Tweet
Ted Thompson need look no further than the Green Bay Packers’ No. 25 finish in total defense last season to know he needs immediate help on that side of the ball.
Just how big an overhaul the Packers’ new general manager must orchestrate will depend in part on contract talks with Darren Sharper.
The 29-year-old Sharper has been a fixture at safety for the Packers since becoming a starter in 1998. He played in the Pro Bowl as recently as 2002. He’s scheduled to be the team’s second-highest-paid player this season, but has lost a step over the last two years because of injuries and age.
Finding a starting safety to replace free-agent bust Mark Roman is one of Thompson’s priorities this offseason, but Sharper’s excessively high salary-cap figure of $8.633 million, which includes $6 million in roster bonus and salary for this year, leaves the other safety spot in doubt as well...........
But Thompson and coach Mike Sherman have several other crucial decisions as well, starting with left guard Mike Wahle.
To get under the cap on March 2, the Packers will cut Wahle, who’s due a prohibitive $6 million roster bonus and $5 million salary. They can wait until as late as March 1 to make the move, and might do so to keep other teams from negotiating with him until then.
Wahle, 28, is one of the NFL’s premier guards and in the prime of his career. The Packers would love to have him back, because his ability to hit targets as a pulling guard is one of the keys to their run game.
Just how big an overhaul the Packers’ new general manager must orchestrate will depend in part on contract talks with Darren Sharper.
The 29-year-old Sharper has been a fixture at safety for the Packers since becoming a starter in 1998. He played in the Pro Bowl as recently as 2002. He’s scheduled to be the team’s second-highest-paid player this season, but has lost a step over the last two years because of injuries and age.
Finding a starting safety to replace free-agent bust Mark Roman is one of Thompson’s priorities this offseason, but Sharper’s excessively high salary-cap figure of $8.633 million, which includes $6 million in roster bonus and salary for this year, leaves the other safety spot in doubt as well...........
But Thompson and coach Mike Sherman have several other crucial decisions as well, starting with left guard Mike Wahle.
To get under the cap on March 2, the Packers will cut Wahle, who’s due a prohibitive $6 million roster bonus and $5 million salary. They can wait until as late as March 1 to make the move, and might do so to keep other teams from negotiating with him until then.
Wahle, 28, is one of the NFL’s premier guards and in the prime of his career. The Packers would love to have him back, because his ability to hit targets as a pulling guard is one of the keys to their run game.
Comment