And to those who'd argue that it's more important to lock up Jones or Nelson than it is to retain Donald Driver, I'm not ready to buy into that - those two have too many drops and - worse - fumbles for me to believe they can fill his shoes.
"ILikeThePackers39" wrote:
Maybe they can fill Driver's shoes and maybe they can't, but because they are just getting into their prime, each of them is worth way more than Driver at this point. They need to stay, if at all possible. Hopefully Driver recovers fully from his injury and our top four receivers can all stay. It may be time for Driver to become the #3 receiver (with Jones at #2) and third down specialist--sort of our Ricky Proehl. (Anyone remember him?)
As for other players, Tauscher is clearly finished, and so is Donald Lee. I would think the odds are against Bigby and Korey Hall due to constant injuries.
I think that either Hawk or Barnett will be gone. That will be very interesting. We have three very good ILBs and only two spots for them. I lean toward Hawk leaving, which I would hate to see because he has sort of been our unsung hero this season. But as blueleopard mentions, Hawk's contract situation is not conducive to him staying.
blueleopard does not mention C.J. Wilson, a DE who I think has a good chance of sticking--better than Howard Green, I think. He's still a bit undersized, but he's only a rookie and he will hit the weight room in the off-season. He's got some pass rushing skills, which Green does not.
I've got to think Poppinga will be gone. He's a below average player who has clearly maxed out his potential.
I think Brandon Jackson will stay. I doubt that he's impressed any other teams with his stint as a starter, and he is the perfect third down back for the Packers. He should be re-signed for a reasonable price.