The Packers and Ted Thompson continue to resign their own guys (much to the dismay of Frank Schaub apparently), Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that defensive end/nose tackle BJ Raji has resigned with the team for a 1-year, $4 million contract; specifics of the deal have not been made public but this post will be updated to reflect incoming news.
#Packers NT B.J. Raji has accepted a deal to return to Green Bay, according to a source. Expected to be a one-year deal.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) March 14, 2014
Raji has largely been criticized for his lackluster play since teasing fans with his potential in early in his career and being dissatisfied playing in a 3-4 scheme where defensive linemen rarely get the accolades or attention of the 4-3 brethren. The icing on the cake for fan scorn was walking away a multi-year deal that was supposed to pay him roughly $8 million yearly, naturally this is all just hearsay and the structure of the deal (i.e. the guaranteed portion) might have been poor but nevertheless, an abysmal season after betting on himself drew the ire of fans and media alike.
Free agency apparently was ice cold for Raji as no reports have surfaced of him visiting any other team and Raji has not been linked or to be of interest to any other team (there were some rumors linking Raji to Oakland and Kansas city, with obvious connections in the front offices). Last reported news from Raji prior to his signing was that he was “mulling” over a 1-year contract offer from the Packers. From the looks of things, Raji was forced to take a 1-year “prove it” contract with the Packers as no other suitors came calling. Without knowing guaranteed money and incentive clauses attached to the deal, this looks like a pretty good signing for the Packers, who get an experienced defensive linemen who will be playing hard for his pay day (although why this didn’t help last season is a mystery) and when at his best can be a disruptive force in the middle.
The Packers have been reported to be looking at Raji only as a nose tackle (where he has had the most success), which likely means Ryan Pickett is now less likely to be resigned (although the Packers might still resign Pickett if the price is right), with Josh Boyd most likely as the backup nose tackle.
——————Thomas Hobbes is a staff writer for Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com.
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Ya, this looks like the end of the road for Pickett. Still, they ought to resign him and keep him in the rotation, if only for the veteran leadership and work ethic he brings to show the younger players.
I consider the re-signing of Raji to be of critical importance. To me, that means we don’t have to draft a NT this year and that means we can address two defensive positions that clearly need to be addressed.
Now that Raji has tested the market and knows he must play much better to get a big contract next year, we should have a motivated NT.
According to Mel Kipper, C.J. Mosley will be available when the Packers draft in the first round. If that happens, the Packers shouldn’t hesitate. And according to other mock drafts, Deone Bucannon will be available when the Packers draft in the second round.
Personally, I believe having those two players on the field along with a motivated Raji will vastly improve the Packers defense and help make us a true contender of another Lombardi Trophy.
Dont need to draft a NT because we have Raji back? Have u watched him the last 3 years? He needs more than a switch to NT tackle to get him on track……he needs blinkers on when passing the buffet table.
Pickett has to go away
So, the jelly-belly is gonna give the Packers a discount double check. I hope he’s worth $4M, though it’s hard for me to imagine he is after last season.
Hate this signing. Maybe there is no guaranteed money, even som, it is a waste of a roster spot. Now I read that my priority signing, EDS, has signed elsewhere. I will have to check to see what $ EDS got to judge that, but my faith in TT is being severely tested.
I like the Raji signing. Take that back, I love the Raji signing. He was a terrible 34 DE playing out of position, but a Terrific NT the one year he started at his natural position!
EDS, no big deal… Decent enough Center, but he wasn’t the future at Center either. He was not a priority, for me. Quite a way down the list. Tretter is very smart (Ivy League smart) and will get plenty of help if he needs it from Sitton and Lang next to him and Rodgers behind him.
Its not just the lack of stats that bother me, he seems to be blown out of the play a lot. For a position that calls for a guy to bottle things up and disrupt, he doesn’t. Maybe I don’t know what I’m tallking about or looking at, but he isn’t a big money player to me. Hope that he brings something more than last year.
Don’t care what anyone says about Raji, he doesn’t play with heart and therefore isn’t worth a red penny…
BJ could be a better player back at nose tackle with some incentives in his deal. he’s still young & maybe learned a lesson when no one sought him out. We’ve lost centers before & come back with a decent replacement. We have a wealth of drafted Ol people just falling over each other to play. One of them should inherit the centers job & use it as a stepping stone to get on the field.