I say..........LOCK EM OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Interesting article today in JS that relates to the above. Here it is
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/115676514.html
Green Bay - I wrote about the Packers' prospective free agents in the paper today, but some of it didn't make it there or online, so I wanted to provide a little more insight into how those players view things.
Most of them are confident in their ability to earn big contracts somewhere and are looking to be included among the group of players who have had their contracts extended during the season. Some of them will be rewarded and some will be disappointed.
Here's the full list of free agents under the normal rules of free agency:
Unrestricted: K Mason Crosby, S Atari Bigby, S Charlie Peprah, RB John Kuhn, RB Brandon Jackson, FB Korey Hall, LB Matt Wilhelm, OL Jason Spitz, OG Daryn Colledge, DE Cullen Jenkins, WR James Jones, S Anthony Smith.
Exclusive rights: WR Brett Swain, TE Spencer Havner.
“I understand it’s a business,” said Jenkins, whose agents had some talks with the Packers during the season but never got close to a deal. “Hopefully, there’s not a lockout and even if there is not, we can get something done. Hopefully, we can get it ironed out quickly.”
But Jenkins also touched on the reality that if nothing has been done by now, there's a good chance it won't be done at all and he'll be on the free agent market. Jenkins said he's prepared to have to hit the market and see what's out there.
The Packers will have until midnight March 3 to have exclusive negotiating rights with their unrestricted players. After that, the free agents will have an opportunity to shop themselves around to the rest of the 31 teams.
The only qualification is that there must be a new collective bargaining agreement in place for free agency to occur. If it expires on March 3, there will be a “lockout”, which essentially puts a halt to all NFL activity except the 2011 draft.
Most players will know what team they’ll be with when the lockout ends, but free agents will spend the entire time unsure where they’re going to wind up.
“You just have to see where the process takes you,” Crosby said. “I think I’ve been building up to this through a process and each step like this is part of it.
“I want to be a Packer. We’ll see how everything works out. It’s going to be interesting.”
Colledge, Jackson, Crosby and Jenkins all feel they have proved themselves worthy of substantial contracts and are hoping the Packers see things the same way.
“I felt like I had a great year,” Colledge said. “I was excited that I was healthy enough to play all 16 games and then four more. I feel like I played my best football.”
Said Jackson: “All year long I felt that I was good enough to be the starter. I had the potential to be the starting running back. It just didn’t turn out that way.”
Added Crosby: “I think we have a very stable operation and I was feeling very comfortable. The second half everything was automatic with the exception of one hiccup on a short one. Everything else was great. I was 90% the second half. I felt great with how I was kicking.”
In addition to the free agents, the Packers will also have to deal linebacker A.J. Hawk, who has a $10 million base salary next year, which the Packers will either renegotiate into a long-term deal or take off the books by releasing him.
There’s also the issue of whether to keep both him and Barnett, which would create a logjam at inside linebacker with Desmond Bishop and Brandon Chillar under contract. Barnett has two years left and is due $6 million next season.
“I think it will be hard to deny my hunger going into training camp,” said Barnett, who is close to having pins removed from his injured wrist after spending most of the season on injured reserve. “I’ve got to play in a Super Bowl. The linebacker situation will be handled.”
As for players like Peprah, Jones, Bigby, Kuhn and Spitz, the market bears many uncertainties. Who will get an offer he didn’t expect? Who won’t get any offers? Who will come back for a shot at being a repeat champion?
Those are questions that will be answered when the Super Bowl dust settles.
There absolutely WILL be a NFL Season next year; you can take that to the bank.
The owners have too much to lose and the players do as well. This will get done
So now I'm going into selfish mode.
It's hard for me to believe there is a team that would benefit from a lockout more than the Green Bay Packers.
This team is built through the draft; we're not looking at any expensive free agents. We're absolutely worried about losing several valuable players for the Super Bowl Run to free agency.
Jenkins is going to get money
Colledge seems like the guy who is going to look for the best money out there....aka....Mike Wahle
And the line is long
An extended lockout is going to hurt teams the teams the most who are looking to make a splash in free agency. And it's going to hurt the free agents looking to strike it rich.
Who would be hurt the least.........teams like Green Bay and Pittsburgh....who build through the draft and hope they don't lose too much this offseason.
I say..........LOCK EM OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Interesting article today in JS that relates to the above. Here it is
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/115676514.html
Green Bay - I wrote about the Packers' prospective free agents in the paper today, but some of it didn't make it there or online, so I wanted to provide a little more insight into how those players view things.
Most of them are confident in their ability to earn big contracts somewhere and are looking to be included among the group of players who have had their contracts extended during the season. Some of them will be rewarded and some will be disappointed.
Here's the full list of free agents under the normal rules of free agency:
Unrestricted: K Mason Crosby, S Atari Bigby, S Charlie Peprah, RB John Kuhn, RB Brandon Jackson, FB Korey Hall, LB Matt Wilhelm, OL Jason Spitz, OG Daryn Colledge, DE Cullen Jenkins, WR James Jones, S Anthony Smith.
Exclusive rights: WR Brett Swain, TE Spencer Havner.
“I understand it’s a business,” said Jenkins, whose agents had some talks with the Packers during the season but never got close to a deal. “Hopefully, there’s not a lockout and even if there is not, we can get something done. Hopefully, we can get it ironed out quickly.”
But Jenkins also touched on the reality that if nothing has been done by now, there's a good chance it won't be done at all and he'll be on the free agent market. Jenkins said he's prepared to have to hit the market and see what's out there.
The Packers will have until midnight March 3 to have exclusive negotiating rights with their unrestricted players. After that, the free agents will have an opportunity to shop themselves around to the rest of the 31 teams.
The only qualification is that there must be a new collective bargaining agreement in place for free agency to occur. If it expires on March 3, there will be a “lockout”, which essentially puts a halt to all NFL activity except the 2011 draft.
Most players will know what team they’ll be with when the lockout ends, but free agents will spend the entire time unsure where they’re going to wind up.
“You just have to see where the process takes you,” Crosby said. “I think I’ve been building up to this through a process and each step like this is part of it.
“I want to be a Packer. We’ll see how everything works out. It’s going to be interesting.”
Colledge, Jackson, Crosby and Jenkins all feel they have proved themselves worthy of substantial contracts and are hoping the Packers see things the same way.
“I felt like I had a great year,” Colledge said. “I was excited that I was healthy enough to play all 16 games and then four more. I feel like I played my best football.”
Said Jackson: “All year long I felt that I was good enough to be the starter. I had the potential to be the starting running back. It just didn’t turn out that way.”
Added Crosby: “I think we have a very stable operation and I was feeling very comfortable. The second half everything was automatic with the exception of one hiccup on a short one. Everything else was great. I was 90% the second half. I felt great with how I was kicking.”
In addition to the free agents, the Packers will also have to deal linebacker A.J. Hawk, who has a $10 million base salary next year, which the Packers will either renegotiate into a long-term deal or take off the books by releasing him.
There’s also the issue of whether to keep both him and Barnett, which would create a logjam at inside linebacker with Desmond Bishop and Brandon Chillar under contract. Barnett has two years left and is due $6 million next season.
“I think it will be hard to deny my hunger going into training camp,” said Barnett, who is close to having pins removed from his injured wrist after spending most of the season on injured reserve. “I’ve got to play in a Super Bowl. The linebacker situation will be handled.”
As for players like Peprah, Jones, Bigby, Kuhn and Spitz, the market bears many uncertainties. Who will get an offer he didn’t expect? Who won’t get any offers? Who will come back for a shot at being a repeat champion?
Those are questions that will be answered when the Super Bowl dust settles.