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Packers DL Johnny Jolly

According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers have made a deal with the recently re-instated Johnny Jolly to reduce his salary from $2.5 million to $715,000 for the 2013 season.

Jolly signed a 2.5M first round restricted free agent tender in 2010, before getting arrested again and subsequently being suspended by the NFL.  Jolly had been released from jail in May after serving six months of a six year sentence, but remained suspended by the NFL until just a few weeks ago.

Despite Jolly’s repeated missteps, the Packers organization have shown considerable compassion for Jolly, believing he is not a bad guy, but more a victim of choosing friends and situations poorly.  Many teams would have cut him by now, but not the Packers.

The Packers are certainly hoping their faith in Jolly will be rewarded, especially with the possibility of Jerel Worthy not being ready for the start of next season. Jolly has played well for the Packers in the past, knows their system, and is a much cheaper option than bringing in a free agent like Chris Canty.

Silverstein points out that the Packers could still choose to release Jolly down the road, and it’s not known if the Packers have had an opportunity to work him out to see what kind of shape he’s in.

As it stands, the Packers save $1.8 million on this year’s salary cap and will only owe Jolly 383,000 if he ends up on injured reserve. That’s a win-win for Ted Thompson.  Read more... (310 words + 3 images, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)

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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 CB Tramon Williams found himself in the falling category. Safety Morgan Burnett was steady.

The Packers end of season, full roster stock report is upon us. Below are over 2,300 words of insight, analysis, opinions and nonsense about every player currently on the Packers roster.

Read closely and enjoy, because many of these players likely won’t be around in 2013.

I incorporated each player’s performance from this season, and their future outlook while categorizing. Please agree or disagree in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading the weekly stock reports. Onto the last one:

Rising

Aaron Rodgers
It wasn’t as great as his MVP campaign, but it was still damn good. With chaos and injuries swirling all around, Rodgers kept the Packers offense moving forward and limited mistakes. A fine all-around performance and no reason to think it won’t continue in 2013.

Randall Cobb
With Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson hobbled most of the season, Cobb broke out and turned into the Packers most dangerous weapon. I worry a little about his durability, but his production when healthy was great. Oh, and he needs to drop fewer passes.

DuJuan Harris
Is this too much praise for the 5-foot-7, 210-pound rolling ball of butcher knives? Maybe. But if I’m buying Harris stock, I want in right now. I think he’s going to stick with the Packers and get a chance to make some noise.  Read more... (2396 words + 1 image, estimated 9:35 mins reading time)

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Johnny Jolly – Deserving of Another Chance?

It’s been two years since Johnny Jolly last played in the NFL. After multiple drug possession arrests and convictions as he fought a codeine addiction, Jolly sat in a jail cell last November facing another 6 years in prison. Having received some breaks from the judicial system previously, Jolly would receive what will hopefully prove to be the biggest break of his life.

In May, Jolly asked for and was granted “shock probation” by a Houston judge. Shock probation can be granted to first-time prison attendees who can convince the judge that they’s been sufficiently “shocked” or “scared straight.” Jolly was re-sentenced to ten years probation and released.

Soon after, in early June, Jolly applied to the NFL for reinstatement and has heard nothing since. Of course NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been busy dealing with some other minor distractions, namely Bountygate and the concussion lawsuits. But if Jolly wishes to have a chance to play this season, whether with the Packers (who still hold his rights) or another team, he needs to get into a training camp sooner rather than later.

For his part, Jolly talks of being eight months sober and how he has finally taken the steps to evaluate his life and find the right group of people to help him.  A cynic might say that we’ve heard this kind of talk before, but has his stay in prison coated those words with a new layer of truth?  Read more... (501 words + 3 images, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sunday with no Packers Football

It’s already July, but football and the Packers first game still feels like it’s a long ways away. Good thing it’s never too early to talk some fantasy football.

Here are my way-too-early top five at each position, along with a darkhorse candidate and some random thoughts.

QB
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Matthew Stafford
5. Michael Vick

Darkhorse: Jay Cutler

Drafting a running back early in your fantasy draft is so 2006. I’ll take Rodgers, Brady or Brees over any running back. High-end, modern-day QBs put up ridiculously good fantasy numbers, and, most importantly, they’re consistent. Thanks to injuries, you can’t make the consistency argument for Stafford or Vick, but man, it’s going to be hard to pass those guys up for a running back if either remains on the board.

RB
1. Arian Foster
2. Ray Rice
3. Maurice Jones-Drew
4. Chris Johnson
5. Lesean McCoy

Darkhorse: Roy Helu

Running backs are a lot like closers in fantasy baseball. You can usually find good value at the end of the draft or on the waiver wire during the season. That said, it’s so hard to pass them up early in the draft. If you guess right, and pick a RB that remains healthy and gets plenty of carries near the goal line, you’re set. Picking a running back with your first selection used to be a no-brainer. Thanks the rise of the quarterback, running backs are no longer the safest bet.  Read more... (733 words + 1 image, estimated 2:56 mins reading time)

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Yesterday afternoon, our fellow blogger in crime Zach Kruse shared an interesting bit of information over at CheeseheadTV.com. Apparently some Green Bay Packers sources indicated to Pro Football Weekly that they “will not be shocked in the least if the team releases injury-prone DE Mike Neal after the draft.”

Neal’s recent violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy earned him a four-game suspension to start the 2012 season, and this has most likely put him on the short list in the mind of Ted Thompson. Of course, this is also just adding to the fact that, due to injuries, Mike Neal has only been active for 9 games in his first two years as a pro football player. And in only 3 of those games did he actually record a tackle.

A lot of fans have been hailing him as the second coming of Justin Harrell, though perhaps a bit prematurely. Now, though, it seems he also has a little bit of Johnny Jolly in him, too.

This is not the way to start an NFL career, especially one that carried so much promise (or “potential”) with it. Mike Neal is a second-round draft pick who showed some good flashes of ability in training camp, but not much else. A decent number of fans have already called for his release, and I’m sure they’re happy with this recent news from Pro Football Weekly. Yet the question remains:

Will Mike Neal play for the Green Bay Packers in 2012?  Read more... (1388 words + 1 image, estimated 5:33 mins reading time)

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Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is the NFC North's, and probably the NFL's, best draft choice since 2005.Introduction

Introduction
As Packers fans, we hear a lot about building through the draft and developing young players. I thought it would be interesting to examine each team in the NFC North to get a better idea of how drafted players impact current rosters.

So as baseball season gets underway, I decided to celebrate by writing over 2,000 words about the NFL draft.

I came up with a baseball theme (sort of) to accomplish this task. I break down each team’s drafts from 2005-11 by putting draftees in the below categories. I chose 2005-11 because it encompasses Ted Thompson’s time as Packers general manager. Here are the categories and an explanation of each:

Current Starters
This one should be obvious. Which players drafted from 2005-11 are current-day starters with the team that drafted them?

Home Runs
Players who have turned into pro-bowl caliber players or superstars.

Strikeouts
Players drafted in the first or second round that never did much of anything. I limited this category to absolute busts. For example, Justin Harrell was a wasted pick. He’s a strikeout. A.J. Hawk, while failing to meet expectations, remains a starter, wasn’t a complete bust, and shouldn’t be considered a strikeout. In baseball terms, Hawk is probably a walk. Walks are useful and better than striking out, but nothing to get too excited about.  Read more... (2235 words + 1 image, estimated 8:56 mins reading time)

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