AllGreenBayPackers.Com

With the NFL rumor mill ablaze during the combine, multiple sources have reported/claimed/inferred/guessed/made up/straight up fabricated news that Greg Jennings was a candidate for the franchise tag (Jennings did not receive the tag after all that) and that the Packers were getting sick of Jermichael Finley’s off the field antics and on the field inconsistency are were looking to part ways with the tight end, whether that be from trade or ultimately by cutting him.

• Option 1: Packers do nothing; Greg Jennings enters free agency and Jermichael Finley plays out his contract: This is probably the most realistic situation given Jennings’ recent comments and the historical inactivity of general manager Ted Thompson when it comes to free agent signings.  Jennings believes he’s worth $12-14 million and I’m certain the Packers disagree with that; while Jennings isn’t likely to get a contract average even close to that, he will probably get some higher offers than what the Packers are willing to offer.  On the other hand, it appears as if the Packers are still mixed on their feelings about Jermichael Finley; his up and down performance coupled with his off the field antics (such as throwing his quarterback under the bus), have apparently left some in the Packers’ front office sour.  Unfortunately, Finley also possess the capability to single-handedly break a defense and the Packers will likely give the mercurial tight end one more year to prove he’s worth the money.  Probability: Very likely

---- Get AddToAny

Matt Flynn will hit the open market March 13th.

The deadline for franchising players has come and gone without the Packers tagging Matt Flynn. While Ted Thompson may have worked hard to complete a trade that would provide a team with exclusive negotiating rights to Flynn, it appears that Robert Griffin III and Peyton Manning ultimately killed the market for Flynn.

The four most likely suitors for Flynn’s services are the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks. All four have also been mentioned as potential landing spots for both Griffin and Manning.

With Manning probably set to be cut later this week and the Rams officially auctioning off the second pick in the NFL Draft, it is likely that these teams were reluctant to commit trading for Flynn with decent shots at what they may consider better options. By agreeing to a trade with the Packers, the team that did so would be eliminating themselves from RGIII and Manning sweepstakes too prematurely.

It will be interesting to see which team decides to “settle” for Flynn and at what cost. Those four teams are the most quarterback-needy behind the Indianapolis Colts who will be drafting Andrew Luck with the first pick of the draft. The four teams are likely competing for the three quarterbacks, Flynn, Manning, Griffin. The market for these quarterbacks will get wild as soon as the first team makes their move, whether it be signing Manning or Flynn, or impressing the Rams enough to work out a deal pre-draft.  Read more... (537 words + 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

The Packers decided against franchise-tagging Matt Flynn Monday.

Packers quarterback Matt Flynn will be free to sign with whichever team he so chooses this spring after the NFL’s franchise tag deadline passed Monday without GM Ted Thompson slapping the $14.4 million tender on the 27-year-old backup.

Instead of taking the risk of tagging Flynn and then trading him to a quarterback-needy team, the Packers have decided to play it safe and let Flynn become an unrestricted free agent on March 13. Depending on how a number of factors play out, the Packers could receive a third-round compensatory pick in next year’s draft for letting Flynn walk.

Early opinions following the re-signing of tight end Jermichael Finley to kickoff the NFL Combine were that the Packers would tag Flynn and find a trade partner, which potentially could have landed a first- or second-round pick in exchange. As the process wore on, however, it appeared less and less likely that the Packers would go down that route.

The Packers certainly did their due diligence to investigate whether the tag-and-trade route would benefit the franchise, but the risk of getting stuck with a $14.4 million backup outweighed the potential of acquiring a top pick in the 2012 NFL draft. Starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers makes more than $6 million less than the quarterback franchise tender.  Read more... (483 words + 1 image, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Could the Packers tag-and-trade free agent QB Matt Flynn?

Now that the Green Bay Packers have re-signed tight end Jermichael Finley to a two-year, $15 million deal Wednesday, the focus has shifted from what could have been a messy franchise-tag dispute on Finley to whether or not the Packers will tag-and-trade free agent quarterback Matt Flynn.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel beat writer Tom Silverstein thinks the Packers will likely franchise tag Flynn and attempt to trade him away for a high draft pick or two. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King also speculated that Finley’s deal makes it more likely that the Packers would franchise tag Flynn.

Naturally, the increase in compensation from a tag-and-trade with Flynn—which could be a draft pick one to two rounds higher than the compensatory pick the Packers would likely get if he walked in free agency—makes this option very appealing. The Packers would also be receiving a pick or two in the 2012 NFL draft, not a 2013 pick like if Flynn walked.

But there would also seem to be a big risk in going down this path with Flynn.

For one, the Packers would have to clear cap space to fit in the $14.4 million a franchise tag would cost on Flynn. By most estimates, the Packers are currently at around $10-11 million in cap space.

Letting go or completely re-structuring the deals of both Donald Driver and Chad Clifton would get the Packers plenty clear of the $14.4 million mark.  Read more... (696 words + 1 image, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

It was to good to last…  Now the rest of the world knows that without Aaron Rodgers, the Packers wouldn’t just have a chance, they probably wouldn’t miss a beat.  With a 480-yard, 6 touchdown performance against the Lions yesterday, which are both Packer team records, Matt Flynn has perhaps become the most sought out free agent acquisition in the upcoming offseason.

Now comes the question of what general manager Ted Thompson should do with Matt Flynn; I think it should be apparent to everyone that Flynn has no place on the Packers 2012 roster, Aaron Rodgers is “the guy”, Flynn’s far too good to be a backup and it would be salary cap and team chemistry suicide to have both Flynn and Rodgers on the roster next season.  So should Thompson let Flynn walk with his best wishes or should he use the franchise tag on Flynn and hope to get something in return?

For using the Franchise Tag  Read more... (1139 words + 1 image, estimated 4:33 mins reading time)

• Quarterback is the most important position in football: There no way to hide a quarterback, either you have a star or you need one.  And there definitely aren’t 32 starting-caliber quarterbacks in the league.

---- Get AddToAny