Interesting decision for Ted tomorrow

[Lurker64]

Currently the Green Bay Packers have 3 unsigned RFAs: Johnny Jolly, Atari Bigby, and Tramon Williams. They have until midnight tonight (June 14th) to sign their tenders. If they don't, the Packers have a 24 hour window in which they can elect to reduce those tenders to 110% of their 2009 salary, if they so choose.

The JSO Packer Blog provided us with this helpful chart:


So Bigby doesn't stand to lose much, but Tramon and Jolly stand to lose quite a bit.

So if you were Ted, and if these guys continue to refuse to sign their tenders, what do you do? Probably don't want to piss off Tramon, so reducing his tender probably wouldn't be a good idea. But Jolly? Absolutely cut that man's tender. What on earth was he thinking not taking the guaranteed $2.5 million offered to him when he's facing serious drug charges and/or a suspension? Cut Jolly's tender and you guarantee that he can't go anywhere, and it's cheaper to keep him.

[Joemailman]

I suspect TT will be looking to trade Jolly if he doesn't end up in jail, so cutting his tender would make sense. Makes it easier to trade him. I agree that they wont cut T-Will's, considering he may be the starting CB at the start of the season.

[bobblehead]

Can they pick a number in between?? Could they cut Tramon to 2.5 Mill?

I agree though, I would cut Jolly's down, leave the other two and work on a long term deal with both....although Bigby would be tough if he thinks he is worth much more than the 1.7

[packrulz]

I don't know, I think Jolly is a pretty good DE, I think he's worth the tender. I hope TT just leaves all offers on the table.

[hoosier]

I suspect TT will be looking to trade Jolly if he doesn't end up in jail, so cutting his tender would make sense. Makes it easier to trade him. I agree that they wont cut T-Will's, considering he may be the starting CB at the start of the season.

Jolly's value on the market right now has to be pretty low. Why not keep him around for another year, let Neal develop and hope that Jolly plays well in his contract year? At the very least the Packers can then get a #3 or #4 compensatory pick for him, which is probably more than TT could get for him now through trade.

[Scott Campbell]

I thought there would be news on this by now.

[Joemailman]

There was talk last spring already that Jolly was on thin ice with the Packers. I just have a feeling that Jolly's stupid behavior this offseason may have convinced the Packers that it's time to cut ties. It's also possible that Jolly hasn't signed his tender because he wants out of Green Bay.

At any rate, Jolly's trial starts at the start of training camp. It will be interesting to see if anyone really steps up in Jolly's absence. It should also be noted that with Jolly set to miss the start of training camp, he may not be physically ready to play when the season starts. With him not being involved in any offseason activities, I have a hunch physical conditioning may be an issue.

[get louder at lambeau]

There was talk last spring already that Jolly was on thin ice with the Packers. I just have a feeling that Jolly's stupid behavior this offseason may have convinced the Packers that it's time to cut ties. It's also possible that Jolly hasn't signed his tender because he wants out of Green Bay.

If they wanted to cut ties they wouldn't have had a $2.5 million offer on the table for him to sign just yesterday.

[Joemailman]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/96385519.html

Jolly signed his tender before the deadline. That makes sense. Bigby apparently had no intention to. He doesn't lose much if the Packers cut his tender to 110%. T-Will is probably in the best bargaining position of the 3.

[RashanGary]

I would guess Williams signed. They can continue to work on a deal with the 3.1M contract signed.

[RashanGary]

The Bigby situation has potential to get ugly. Unlike Collins, I don't think there is a lot of reason to think the Packers are anxious to extend Bigby to a long term deal.

Bigby, as much as he's hated here, gets quite a bit of respect from scouts and front office execs around the league (see McGinn's article on the NFCN from last year). He's at a development stage where it makes sense to push for a deal, but with Burnett signed, it makes more sense for the Packers to wait.

Bigby, IMO, has more value to the Packers this year than Darryn Colledge does. Rookies can be counted on to screw up and our defense is trying to take that next step toward consistency.

However, there is almost no reason for Bigby to sign that contract. There is a chance (although I think it's very, very slight) that the Packers would extend him now. Bigby and his agent have to push for that, just because common sense says so.

The Packers probably do not want to start a rookie at SS, but if Bigby pushes this too far, that's exactly what they'll have to do.

My guess is that about 2 weeks into TC is the real pressure point for Bigby to come in and get acclimated to the defensive changes. By then, it will be just ugly enough that MM is getting pissed and Bigby is frustrated.

I imagine this thing will end up falling into place though. There isn't a lot of reason to think this should get extremely ugly, although a little ugly seems like a safe bet.

[get louder at lambeau]

I would guess Williams signed. They can continue to work on a deal with the 3.1M contract signed.

They can, but he loses some leverage. He could choose to play hardball and force a multi-year contract with a holdout if he wants.

[RashanGary]

I think the Packers think enough of Williams that they'll be working together with him to iron something out.

I'm guessing 5 years, 24 million or so with 6 mil up front is about how the Packers value Williams and I'm guessing that's enough for him to be willing to sign. I have a feeling this thing will work out with him. I think it just makes sense for everyone to work together here.

[Tarlam!]

Question: The team holds exclusive rights whether they sign or not and given that the players only need the last 6 games to have the season count towards UFA, meaning they can sign after game 10 has been played, does the team retain rights if they start the season with 53 players or must they leave two spots open?

[Fritz]

Okay, Lurk, this line just made me flinch and instinctively grab for my parts: "Absolutely cut that man's tender."

Owww.