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NFL releases dates for offseason workouts

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The National Football League released offseason workout dates for its teams.

The Green Bay Packers will start phase three of their offseason program with OTA’s on May 24.  OTA’s will run May 24-25, June 1-2, June 4, June 7-8 and June 10.

The Packers mandatory veteran minicamp is set for June 15-17.

All NFL teams are in phase one of the offseason program, which runs from April 19-May 14.  Activities during that period are limited to strength and conditioning, virtual meetings and physical rehabilitation.  The Packers have been going through phase one activities virtually.

The Packers will host a rookie minicamp May 14-15, before the start of OTA’s.

 

Packers agree to terms with rookie free agents

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The Green Bay Packers announced Monday that they’ve agreed to terms with seven rookie free agents.

The list includes former Wisconsin Badger Jon Dietzen.  The Black Creek, Wis. native, played his high school ball at Seymour High School before moving to Madison.  He played in 42 games with 39 starts for the Badgers.

In 2016-17, Dietzen played in 23 games with 20 starts at left guard and then in 2018 started all 12 games at left tackle.  After retiring following the 2018 season due to injuries, Dietzen returned in 2020 and started all seven games (four at left guard, two at left tackle, one at right guard).  Last season he played 437 snaps, the third most of any UW player.

Dietzen becomes the second member of the Badgers team to join the Packers after offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen was selected in the 6th round of the draft on Saturday.

The six other undrafted free agents the Packers agreed to contract terms are as follows:

Jacob Capra         6’5  300  OL    San Diego State
Coy Cronk            6’4  318  OL    Iowa
Bailey Gaither       6’0  188  WR   San Jose State
Jack Heflin            6’3  304  DL    Iowa
Carlo Kemp          6’3  281  LB     Michigan
Christian Uphoff   6’3  209   S     Illinois State

 

Rodgers draws his line in the sand, says he wants out of Green Bay

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Aaron Rodgers

Despite Aaron Rodgers telling the Green Bay Packers he no longer wants to play in Green Bay, the Packers are at least saying that they believe Rodgers will be barking out signals at Lambeau Field in 2021.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst delivered that message to reporters following day one of the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

Earlier in the day, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Rodgers had become so disgruntled with the team that he wanted out.

The 37-year-old quarterback, coming off his third NFL MVP honor, is under contract through the 2023 season.  But he has no more guaranteed money left on his deal.

ESPN reported that Gutekunst, Packers coach Matt LaFleur and team president Mark Murphy each met with Rodgers on separate occasions during the offseason and according to the NFL Network, Rodgers had his agent (David Dunn) recently fly to Green Bay for several days of meetings about the situation. [Read more…]

NFL Draft starts tonight

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GM Brian Gutekunst

The 2021 NFL Draft kicks off in Cleveland on Thursday night (7 p.m. CT) with the opening round.  Rounds 2 & 3 are Friday night with rounds 4-7 wrapping up on Saturday.

Armed with 10 selections for the third straight year, the Packers will have some opportunities to do some moving around if they wish.

General Manager Brian Gutekunst enters his 23rd draft with the Packers and fourth as GM.  Last year, Gutekunst selected nine players overall with four players seeing action in10-plus regular-season games as rookies (G Jon Runyan, 16 / S Vernon Scott, 15 / RB A.J. Dillon, 11 / LB Kamal Martin, 10). [Read more…]

Lewis returning to Packers for 16th season

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Marcedes Lewis

Marcedes Lewis drew continual praise from Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and now the veteran tight end is returning for another season in Green Bay.

The Packers are re-signing the soon-to-be 37-year old, who is known more for his blocking and his leadership, then catching passes.  Lewis caught just 10 passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns in 2020.

Lewis will be entering his 16th NFL season and is among the five NFL tight ends to play 15 seasons in the league, joining Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jackie Smith. [Read more…]

King to return to Packers on a one-year deal

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Kevin King

The Green Bay Packers have elected to bring back one of their own free agents, giving veteran corner Kevin King a one-year deal worth $6 million.  The deal was reported by the NFL Network on Tuesday morning.

King played in 11 regular season games and two playoff games last season, missing time with injuries during the regular season.  Staying healthy has been a problem for King, missing 23 of a possible 64 regular-season games during his four seasons in Green Bay.

King had a nightmare NFC Championship game and had no interceptions and just five pass breakups in 13 games last season.

The Packers have fellow corner Jaire Alexander and safeties Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage under contract.  They’ve also submitted a restricted free agent tender to keep slot corner Chandon Sullivan around for another season.  Now King provides more experienced depth to the Packers secondary heading into the NFL Draft in April.

Tramon Williams retiring from the NFL

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Tramon Williams

After 14 seasons in the NFL, 10 of those 14 coming with the Green Bay Packers, defensive back Tramon Williams announced his retirement on his 38th birthday Tuesday.

Williams played in 205 career games with 153 starts.  He was originally signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2006 out of Louisiana Tech.  He was signed to the Packers practice squad later that season and then made the regular roster the following year.

Williams played for eight seasons in Green Bay and was a big part of their 2010 Super Bowl run.  He then signed with Cleveland in 2015, played for Arizona in 2017 and then returned to Green Bay for two more seasons. [Read more…]

Packers tender Tonyan, Sullivan

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Robert Tonyan

The Green Bay Packers may have cap issues, but they’re not about to let talented right end Robert Tonyan get away on them.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers on Tuesday offered Tonyan a restricted free agent tender, a one-year deal worth $3.384 million and would require any team that signs him to give up a second-round draft pick.  The Packers would also have the right to match any offer for Tonyan.

Tonyan had his best season in 2020, catching 52 passes for 586 yards and 11 touchdowns, which tied a league high.

The Packers also submitted a restricted free agent tender to defensive back Chandon Sullivan.

The moves mean the Packers salary cap is more than $10 million over the league limit of $182.5 million heading into Wednesday’s deadline.  So the Packers will have more moves to make to get under the cap by the start of the new league year on Wednesday afternoon.

 

Packers reach four-year deal with RB Jones

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Aaron Jones

With the deadline to negotiate a deal with their own free agents fast approaching, the Green Bay Packers have reportedly reached agreement with running back Aaron Jones on a four-year deal worth $48 million.  The deal includes a $13 million signing bonus.  ESPN was first to report the deal.

Jones switched agents late in the season, hiring Drew Rosenhaus.  Rosenhaus told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Jones offered the Packers a hometown discount.  He said would have received much larger offers had Jones hit free agency.

The $12-million yearly average puts Jones in a tie with Joe Mixon of the Cincinnati Bengals for the sixth-highest paid running back in the league.

The Packers restructured a number of contracts over the weekend to clear cap space.  They’ll need to do more to fit Jones under the cap by the start of the new league year on Tuesday.

Jones rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the last two seasons.  He’s scored 30 touchdowns over the last two years.

 

Packers don’t use franchise tag

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Packers RB Aaron Jones

The Green Bay Packers elected not to put the “Franchise Tag” on running back Aaron Jones, although reports say they’re trying to sign him to a long term contract.  But the deadline to do so is Monday (March 15), otherwise Jones will become an unrestricted free agent and Green Bay would only get a compensatory draft pick in return.

ESPN reports Jones turned down multiple offers from the Packers because they lacked the guaranteed money he was seeking.

The Packers are strapped by the league’s new salary cap which is set at $182.5 million for 2021, down 8% from last season.  Right now, the Packers are roughly $10 million over the cap.

Jones has rushed for more than a thousand yards each of the last two years and last season he had a career high of 1,104 yards with a 5.5 yards per carry average.

Jones is one of only two players in NFL history to post 3,000-plus yards rushing (3,364) and 35-plus rushing touchdowns (37) with an average of 5-plus yards per carry (5.2) in their first four seasons.  Jim Brown is the other.

The Packers selected running back A.J. Dillon in the second round of the 2020 Draft last year.  If the Packers can’t reach a deal with Jones, Dillon stands to become the teams top running back heading into the 2021 season.