In the National Football League, and especially with Ted Thompson’s Green Bay Packers, the more things change … the better. Sure, some things will stay the same up at Lambeau Field. Aaron Rodgers. Mike McCarthy. Clay Matthews. Mike Daniels. Jordy Nelson.

But it’s the changes that may come, or be forced upon the Packers, that have fans nervous about the 2015 NFL offseason.

The official league calendar doesn’t officially flip to a new one until March which is why the Packers’ host of free agents in waiting, are still, well, waiting – so what’s left now is time.

Time to wait and debate what the Packers might do with their projected $21 million in cap space.

Let’s start with what seemed to be one of the easier personnel decisions Thompson had to make in free agency, which was re-signing Letroy Guion, the defensive tackle who Thompson plucked from Minnesota on a one-year deal for just a million dollars.

After he got healthy, Guion was widely credited with helping the Packers run defense improve throughout the year. In that locker room, fellow linemen Datone Jones, Mike Daniels and Mike Pennel raved about him as a teammate, and a playmaker.

And it was all true. Guion played in all 16 games, had 3 1/2 sacks and made 26 tackles while being a consistent, disruptive force.

The idea of signing Guion, who will be 28 in July, to a multi-year deal, was appealing to both parties and made the injured B.J. Raji expendable.

But then, Guion was arrested in Florida on Wednesday with 357 grams of marijuana in his car (along with cash, and a registered, locked firearm). 


Oops.

The legal process, of course, has to play out, but it seems that Guion went from an easy decision to one Thompson has to think twice on. Will Guion be suspended by the league? And if so, for how long? Do the Packers feel this is a hint at a bigger problem, or a one-time mistake?

To me, I think attention shifts back to Raji, who looked revitalized in training camp with a move back inside. He should be able to come back fully from his biceps injury, and with a poor 2013 preceding a lost 2014, he should come cheaply.

That won’t be the case with wide receiver Randall Cobb.



I had a fun conversation on media row at the Bucks game Wednesday night about Cobb, who will turn just 25 in August.

It was pointed out that in reality, for as much as he is beloved by Rodgers and the Packers fan base, Cobb is just a 5-foot, 10-inch slot receiver and his value, even on the open market, is higher for the Packers than a different team.

Is the 5-11 Emmanuel Sanders a comparison, the receiver who left Pittsburgh to join Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos for just three years and $18 million (with $6 million guaranteed)?

Perhaps. But, Sanders was two years older and Cobb’s third year was cut short due to a leg injury, but their stats were similar.

New England’s Julian Edelman is older than Cobb but just emerged last season for New England, which led to the Patriots re-signing the 6-foot slot receiver to a 4-year, $19 million deal with $8 million guaranteed.

Those dollar numbers would assuredly suit Thompson just fine, but maybe Cobb is looking for something bigger. It’s true he’s young enough to get another contract after this one, but he assuredly won’t make more money on that next deal (if there is one, in this very violent game).

Of course, the Packers could elect to franchise tag Cobb, and if a deal is not worked out he will make $12.8 million for the 2015 season. That would make him the third highest paid player on the team behind Rodgers and Matthews.

While Cobb will garner the most attention, the decision on Tramon Williams might have a larger domino effect for the team.


Bringing Williams back doesn’t fit the Thompson model, in that he’s a high-priced veteran on the wrong side of 30. The well-liked cornerback will be 32 in March, and he was exposed at times in the Packers’ man coverage scheme. But, he was still better than most and helped the Packers’ defense rally back to respectability.

Williams is finishing up a 4-year, $33 million deal, and it’s unlikely he’ll find another taker on the market that will pay him around an $8 million annually. But, in what could be his last deal, what would make him want to take a pay cut just to stay?

And could the Packers afford to move on?

Davon House is also a free agent, and while House did improve this season, he did suffer another serious shoulder injury and soon-to-be 26-year-old has only played in all 16 games once in his career, and that was in 2013.

Do the Packers feel good enough about House’s progress and durability to re-sign him and hand him the job, or do they feel Casey Hayward will be healthy enough to man the other corner spot alongside Sam Shields. If the answer to either/or is no, then do the Packers need to draft a corner who can make an immediate impact?

Another interesting decision will need to be made on right tackle Bryan Bulaga.


Bulaga, who will be 26 in March, played in 15 games for the first time since his rookie campaign in 2010. He bounced back from several injury-plagued campaigns and stepped back onto the line and fit right back in. Guards T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton, along with left tackle David Bakhtiari, are locked up through 2017, and the team seems finally set at center with Corey Linsley.

While Baktiari will be in line for a significant raise in two years, the fact that the other members of the line are cost-controlled for the foreseeable future may allow the Packers to spend a little more money on retaining Bulaga.

But, swing tackle Don Barclay will be coming off a knee injury (which Bulaga did this year) and J.C. Tretter did play tackle in college and has backed up at those positions.

It’s possible that Bulaga is considered expendable (if he commands too much) because of the teams recent success in developing offensive line talent.

There are plenty of other important roster decisions looming that aren’t, at least directly, tied to free agency, a few being:

• The futures of inside linebackers Brad Jones and A.J. Hawk
• Whether or not the team will restructure Julius Peppers’ contract for another go ‘round.
• Scott Tolzien’s readiness to be the full-time backup.

But, these handful of free agency decisions, either in letting the players test the market and potentially walk away, or to spend cap money and re-sign them, will send ripple effects across the locker room in what is already one of the youngest locker rooms in the NFL.