Rough time at bargaining table

[CaliforniaCheez]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d806b55a5&template=with-video&confirm=true&campaign=ec0005

"Whatever (Cory) Williams was worth last September," said one league personnel man, "it's triple that now, and it can only get worse."

No serious negotiations happened after Brandt resigned and before Ball set up his office.

It appears the Packers will either tag Williams or get a late tird round pick for him next year as compensation.

[RashanGary]

I still think the tag would be a good way to go.

[oregonpackfan]

I still think the tag would be a good way to go.

I agree. Harrell hasn't played like a starter thus far. The Packers need Williams.

[Bretsky]

Completely agree; it's likely CW will be the top DL in free agency

Tag him and at least get one more year from him to see if he takes another step. Worst case is we overpay him for a year.

If he gets to FA he's gone

[Lurker64]

How much cap room would he cost if tagged? I believe an exclusive franchise tag would pay him the average of the top 5 paid DTs for 2008, but a non-exclusive franchise tag would pay him the average of the top 5 paid DTs for 2007 but would allow him to negotiate with other teams, but I don't have any numbers. Isuppose tagging him is going to come down to whether or not Ted plans on pursuing any potentially expensive free agents this offseason, as well as what the coaching staff (who knows more than we do) thinks of Harrell's progress.

[BlueBrewer]

Let him go. He is avg at best, Teddy won't spend it anyway.

[Pacopete4]

john jolly is better

[PackerBlues]

I would not expect Thompson to spend that much on keeping Williams. Main reason being that even with him, the D-line was not able to pressure the opposing QB on any of the good teams that the Packers played against anyway. I think and would actually hope, that Thompson will either give Harrell a chance to step up, and/or draft a promising young DT. He could also just give Williams a tender that would at least get the Packers a draft pick if he leaves. I honestly do not think that Williams is worth a franchise tag, and if he is the best DT available, it is simply by default.

It is also my opinion, that Williams is at best a secondary concern compared to our problem with the interior O-line. I do not care if Thompson does it with Free Agency or if he addresses it in the draft, the O-line needs to be fixed. The pocket collapsed far to often last year, and I will say it again........Favre made our Guards look far better than they were, simply by getting rid of the ball quickly, and by doing an outstanding job of avoiding the sack.

Other than that, I think Nutz said it best, when he talked about what an excellent opportunity this off season will be for Thompson to simply improve the teams depth. If nothing else, we should all expect the Packers to be even better next season if Thompson simply went that route, and improves the teams depth. At the very least, that is what I expect to see, and anything more than that will be more than enough to make me happy.

[sepporepi]

He could also just give Williams a tender that would at least get the Packers a draft pick if he leaves.

Which tender ?

He is an UFA. The only "tender" possible which would give us a draft pick if he leaves is the non-exclusive franchise tag.


Personally I think it is a good idea to tag him. Even if we sign 2 big time free agents it should be possible to tag him:

We have about 20millions left, with some cuts and restructuring it will be about 22-25million effectively. We can sign 3 guys for about 6million yearly and still sign our draft picks and have a little extra.

The tag is about 6,5 millions. Lets asume we give 1 guy a 20million sign bonus for 5 years and one guy 10millions for 3 years. That would lead to tag values of roughly 6 and 4,5 millions in year 1 with reasenable low base salaries.

Next year Williams will be gone, we free up 6,5 millions from the cap, Brett retires, we gain another 11millions, the cap goes up again and we sit again 20millions below the cap. So we dont mortify the future.

[twoseven]

A one year rental is hardly hurting anything with our current cap if you are indeed letting him walk next year, KGB may be going with him. The fact that Allen, Haynesworth, Suggs, etc. are all getting tagged seems the bigger problem. If CW is on the market with all threee of those better players (IMO) his FA price is not nearly what it will be this year if he's out there on his own. Drop the franchise on him and I would hope a couple of those names do reach FA next year, not to mention some others like Vandenbosch, etc. Pay him for the one year. See if Harrell, Jolly, Muir, Cole, the potential draftees, etc might make CW less necessary next season. Then worry about this mess after 08', I have a feeling we'll be in a much better negotiating place.

[red]

let him go

we have pickett, whose our best DT, then we have jolly and cole, both are very good.

then theres last years #1 pick whose also a DT.

we have more then enough talent at DT

CW is good, but nowhere near as good as a franchise tag. one of the top 5 DT's in the nfl? not by a long shot

[Joemailman]

Only one of CW's 7 sacks came after he was inserted in the starting lineup following Jolly's injury. He has proven to be a very good rotational player, but becomes less effective the more he plays. Is this the kind of guy you franchise? I doubt it, especially when you have a 1st round pick waiting in the wings.

[b bulldog]

6.5 for a guy who got 1 sack and 14 tackles in his last 8 games as a starter is a tad steep imo. I hope he goes if he only stays if we over pay him.

[pbmax]

I think JoeM is right, as a situational player, Williams excelled at putting pressure on the QB. I don't think T2 will be paying the following money on a situational player. The amounts below are for non-exclusive Franchise Players I believe:

from the Nashville Tennessean
By PAUL KUHARSKY • Staff Writer • February 7, 2008
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....9/1027/RSS0201

HOW TOP FIVE AVERAGE IS DETERMINED

2007 DT salaries that determine 2008 franchise number, according to the NFL Players Association:
Player | Team | Millions
Dewayne Robertson: Jets $7.391
Warren Sapp: Raiders $6.297
Cornelius Griffin: Redskins $6.166
Albert Haynesworth: Titans $6.041
Rod Coleman: Falcons $5.917

FRANCHISE TAG FACTS

Franchise tag salaries for 2008 by position:
Position | Millions
Quarterback $10.73
Cornerback $9.465
Defensive end $8.879
Linebacker $8.065
Wide receiver $7.848
Offensive line $7.455
Defensive tackle $6.363
Running back $6.538
Tight end $4.522
Safety $4.396
Kicker/punter $2.514[/b]

[Bretsky]

let him go

we have pickett, whose our best DT, then we have jolly and cole, both are very good.

then theres last years #1 pick whose also a DT.

we have more then enough talent at DT

CW is good, but nowhere near as good as a franchise tag. one of the top 5 DT's in the nfl? not by a long shot

Cole is very good