Harris and Barnett

[Brando19]

Two players hoping to get their contracts redone by the Packers reiterated their positions this week. Though neither linebacker Nick Barnett nor cornerback Al Harris made threats to hold out, both indicated they want something done this offseason.

From SI.com...
I would love to resign both of these guys...but if the Packers had to lose Barnett...I'd love to see them sign Lance Briggs.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Briggs ain't going anywhere. Reports are that Chicago is going to franchise Briggs.

[MadtownPacker]

Yeah, saw that about Briggs too. Oh well.

Keep Barnett and throw Al a bone! The only changes needed on D are Manuel and Poppinga.

[LL2]

I kind of would expect nothing to be done if history repeats (JWalk). The smart thing would be to give Barnett a new deal. What is he age wise? Around 25? Keeping him and Hawk together gives a solid LB group for quite a few years. I think Harris is a great all around player but his age isn’t going to help him.

[SudsMcBucky]

I'm all for throwing Harris a bone. Heck, he'd probably be happy with a good Pro-Bowl bonus. That way, he's also paid for continued good performance, not really costing GB much risk.

[Brando19]

Yeah, saw that about Briggs too. Oh well.

Keep Barnett and throw Al a bone! The only changes needed on D are Manuel and Poppinga.

I think Manuel needs to go and he needs to go fast, but I think we need to keep Poppinga around another year. I truly believe he has potential. The Safety position must be addressed in the offseason or draft. I think our D is good after that.
As far as Offense...the Packers are in desperate need of a TE and another WR. A RB would be nice too along with another VETERAN Offensive Lineman to protect the million dollar QB.

Ummmm....oh...and a Devin Hester would be nice as well.

[pittstang5]

I kind of would expect nothing to be done if history repeats (JWalk). The smart thing would be to give Barnett a new deal. What is he age wise? Around 25? Keeping him and Hawk together gives a solid LB group for quite a few years. I think Harris is a great all around player but his age isn’t going to help him.

Nothing to be done - Well, not all true. Driver had two years remaining and received a contract extension last year. TT will give extensions to players that deserve it. Driver deserved it.

Now, do Harris and Barnett deserve an extension. I feel they do. I hope something can be worked out.

[wist43]

Hopefully Underwood can take over for Manuel, but even if Underwood comes back healthy, they need to address Safety pretty early in the draft.

At this point, I could see bringing Barnett back at a mid-level contract, but he'll be looking to break the bank, and as I've said, some deranged GM out there will be willing to oblige (Matt Millen???).

Harris's performance would say he deserves a bump in pay, but I don't know about a long term extension - as most of us have been saying, that when he hits the wall, he'll be in big trouble b/c he simply doesn't have a step to spare.

[SkinBasket]

I think Manuel needs to go and he needs to go fast, but I think we need to keep Poppinga around another year. I truly believe he has potential. The Safety position must be addressed in the offseason or draft. I think our D is good after that.

Our D is good after that? I hope you're kidding. Maybe you didn't notice Patrick Dendy's time on the field this season? We need at least two more CBs. If you doubled Dendy's abilities, he might be able to carry the nickleback spot. As it is, he is a 5 or 6 on any other roster - assuming he would even make any other roster. We also need two Safeties. Counting on a player returning from a season ending injury with no experience is silly and Manual should be jettisoned.

LB is paper thin to boot. There's only so long you can give a guy free reign to fuck up the defense because of his "potential." They finally found a way to hide Poppinga in coverage adequately by the end of the season, but his severe limitations still exist. He has abysmal coverage skills and he is often indecisive and ineffective when sent on pressure. It's not like he's an absolute beast against the run, so I'm not seeing the trade off for the holes in his game. Hodge is an unknown despite all the talk, and White and Taylor aren't exactly what you like to see for depth, despite White's good ST play.

The line is fine, if not lacking a true complement to Kampman. I like the rotation inside, and it was great to see the play of the line improve when GB collectively grew a pair and benched Wonky McGoo (aka KGB). A younger, much cheaper version of KGB at end would be nice (and no, Hunter is not the answer).

I know we can't just go out and find answers to every problem spot on D, but saying we're one or two players away from being "fine" is a bit far-fetched.

[Patler]

I have very mixed feelings about the Harris situation. It's not like he signed a contract when he was playing at one level, and then played better than anyone expected. When he signed his contract he was the player he is now. He signed a year early and got a fair contract eliminating the risk of injury in the last year of his old contract. Then, he was barely into his new contract when he apparently regretted having signed it.

If he had played 4 years under his old contract, or was within a year of it expiring, like Driver, I would feel differently. But he had played only one full season after having signed it, and was complaining already. He was more than pleased in October 2004 when he signed it , finished that season, played 2005 and then felt "taken advantage of" at the end of the 2005 season. That's a bit ridiculous in my opinion, since he was the same player at the end of 2005 as he was during 2004.

[Brando19]

I think Manuel needs to go and he needs to go fast, but I think we need to keep Poppinga around another year. I truly believe he has potential. The Safety position must be addressed in the offseason or draft. I think our D is good after that.

Our D is good after that? I hope you're kidding. Maybe you didn't notice Patrick Dendy's time on the field this season? We need at least two more CBs. If you doubled Dendy's abilities, he might be able to carry the nickleback spot. As it is, he is a 5 or 6 on any other roster - assuming he would even make any other roster. We also need two Safeties. Counting on a player returning from a season ending injury with no experience is silly and Manual should be jettisoned.

LB is paper thin to boot. There's only so long you can give a guy free reign to fuck up the defense because of his "potential." They finally found a way to hide Poppinga in coverage adequately by the end of the season, but his severe limitations still exist. He has abysmal coverage skills and he is often indecisive and ineffective when sent on pressure. It's not like he's an absolute beast against the run, so I'm not seeing the trade off for the holes in his game. Hodge is an unknown despite all the talk, and White and Taylor aren't exactly what you like to see for depth, despite White's good ST play.

The line is fine, if not lacking a true complement to Kampman. I like the rotation inside, and it was great to see the play of the line improve when GB collectively grew a pair and benched Wonky McGoo (aka KGB). A younger, much cheaper version of KGB at end would be nice (and no, Hunter is not the answer).

I know we can't just go out and find answers to every problem spot on D, but saying we're one or two players away from being "fine" is a bit far-fetched.

Take a chill pill...kiss my butt...and give me my opinion.

[HarveyWallbangers]

If he had played 4 years under his old contract, or was within a year of it expiring, like Driver, I would feel differently.

I might be wrong, but I don't think Driver's contract was one year from expiring. I think it was at least two years from expiring.

[red]

If he had played 4 years under his old contract, or was within a year of it expiring, like Driver, I would feel differently.

I might be wrong, but I don't think Driver's contract was one year from expiring. I think it was at least two years from expiring.

you do know who it is you're questioning right?

this is not happening man, i must be dreaming

[MadtownPacker]

If he had played 4 years under his old contract, or was within a year of it expiring, like Driver, I would feel differently.

I might be wrong, but I don't think Driver's contract was one year from expiring. I think it was at least two years from expiring.

This is gonna get ugly. :P

If he is pissed about his contract tthen he shoudl be pissed at Sherman for talking him into it. TT seems to like to pay up now instead of later.

[Patler]

If he had played 4 years under his old contract, or was within a year of it expiring, like Driver, I would feel differently.

I might be wrong, but I don't think Driver's contract was one year from expiring. I think it was at least two years from expiring.

I think you and I mean the same thing, I was probably confusing in how I stated it. As soon as the new season gets started, I think of those with contracts that are up at the end of the season as having expiring contracts. Those that expire next year I think of as having one more year. I look at "years to expiration". Somone in the last year of their contract has 0 years to expiration, etc.

It is common to renew in the last year, like Wells this year. Wells was renewed with zero years left on his contract. They did Driver when he still had one year left on his contract, the 2007 season.

The old Packer salary cap list always listed them that way, "years to expiration". The ones to worry about were the ones with "0" years to expiration. It made sense to me, and I have thought of it that way ever since.