Consider general manager Ted Thompson to be one up on the scoreboard early in free agency.

Although the Packers suffered a notable loss when Aaron Kampman bolted for the Jacksonville Jaguars, they held on to two more key players in left tackle Chad Clifton and free safety Nick Collins.

Clifton wasn’t interested in leaving Green Bay, where he has been a starter since his rookie season in 2000, never mind that he visited with the Washington Redskins on the opening day of free agency March 5.

That purported courtship probably helped Clifton’s financial cause with the Packers, who meted out a three-year contract that is worth about $19.5 million. The deal is loaded with all sorts of roster bonuses, including an upfront payout of more than $6.3 million.

“I can…

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The Green Bay Packers have finalized a two-year deal with Mark Tauscher, likely allowing the veteran right tackle to play his entire career for his home state team. Tauscher, an unrestricted free agent, agreed to terms over the weekend. Financial details were not released. Tauscher was the Packers' starting right tackle for most of his first nine seasons in the NFL, but began the 2009 season out…

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MILWAUKEE – Veteran Green Bay Packers right tackle Mark Tauscher has agreed to terms on a multiyear contract that will bring him back to the team, his agent said Sunday.

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It would be difficult to dispute that Mason Crosby had a bad year kicking field goals for the Green Bay Packers. Among kickers with at least 15 attempts, his 75 percent average field goal percentage (FG%)  was better than only six other kickers in the NFL. Towards the end of the season, Crosby collected “votes of confidence” from Packers coaches like Ted Thompson collects wide receivers (more than should be necessary).

Despite his less than eventful 2009, Crosby somehow triggered incentives in his contract that has doubled his salary for 2010, from $500K to $1M. As Don King loves to say, God Bless America!  And from Mason’s perspective, God Bless his agent. What a great contract he negotiated. His client can have a bad year and still manage to earn a 100 percent raise.

I can only sit and wonder what those incentives were? Did he have to…

Finish higher than 30th in the league?
Hit 90 percent of his kicks into the practice net on the sideline?
Hit 95 percent of the footballs he swung his leg at?
Kick the ball with his right leg 95 percent of the time?
Never put his pants on backwards?

In all seriousness, when compared to the rest of the kickers in the league, Crosby is in the lower 20th percentile. In his three years with the Packers, he has never made more than 79.5 percent of his field goals. For a quick comparison, Ryan Longwell averaged 80 percent, 88 percent, 83 percent, and 87 percent in his first four years with the Packers.

I’ve always considered 80 percent to be the lowest field goal percentage an NFL team should tolerate. in my book, a FG percentage of less than 80 percent is like a batting average below .250 in baseball.  Anyone can have a bad year, but three years in a row makes a bad career.

And yet, Crosby has his defenders. Mason Crosby will be fine, I hear over and over. He just has to work on the mental side, just has to straighten out the right hashmark issue, just needs a better holder, etc. My question for those people is, what evidence do you have that Mason Crosby is capable of being better than he has been? When has he shown that he can be an 85 percent kicker? NEVER, is the answer.

In the last three years, here’s how many NFL kickers had a FG percentage of 85 percent or higher:

2007    16
2008    17
2009    11

Looking back at Crosby’s career as a place kicker, starting with his senior year in High School, here are Crosby’s FG percentages:.

HSY4    63.6 percent
CY1    77.8 percent
CY2    82.6 percent
CY3    75.0 percent
CY4    67.9 percent
NFLY1    79.5 percent
NFLY2    79.4 percent
NFLY3    75.0 percent

Sophomore year in college was the only time Crosby has EVER broken 80 percent. So tell me, Crosby defenders, what makes you think he is just an adjustment away from even being a “good” NFL kicker?

Even before his poor 2009, I questioned why there was no competition brought in during the 2009 training camp to push Crosby. As I wrote during the first week of camp, “I feel Crosby is being given an undeserved pass and there should be another kicker in camp to push him, if nothing else.”

Yes, a little competition can be a great motivator. Instead, the Packers just handed the job to a kicker that finished in the bottom 20 percent of NFL kickers his first two seasons.

So what will happen in 2010? While there are a few unrestricted free agent kickers that would be an improvement over Crosby (Shayne Graham and Jay Feely, for example), they will both command higher salaries than even Crosby’s 2010 overpaid $1M contract will provide. That, of course, makes it extremely unlikely that Ted Thompson will be calling their agents anytime soon.

Looking at the NFL draft, it’s not a strong year for placekickers. There aren’t any kickers that would warrant using anything other than a late sixth or seventh round pick. With Ted Thompson having used a sixth round pick just three years ago to select Crosby, I think it’s unlikely Ted Thompson would use another pick so soon on a kicker.

So, it appears a street free agent or an undrafted placekicker after the upcoming draft would be the most likely method Ted Thompson uses to bring in some competition for Crosby. But will he even do that?

When I called for some kicking competition for Crosby last year, some readers pointed out that most teams don’t want to waste one of those 83 valuable training camp roster spots on a second kicker.

Fair enough, I say, but do the Packers really need to bring 11 wide receivers to camp like they did last year? I’d would opt to go with 10 and bring someone in to give Crosby something to worry about. Maybe he’ll have the motivation to find that magic adjustment you Crosby defenders are waiting for. Imagine what he’ll make in incentives then…

 

You can  follow Jersey Al on Facebook and Twitter . Visit Jersey Al’s Packers Blog for more in-depth Packers commentary.

Jersey Al Bracco is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com. You can find more of Jersey Al ’s articles on several sports web sites: NFL Touchdown , Packers Lounge , Packer Chatters , & Bleacher Report .

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Talent is overrated.

Brett Favre is not the most talented quarterback in NFL history. In fact he’s not even close.

However, talent can be improved upon with practice, excellence cannot.

That is really the only word that can describe Brett Favre’s career: excellent.

Favre has been blessed with this excellence since the day he touched a pigskin, but nobody, including Favre himself, knew of it.

They say, “Every quarterback is limited to his playbook,” but whoever said that obviously never saw Brett Favre step foot on the gridiron.

Logic is reason or sound judgment.

Brett Favre made plays that defied logic.

Whether he was rolling out right and throwing left or trying to fit a ball into triple coverage, Favre made decisions that no other quarterback would ever dream of. Which is what truly made him great.

Sure he came up with disappointment a higher number of times then one could count, but it was the risk’s that Favre took that truly made him the best player on the field at all times.

One of the distinguishing characteristics that Favre possesses is his passion for the game of football.

Passion is best defined as a compelling emotion or feeling.

I promise you that never in the history of sports has anybody had a passion quite like the one that Favre has towards football. Never again in the history of sports will we see an athlete with passion like Brett Favre.

To Brett Favre football is more than a game which is the main reason why he just can’t seem to let it go.

He always plays with a smile on his face and just has fun out there. Whether he’s throwing snowballs or slapping his lineman’s rear ends in negative temperatures, Favre has more fun then anybody in NFL history and it brings a smile to the face of each and every person who watches him play.

Many sports fans across the globe have fallen under the impression that Brett Favre has overstayed his welcome and tarnished his legacy.

It takes a true sports fan to look at this situation and say it has done nothing but improve the legacy of an already all-time great.

The question that you are probably deeply asking yourself right now is, how could these last two years possibly have improved Favre’s legacy?

Well the answer is simple. In a sport where the quarterback takes as many hard hits as he does (most of which are unexpected) how could any man endure that amount of pain for so long? 

What makes it even more impressive is the fact that he takes all these hits at the age of 40. How many 40-year-olds do you know that can take every bit as much pain as men 15 years younger then themselves? I know one and his name is Brett Favre.

Above every rare talent that Brett Favre possesses there is one that stands out: his toughness.

Bob Knight once said, “Mental Toughness is to physical as four is to one.”

Nobody proves that quote true more then Brett Favre.

Since the day he was drafted he never looked tough. Then again who’s really afraid of a redneck from Mississippi? However through time he proved to be the toughest player in NFL history. He feared nothing and no one.

There was no such thing as a hit that could keep Favre down. The harder you hit, the harder he played. Favre has never missed a game in his life. Not even the death of his father could keep him down.

Because when the going got tough, he got tougher. At the age of 40, he took a low hit during the NFC Championship game that had him put on a stretcher, but his passion, toughness and ability to do things that nobody else can do kept him going, and he finished the game hobbling on one leg.

There will be another Joe Montana; in fact, you could argue that there already has been one in Tom Brady. 

There will be another Dan Marino; in fact, you could argue that there already has been one in Peyton Manning.

I promise you that there will never be another Brett Favre.

Nobody will ever have the football savvy of Brett Favre.

Nobody will ever have the ability to go against all common sense, and come up successful like Brett Favre.

Nobody will ever be as tough or connected with the game quite like Brett Favre.

They say practice makes perfect, but no amount of practice will ever make you Brett Favre.

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There are always players that come into the draft totally under the radar, and come out of the draft as stars. Like Tom Brady, who was not thought at the time to have the skills needed to be an NFL quarterback, falling into the sixth round. He turned out to be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, and one of the biggest draft steals in the history of the NFL.

Teams are always looking for a player like Brady, somebody with undiscovered talent who can perform at the next level.

Here are some players to remember in the draft in April, players that will go in later rounds, and haven’t gotten much hype, but are good and have the talent and abilities to make an impact or possibly even be pro-bowlers at the next level.

 

QB Matt Nichols- Eastern Washington

Similar NFL player- Tony Romo

Projected Draft Status- 5-6 Round Pick

 Nichols has been flying under the radar so far this year, which can somewhat be due to the fact that he plays for such a small school, but that doesn’t mean this kid can’t play.

Nichols is athletic for a quarterback, can move around in the pocket and scramble as well as any QB in the draft this year. To go along with his mobility, Nichols has an underrated arm and a nice release that is perfect for the NFL.

He won the Big Sky offensive player of the year award last season, chucking it all over the field for a remarkable 3,744 yards, 34 touchdowns, and only 9 picks in 13 games.

This kid knows how to play and has a quick, NFL like, release on his throws. He is a proven leader and his maturity level is high and could make an immediate impact for a team that needs a starting quarterback.

 

RB Anthony Dixon Mississippi State-

Similar NFL Player- Brandon Jacobs

Projected Round- 3rd round

Dixon isn’t necessarily a guy who is completely unknown. He was a fairly big name in the SEC, and was a solid college player throughout his career with Mississippi state, but I don’t think that Dixon gets anywhere near the credit he deserves.

Dixon is an absolute beast at 6′1”, 250 pounds of pure muscle. He is the biggest and strongest runner in the draft, and creates yards after contact unlike any back in the draft.

He is a down hill runner and if Dixon gets a hole, there is no stopping this powerful back. When Dixon gets a full head of steam, it is impossible to slow him down, much like Brandon Jacobs last year.

This kid has all the abilities to be one of the best backs in the NFL, and I don’t think people realize that, at least right now.

 

TE Tony Moeaki Iowa-

Similar NFL Player- Jeremy Shockey

Projected Round- 4-5 Round Pick

Moeaki is a big, yet athletic tight end. He is 6′3” and weighs a solid 245 and had a solid 18 reps in the bench press. He is a strong young man that has the build to be an offensive lineman, and blocks almost as well as one too. However, where Moeaki has been really impressive is his receiving skills.

His numbers weren’t great in 2009, catching only 30 balls for 384 yards and 4 touchdowns. However, these numbers are deceiving, considering Moeaki was injured for four games in the season and his starting quarterback, Ricky Stanzi, also missed time.

When these two were on the field together, Moeaki put up huge pass catching games and dominated defenses. He destroyed Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, and Northern Iowa, posting almost all of his season numbers in these four games when Stanzi was in with him.

Moeaki is extremely athletic, has an NFL body, and hidden talents that most people don’t realize about him. If Moeaki gets into the right system, he could become an elite tight end in the NFL.

 

WR Danario Alexander Missouri-

Similar NFL Player- Plaxico Burress (Except Faster)

Projected Round- 5-6 Round Pick

Alexander is a beast athlete, coming in at 6′5”, 215 pounds of pure muscle, and a ridiculous vertical leap of around 45”. If Alexander can become a better route runner, there isn’t a corner in the entire NFL that can shut this kid down because he is so tall so strong and so athletic.

To go along with that, Alexander has outstanding hands. He caught 113 balls in 2009 against some of the best defenses in the entire country in the Big 12. He goes up and catches passes that look to be almost impossible to handle, getting higher than defenders and pulling balls down, similar to Larry Fitzgerald in a sense.

Alexander is a remarkable player who put up monster numbers last year in college. 1781 yards, 14 touchdowns, and a lot of long plays of 50 yards or more. Some reason he’s being completely ignored by scouts around the nation, projected to go late in the draft, or possibly not get drafted at all.

It boggles my mind that people think of this kid as a bust because Alexander is one of the most talented wide receivers in the country. If a team picks him in the 5th-6th round, it could be the biggest steal of the draft. If Alexander improves his route running skills and stays health, he will be a dominant force in the NFL for years to come.

 

These kinds of players are coveted by NFL teams across the country. Players with talent that could be found in later rounds of the draft. These are some guys that teams will be licking their chops to get their hands on during the NFL draft, and even though they haven’t gotten the publicity as some other players like Eric Berry or Sam Bradford, they have all the skills needed to contribute and be great players in the next level.

 

 

 

 

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For full information on the reasoning that determined my selections for this article, please visit my series on PackerChatters . My top choices for the draft as follows (in order):

1. Offensive tackle is the most important need, and the best chance to get a starter there is Trent Williams, assuming that Russell Okung, Anthony Davis, and Brian Bulaga are not available without giving away too much (a safe assumption since all are projected to be taken more than eight spots ahead of the Packers’ No. 23 selection). I have seen a few sources actually projecting him to fall to Green Bay, meaning unless he goes early the cost to trade up might be reasonable.
2. Brandon Graham is the best available outside linebacker, but he is expected to be off the board by the time the Packers pick. If a trade up for him is not especially costly, he would be worth it, because to me he is the only player that offers a sure upgrade over Brad Jones.
3. Kyle Wilson would give the Packers an upgrade in a position of immediate need, a less important position of great need (returner), and be a solution for what will be of great need in the near future. Chances are pretty good that Green Bay can get him if the cost to move up for another player is too high.
4. If all else fails, trading down is the logical solution, because no one else who will help at any of these positions is probably worth a first-round pick much less one in the third-quarter of that round. Take the best value trade someone offers to move up to No. 23 and just take the best player available between OT Bruce Campbell, OLB Jerry Hughes, and CB Devin McCourty…one of them will definitely still be there in the first four picks of the second round.

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After locking up NT Ryan Pickett and FS Nick Collins, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy thinks RT Mark…

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If you thought the Green Bay Packers’ defense couldn’t get any scarier, well you’ve just been proven wrong. Two of the Packers’ powerhouse players were resigned on Friday after originally being doubted, and the backbone of the Packers’ defense is now in tip- top shape heading in 2010.

Nick Collins and Ryan Pickett were always questioned in regards to their future with the Packers, but in the long run, all the worrying and stress has calculated in a strong and convincing signing that is set to keep Collins and Pickett in Green Bay for a number of years to come.

Ted Thompson, who has been criticized as of late by Packers fans for his poor motivational skills during free agent signing, has now arguably redeemed himself by gifting Nick Collins with a $23.4 million contract, and a spot in the Packers’ lineup for another three years.

But what does this small, but meaningful signing actually mean in the long run?

Sure, the Packers’ 3-4 defense is going to be just as solid as it was in 2009, but realistically, the bigger picture is Green Bay faithfuls no longer have to worry about the Chicago Bears taking over the North, and winning with their talented defensive roster.

As hard as it is to forget Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher, surely the mere fact that Charles Woodson and Nick Collins are making a return in 2010 sends Green Bay to the top of the defensive favorites. Not only that, now 100 percent healthy and fit, Al Harris makes his return to the Packers, and I think it goes without saying that he brings a well- felt presence to the cornerback position.

Fortunately for Green Bay, the offense is still just as solid. No wide receiver, quarterback or running back issues, and the 2009 Packers may just be outdone by the 2010 Packers. 

Not that I can say the same for Chicago, who have already had their fair share of quarterback worries with Jay Cutler, and the wide reciever corp is still lacking with Devin Hester being the only real notable talent on the lineup.

I know it may seem like I am more or less “bagging out” the Bears, but it has come to my attention that the Chicago fans are liking their chances this season, and that is something that Packers fans should take a good, hard look at when considering a possible Super Bowl winning season.

But what about that other team? The Minnesota Vikings. Well at the moment, my guess is as good as yours. With Brett Favre still playing head games on the Tonight Show, and a possible LaDainian Tomlinson signing still hanging in the balance, Minnesota still isn’t going anywhere just yet. 

Still, with a good few months to go until the regular season even looks to kick off, the NFC North is heating up. Interestingly enough though, it is the offenses that are being ignored, and the defenses that are receiving the main focus.

With Pickett and Collins now back, along with the barrage of other talent such as Clay Matthews and Atari Bigby returning, there is no reason not to believe in the Packers’ chances next season.

I won’t predict the Super Bowl just yet, but the North is up for the taking. With free agency nearly over and the draft firmly around the corner, the sky is the limit for the Green Bay Packers. Let’s just hope Ted takes advantage of it.

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After inking Chad Clifton to an extension to a three-year extension, the Packers proved they weren’t done. Despite having Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins and starting nose tackle Ryan Pickett signed to one-year deals, getting those two signed long-term was considered the offseason’s highest priority.

Packer fans can breathe a little easier now.

Ted Thompson has always been known for focusing on drafting and retaining players, rather than making splashes in FA, and here, he stuck to his roots. There was some question about deals getting done, as many expected Collins’ deal to be finalized by training camp, but nothing materialized.

On Friday, Collins signed a three-year extension (in addition to the upcoming season) worth $23.4 million. Including this season’s $3.3 million tender he signed as a restricted free agent, the deal is four years and worth $26.7 million, including $14 million this season. Whether he’s worth that much as a safety is another discussion. For now, let us rejoice that the two-time Pro-Bowler is locked up through 2013.

Pickett’s deal, according to an NFL source, was worth $28 million over four years, including $10 million in the first year. He is also locked up until 2013.

These three signings (Collins, Pickett, and Clifton) have a combined worth of $75 million, with $31 million of it this year. In a capped year, that would be huge; however, because the deals are front-heavy, most of the money will be payed while the league is uncapped, and if a new CBA is reached before the 2011 season, the cap numbers will be much smaller.

And yet, the Packers may not be done. Head Coach Mike McCarthy is optimistic about signing veteran RT Mark Tauscher, whose midseason signing last year may have saved the Packers’ season. The offensive line allowed only 14 sacks in the eight games Tauscher started, compared to the 36 allowed previously. Keeping Tauscher would keep the pressure off finding a starting-caliber OT in the draft.

McCarthy is also confident play will improve from the two veterans, Clifton in particular. Since Clifton isn’t coming off surgery or rehab, he’ll be healthier, in better shape, and more productive.

These moves are great for the Packers, as pressure on nailing draft picks slightly lessens, especially if Tauscher is resigned. Things are looking good in Green Bay.

 

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