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"Packers General Manager Ted Thompson said he thinks Aaron Kampman can complete the transition to outside linebacker, that the team wants him back and will make an effort to re-sign Kampman. When asked if the team will definitely offer Kampman a contract, Thompson said, "I'm sure we will." Whether that offer comes close to the market value for Kampman or anything more than the June 1 tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights once training camps start remains to be seen, he is coming back from ACL surgery and his timetable for returning to the field will factor into when an offer is made."

Well, I guess Ted knows more than I do. I'm still hoping that this is more of a smoke screen than anything else.

I'd prefer that we'd trade him away. Now just because we'd get rid of Kampman and get a draft pick, but also because we'd actually draft another DE/OLB. Right now, I don't see him invest another pick in the position when we have Matthews, Kampman, Jones and Thompson at OLB.

Assuming Kampman heals well. He is still the best opposite of Matthews. He is a better pass rusher and run support than Jones. If Matthews and the rest of the defense were playing the way they were the 2nd half of the season all year, Kampman would be double digit sacks.

Bring him back if possible.

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I don't know what it is that we have to trade, Rock.

At a minimum we would have to tag him in order to trade him.

Tag and trade is kind of a shitty way to roll with Kampy.

I got no problem with retention of Kampy at a good number, or more accurately, the "correct" number for his circumstances.

I have to figure that it would be extremely difficult to do...A contract that is.

Kampy and his agent have an injury on the minus side of the equation, but they have unrestricted status in a highly restricted environment on the other.

I would be surprised if we retained him with anything but a tag. Nothing to do with how each side feels about one another, but just all the variables involved. That has to be a bitch of a negotiation to contemplate on both sides.

lol so someone wrote and article based on what they read from another article? That never happens!!!

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Then let him walk.

Tagging and trading would be very risky with the salary involved. You'd figure that the Saints, a team that can't sign a FA, especially if they lose in the SB, would like to put that D-line over the top by adding someone opposite of Will Smith.

I'd like to think that we could get a very late 2nd for him. Maybe even a late 1st if we package him with our 3rd rounder.

Kampman might be our best pass rusher once he's engaged, but it's all the other stuff he can't do as an OLB. He's not getting the leverage he used to when coming out of the 3 point stance. He doesn't have the speed to clear that extra space fast enough. He doesn't have the speed to drop back in coverage. He doesn't have the athleticism to play in a zone.

There's a reason why our DC is trying to fit him into spots that suit him better on 3rd down. He's not a great OLB. And that's exactly why he moves from LB to DE in college, as well.

I think that we might've gone the wrong way on this one. There was a time when he was going towards 290. Last season, I'm pretty sure he was close to 280. We let him lose some bulk and moved him to OLB. I'm wondering what would've happened if we had tried to let him add some and get to 295 to play DE.

I agree Rock. I would have to say that the most likely scenario is that we let him walk.

I honestly thought (at the time) that we would actually see some 4-3.---Dom knows it, and we have the bods. I remember thinking (with our draft and more vain hope that Justin would be on the field)...well, you know the rest, lol

Hindsight.

How bout if they keep Kampy for his rush ability in nickel, trade Jeremy Thompson, who barely saw the field, to a 4-3 team for a 4th or 5th, and draft another ROLB who fits the 3-4 scheme better?

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They were (are) high on Jeremy Thompson, provided he comes back with a clean bill of health.

I'd like to see Aaron Kampman back, but how do you improve his coverage skills, can you? I don't think he'd appreciate being relegated to a 3rd down and/or pass rush specialist, unless the contract was, let's say 1 million per sack or something crazy like with a base salary of 4 million a year.

I think we communicate to Aaron we want him back and he'll be paid nicely. We also compile a list (this surely is done already) of 4 - 3 teams and their positions of surplus talent. We then cross check our weakest positions and see if a trade can be had.

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Our nickel is a 2-4-5. Even in that, he's a LB. I've seen him put his hand on the ground in that one, but doesn't that pretty much take away the whole point of a 3-4?

Thompson has played standing up in college. From what I've heared, he's more fluent, better in his drop backs. And you're not going to get a 4th or 5th for a guy who didn't manage to get a sack in his rookie season and hasn't been healthy the year after.