woodbuck27
06-10-2007, 12:48 PM
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=617091
Racine's Barry - stung by a cut block
Team waives lineman more suited to the run
By LORI NICKEL
lnickel@journalsentinel.com
Posted: June 8, 2007
The Green Bay Packers have parted ways with offensive lineman and Racine native Kevin Barry.
Kevin Barry didn't fit into the zone-blocking scheme of head coach Mike McCarthy.
Barry, a five-year veteran, made the team in 2002 as an undrafted free agent out of Arizona and played 59 games, with a handful as a starting tackle.
But Barry was never a good fit for the Packers' zone-blocking scheme when the team changed over a year and a half ago, and he also spent last season out of football after rupturing his left thigh tendon in the May 2006 minicamp.
Barry was released at 4 p.m. Friday and his agent, Russell Wittman, said he immediately began fielding calls from other teams.
"As everybody knows, Kevin Barry is a run blocker, not a zone blocker," Wittman said.
"It kind of worked out because Kevin will get a shot to play for a team that can utilize his strengths."
The Packers also announced that they had signed another draft pick, safety Aaron Rouse, and released offensive lineman Josh Bourke.
General manager Ted Thompson could not be reached for comment.
Barry's injury was painful and his post-surgery rehabilitation required a lot of waiting while on crutches, and then in a brace, for a total of about eight months. But when he did return he committed himself to regaining his strength and watching his weight. Wittman said he was down to around 328 pounds.
After working out mostly in Arizona, Barry said three weeks ago that he had hoped to practice with the Packers in their current organized team activities.
"I can tell I am getting stronger," Barry said in his most recent minicamp interview.
"After not using (my leg) for a certain amount of time, you start losing muscle strength. It took a little time to build that back up."
He also looked in shape and said he had lost some weight.
"It's a good weight; it is better than what I've come in at usually," he said.
But Barry never got on the field and never did the fit the zone-blocking system that the Packers installed when coach Mike McCarthy came on board. Listed by the team once at 332 pounds but probably weighing 10 to 15 pounds more during his playing days in Green Bay, the 6-foot-4 Barry is built more for the power blocking rather than the athletic cut-blocking.
It was hard to hear that he'd been cut, but Barry, who turns 28 in July, will search for a team where he could play to his strengths and maybe even finally land a permanent starting role.
Wittman didn't want to disclose the teams interested in his client.
"I've been pleasantly surprised with the attention we've been getting so far," Wittman said.
"He's disappointed; he feels he put five years of his life into Green Bay. He loves Wisconsin and loves the Packers, but Kevin has known for a while that this could be a reality in them letting him go. He just wants to play.
"I was there (in Green Bay this week) and watching them, they've really moved to a very small, very quick offensive line. And I just don't think it's a good offense for Kevin to be in."
The fact that Barry was even a Packer in the Thompson-McCarthy era was a little odd, anyway.
Thompson fired Barry's former coach, Mike Sherman, who capitalized on Barry's size and mauler strength in the U-71 running package that employed him as an extra tight end.
Then Thompson hired McCarthy and offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski in early 2006. The two set out from the start to make the offensive line a zone-blocking unit that cut-blocks defensive linemen. That type of physically demanding play requires the linemen to move deftly both along the line and forward into the second level, and it also asks the 300-pound players to dive onto the ground for the cut-blocks.
Therefore, the new Packers offensive lineman needed to be fit, athletic and around the 300-pound mark, ideally.
Yet on March 15, Green Bay re-signed Barry - remember it had lost Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle in free agency earlier - even with the imperfect fit. Thompson gave Barry a two year, $2.79 million deal that included a $600,000 signing bonus (his base salary was $625,000 in 2006 and would have been $910,000 this year). That deal also included a roster bonus.
With Barry in minicamp last year, Jagodzinski especially pushed Barry to trim up, but Barry got hurt before he could make the adjustment.
After spending the year on injured reserve, the Packers explored trade possibilities in March to deal Barry for a low draft pick, but nothing materialized.
At tackle, the Packers have Chad Clifton, Mark Tauscher, Tony Moll, Junius Coston and Orrin Thompson;
at guard, they have Jason Spitz, Daryn Colledge, Tyson Walter, Adam Stenavich, Tony Palmer, Pat Murray, Travis Leffew and fourth-round draft pick Allen Barbre.
Racine's Barry - stung by a cut block
Team waives lineman more suited to the run
By LORI NICKEL
lnickel@journalsentinel.com
Posted: June 8, 2007
The Green Bay Packers have parted ways with offensive lineman and Racine native Kevin Barry.
Kevin Barry didn't fit into the zone-blocking scheme of head coach Mike McCarthy.
Barry, a five-year veteran, made the team in 2002 as an undrafted free agent out of Arizona and played 59 games, with a handful as a starting tackle.
But Barry was never a good fit for the Packers' zone-blocking scheme when the team changed over a year and a half ago, and he also spent last season out of football after rupturing his left thigh tendon in the May 2006 minicamp.
Barry was released at 4 p.m. Friday and his agent, Russell Wittman, said he immediately began fielding calls from other teams.
"As everybody knows, Kevin Barry is a run blocker, not a zone blocker," Wittman said.
"It kind of worked out because Kevin will get a shot to play for a team that can utilize his strengths."
The Packers also announced that they had signed another draft pick, safety Aaron Rouse, and released offensive lineman Josh Bourke.
General manager Ted Thompson could not be reached for comment.
Barry's injury was painful and his post-surgery rehabilitation required a lot of waiting while on crutches, and then in a brace, for a total of about eight months. But when he did return he committed himself to regaining his strength and watching his weight. Wittman said he was down to around 328 pounds.
After working out mostly in Arizona, Barry said three weeks ago that he had hoped to practice with the Packers in their current organized team activities.
"I can tell I am getting stronger," Barry said in his most recent minicamp interview.
"After not using (my leg) for a certain amount of time, you start losing muscle strength. It took a little time to build that back up."
He also looked in shape and said he had lost some weight.
"It's a good weight; it is better than what I've come in at usually," he said.
But Barry never got on the field and never did the fit the zone-blocking system that the Packers installed when coach Mike McCarthy came on board. Listed by the team once at 332 pounds but probably weighing 10 to 15 pounds more during his playing days in Green Bay, the 6-foot-4 Barry is built more for the power blocking rather than the athletic cut-blocking.
It was hard to hear that he'd been cut, but Barry, who turns 28 in July, will search for a team where he could play to his strengths and maybe even finally land a permanent starting role.
Wittman didn't want to disclose the teams interested in his client.
"I've been pleasantly surprised with the attention we've been getting so far," Wittman said.
"He's disappointed; he feels he put five years of his life into Green Bay. He loves Wisconsin and loves the Packers, but Kevin has known for a while that this could be a reality in them letting him go. He just wants to play.
"I was there (in Green Bay this week) and watching them, they've really moved to a very small, very quick offensive line. And I just don't think it's a good offense for Kevin to be in."
The fact that Barry was even a Packer in the Thompson-McCarthy era was a little odd, anyway.
Thompson fired Barry's former coach, Mike Sherman, who capitalized on Barry's size and mauler strength in the U-71 running package that employed him as an extra tight end.
Then Thompson hired McCarthy and offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski in early 2006. The two set out from the start to make the offensive line a zone-blocking unit that cut-blocks defensive linemen. That type of physically demanding play requires the linemen to move deftly both along the line and forward into the second level, and it also asks the 300-pound players to dive onto the ground for the cut-blocks.
Therefore, the new Packers offensive lineman needed to be fit, athletic and around the 300-pound mark, ideally.
Yet on March 15, Green Bay re-signed Barry - remember it had lost Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle in free agency earlier - even with the imperfect fit. Thompson gave Barry a two year, $2.79 million deal that included a $600,000 signing bonus (his base salary was $625,000 in 2006 and would have been $910,000 this year). That deal also included a roster bonus.
With Barry in minicamp last year, Jagodzinski especially pushed Barry to trim up, but Barry got hurt before he could make the adjustment.
After spending the year on injured reserve, the Packers explored trade possibilities in March to deal Barry for a low draft pick, but nothing materialized.
At tackle, the Packers have Chad Clifton, Mark Tauscher, Tony Moll, Junius Coston and Orrin Thompson;
at guard, they have Jason Spitz, Daryn Colledge, Tyson Walter, Adam Stenavich, Tony Palmer, Pat Murray, Travis Leffew and fourth-round draft pick Allen Barbre.