Great article on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s site, posted yesterday, in which wide receiver Greg Jennings says he and the team are “pretty close” to reaching agreement on a contract extension.
Jennings sort of contradicts himself by saying the two sides could still be far apart. My guess, though, is that a deal will soon be reached and Jennings is just trying to cover himself a little bit by saying that. Probably a smart move, considering he and his agent are dealing with Ted Thompson, a fairly shrew negotiator who could still have some tricks up his sleeve.
Lately, a lot of the Packers-related news hasn’t been so good – Aaron Kampman’s obvious displeasure with being moved to outside linebacker, Nick Collins’ obvious displeasure with not getting a new contract and, of course, the whole Judas Favre saga – so hearing Jennings say this was a very good thing indeed.
Lori Nickel, who wrote the article for the Journal Sentinel, theorizes that Jennings’ new deal will put him in the $8 million-a-year range, comparable to the recent deals signed by receivers like Dallas’ Roy Williams, Houston’s Andre Johnson and Seattle’s T.J. Houshmandzadeh (God, I hate typing that name).
If the Packers can get him for $8 mil-a-year, that is, quite frankly, a steal. Jennings is way better than Williams or T.J. (not typing his name again) and is probably just a hair under Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald, who makes $10 mil per. A deal for, say, six years and $50 million would be great for all parties involved. That would make Jennings happy and still leave the team with plenty of dough to re-up some of the big names who are scheduled for free agency after next season (Kampman, Ryan Pickett, Daryn Colledge, etc.).
It would also eliminate what could be a major distraction if a deal is not reached before training camp. Last season, the team had to deal with the double-barrel distraction of Judas Favre (his name from now on)/Ryan Grant’s contract holdout. They’ve finally moved past Judas – yes, ESPN, they have – and to have no major holdouts on the horizon would leave the team full able to focus on football.
Yes, Collins is still unhappy with his deal, but I don’t think he’ll holdout. Plus, if Jennings signs his contract extension early enough, the team could still get a deal done with Collins before players report for camp on July 31. In fact, intense negotiations with Jennings might be the only reason the team hasn’t talked with Collins yet.
-Chris Lempesis
Recent Comments