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Packers DL Johnny Jolly

Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly has been reinstated by the league following a three-year suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Jolly was released from prison in May after serving six months of a six-year sentence on drug charges. After avoiding jail time following a similar charge in 2008, Jolly was arrested in October of 2011 and charged with possession of a narcotic compound containing codeine, which is a felony. He was already suspended by the NFL at the time of his arrest.

Jolly hasn’t played football since 2009, but the Packers could opt to bring him back to camp and compete for a roster spot. He was a restricted free agent at the time of his suspension, so Green Bay still holds his rights at the $2.5-million tender he received in 2010.

After being a two-year starter at Texas A&M, Jolly was selected in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played four seasons with the Packers prior to being suspended.

Brian Carriveau of Cheesehead TV tweeted a picture of Jolly’s reinstatement letter, which the defensive end posted on Instagram. His article ran before other media outlets ran with the story, and the news became public.

Pete Dougherty, of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, confirmed the story on Wednesday evening via Twitter.

NFL spokesman confirms Packers DL Johnny Jolly was reinstated effective Monday.

— Pete Dougherty (@PeteDougherty) February 27, 2013  Read more... (378 words + 1 image, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

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Packers DE Mike Neal

Defensive end Mike Neal served a four-game suspension to start the 2012 season. And now that he’s eligible to return to the field, the team has activated him to the 53-man roster.

Neal practiced with the team this past week, and he’s now available to play tomorrow against the Indianapolis Colts. Sunday’s game will be a bit of a homecoming for Neal, who was born in Merrillville–about 150 miles north of Indianapolis.

The Packers selected Neal in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft, but he’s appeared in just nine games in two NFL seasons. Still, Neal remains one of the Packers’ most athletic defensive linemen, and the team hopes he can provide a push up the middle.

Green Bay’s pass rush has registered 15 sacks through four games this season. However, the interior of the defensive line has been unable to generate much of a pass rush. None of the Packers’ six defensive lineman to play this season currently holds a positive grade in the pass rush department, according to Pro Football Focus.

To make room for Neal, the Packers cut veteran defensive end Phillip Merling.

The Packers signed Merling this summer as an unrestricted free agent from the Miami Dolphins. After an impressive training camp, the coaching staff decided to keep Merling over defensive lineman Daniel Muir while Neal served his suspension.  Read more... (299 words + 1 image, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

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Packers LB Erik Walden

As the Packers turn the page on Erik Walden’s one-game suspension, they’ve cut cornerback Brandian Ross to clear room for the 27 year-old linebacker.

Ross was inactive for Sunday’s game against the 49ers, but the Packers will likely try and keep him around to the practice squad. Teams have 24 hours to put in a claim for Ross before he’s eligible for the Packers to bring him back.

Walden will provide depth to the outside linebacker position behind starters Clay Matthews and Nick Perry. Matthews was one of just a few bright spots on Sunday, racking up 2.5 sacks–nearly half of last season’s total of six.

Ross was a surprise inclusion on the 53-man roster, so it makes sense that he’s been released to free up a roster spot for Walden.

While it remains highly unlikely that Walden will solve all of the Packers problems defensively, his return will be a welcome addition to the team craving a win over the Chicago Bears on Thursday. The best game of Walden’s career came against the Bears in the regular season finale of the 2010 season, recording 12 total tackles and sacking Jay Cutler three times.

Follow @MVEversoll

Marques is a Journalism student and also a columnist at Jersey Al's AllGBP.com and Bleacher Report. Follow Marques on Twitter @MJEversoll.

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Well here we go again, last year I was completely off and I don’t expect to be much different this year.  I have however thought a lot about the rationale for creating a NFL roster and I came up with these ideas a couple weeks ago, which I’ll try to use as my baseline rules.

Offense – 24 players

Quarterback (2): Aaron Rodgers, Graham Harrell

Rodgers is obviously a lock and I almost think it’s too late for a backup quarterback switch.  I know some people have been speculating that the Browns will drop the price for Colt McCoy and Thompson will trade for him, but my assumption is that the Brown’s asking price is way too high at the moment (since as far as I can tell no team has been in serious talks with the Browns), and chances are good Thompson will get outbid by some other team if the price does indeed drop into a competitive offer, so I suspect McCoy goes somewhere else and Harrell remains the backup quarterback.

Running Back (5): James Starks, John Kuhn, Cedric Benson, Alex Green, Brandon Saine

I’ve put Starks still as the lead runner, as I think Benson needs more than one good outing to take the pole position in my opinion; but really that might be a moot point if Starks can’t get on the field.  I think Brandon Saine’s spot really depends on the health and performance of Alex Green; if the Packers believe that Green is healthy and productive enough after his ACL injury that he can manage the 3^rd down back role by himself (with help from Kuhn), then Saine might be expendable, but personally I think was quietly becoming a very decent pass blocker, which the Packers highly covet.  Kuhn rounds out the group as the sole fullback.  Read more... (1685 words + 1 image, estimated 6:44 mins reading time)

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This is the face many players are dreading to see this week.

First, a little bit of a disclaimer:

I HATE doing roster predictions.

Why, you may ask? I don’t like pretending I’m smarter than I really am.  Packers GM Ted Thompson has one of the shrewdest minds in the NFL, and I don’t.  If I did, I wouldn’t be writing this right now.

I do not envy Thompson at this time of year, however.  He has done such a masterful job at building a roster that he in a sense backs himself into a corner each training camp and has to make some difficult choices. A third stringer on the Packers is sometimes good enough to be a starter on the other 31 teams, but thanks to the ludicrous depth Thompson has built, they’re stuck on the bench.

Since we’re on the topic, here’s my best guess at what the Packers’ opening day roster will look like:

Quarterback (2)—Rodgers, Harrell

I’m still on the fence as to whether or not the Packers hang on to Graham Harrell or trade for a more experienced backup.  Even if Harrell plays poorly against the Chiefs on Thursday, the Packers may keep him anyway.  If the Browns offer some conditional picks for Colt McCoy, if they even try to trade him, then I could see Thompson pulling the trigger.

Running Back (5)-Benson, Green, Saine, Kuhn, Starks  Read more... (823 words + 1 image, estimated 3:18 mins reading time)

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New Packers Running Back Cedric Benson

It has been reported by several sources that the Cedric Benson is on his way to Green Bay and will be signing with the team in the next day or two. Let’s assume he will sign. What does this mean for the Pack?

The team is getting a player who was drafted the same year as Aaron Rodgers and, in fact, was drafted before Rodgers. He went 4th overall to the Bears. Benson was the last 1st round pick to sign his rookie deal that year. He played in Chicago for 3 seasons and largely underachieved.

In June 2008, Benson was arrested twice in a span of 5 weeks for DUI and released by the Bears. He went on to sign with the Bengals in 2008. He has spent the last 4 seasons with the team and was not re-signed when his contract ended following 2011. Benson has garnered some recent interest from the Packers, Jets and Raiders.

One of the big concerns about Benson are his off-field issues. In addition to the DUI arrests previously mentioned, Benson was also arrested in 2010 and 2011 on assault charges in Texas where he starred as a Longhorn running back at University of Texas. After having met with Benson following the 2 DUI arrests and deciding not to suspend him, Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Benson for 3 games in 2011 following the last assault charge. It was later reduced to 1 game.  Read more... (668 words + 3 images, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

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As NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell has a responsibility to act ethically in bounty scandal suspensions.

We’ve all been following this New Orleans Saints bounty scandal for a while now, and although NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell recently upheld the four player suspensions in their appeal, the fight is far from over. The NFLPA has now filed a lawsuit on behalf of Will Smith, Anthony Hargrove, and Scott Fujita claiming that Goodell violated the labor agreement in the “investigation and arbitration process.” Jonathan Vilma is currently involved in a separate lawsuit against the NFL.

But I want to back up a little bit. When the news was released that Goodell denied the players’ appeals, he wrote a “public” letter to the players involved that outlined the foundations of his decision. Here is some of the text in case you’ve missed it:

Throughout this entire process, including your appeals, and despite repeated invitations and encouragement to do so, none of you has offered any evidence that would warrant reconsideration of your suspensions. Instead, you elected not to participate meaningfully in the appeal process . . .

Although you claimed to have been ‘wrongfully accused with insufficient evidence,’ your lawyers elected not to ask a single question of the principal investigators, both of whom were present at the hearing (as your lawyers had requested); you elected not to testify or to make any substantive statement, written or oral, in support of your appeal; you elected not to call a single witness to support your appeal; and you elected not to introduce a single exhibit addressing the merits of your appeal. Instead, your lawyers raised a series of jurisdictional and procedural objections that generally ignore the CBA, in particular its provisions governing ‘conduct detrimental’ determinations . . .  Read more... (2048 words + 1 image, estimated 8:12 mins reading time)

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