Changes are in store for the reigning Super Bowl champions, on and off the field.
Whenever the next football game is played at Lambeau Field, spectators will be treated to new state-of-the-art, HD video boards and an enhanced sound system thanks to a $13 million offseason project.

And, once football activities resume after the ongoing lockout, the team will have undergone some anticipated changes. Among them is a facelift on the defensive line.

The Packers presumably will go into the start of this year's draft April 28 with a mindset that they will have a starting spot to fill at defensive end, whether or not the league's labor conflict is resolved. As soon as free agency opens, Cullen Jenkins is expected to pull up stakes and find a new address after calling Green Bay his in-season home the last seven years.

"You get to a point where you want to go where you feel you're wanted," Jenkins told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in late February after the Packers didn't show interest in retaining him by either looking to sign him to a contract extension or placing a one-year franchise tag on him.

"The way everything came down, it's just time for a new start," Jenkins added.

With age (30) and an assortment of past injuries to consider, Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson evidently feels the time is right to move on without the versatile and productive veteran. Jenkins ranked second on the team in 2010 with a career-high seven sacks despite missing five games in the regular season because of a recurring calf injury.

Although Thompson said in recent weeks he hasn't ruled out bringing back Jenkins, it's all but certain the Packers will have a major piece of their Super Bowl XLV-winning puzzle to replace. Jenkins' formidable pass-rushing skills at right end enabled defensive coordinator Dom Capers to move star outside linebacker Clay Matthews from the right side to the left side before last season, and that forced opposing offenses to account for both sides with their pass blocking.

If Jenkins indeed is left to walk, the Packers won't have a dynamic bookend to pair with Matthews, whether it's a defensive lineman or another outside linebacker.

Mike Neal, a second-round draft pick out of Purdue last year, has the talent and Jenkins-like power and tenacity to assume the lead role. However, not enough of Neal was seen in 2010 - he sustained a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 5 - to know whether he can be a full-time difference maker.

The Packers also will have back a couple young prospects in C.J. Wilson and Jarius Wynn, but it's unclear whether they will hold onto Justin Harrell and retain the services of Johnny Jolly. Harrell has been an injury-riddled bust as the team's 2007 first-round draft pick; he missed all but the first quarter of the opening game last season because of a torn ACL. Jolly, a former starter, applied for reinstatement with the league after the Super Bowl after sitting out the entire season for violating the substance-abuse policy.

Head coach Mike McCarthy said at this week's NFL league meetings in New Orleans that Jolly is in the team's plans, pending a decision by commissioner Roger Goodell. But Jolly's time with the Packers is likely coming to an end following a March 25 arrest for being in possession of codeine.

With so many unknowns about their personnel along the defensive front, the Packers figure to give strong consideration to bolstering the depth chart there in the draft. They don't pick until No. 32 in the first round, but a deep class of D-linemen could yield a starting replacement for Jenkins or perhaps a successor to left end Ryan Pickett, who will be 32 in October.

NOTES, QUOTES

DT Johnny Jolly was denied bail Wednesday. He has been in a Houston jail since his arrest last Friday for possession of codeine, and will spend the next three weeks there. Stopped for a traffic violation, police learned his driver's license is suspended and ineligible for renewal. In a search of his car, police found 600 grams of codeine. Jolly was suspended by the NFL for the entire 2010 season. He has an April 20 court date on drug-related charges stemming from his alleged involvement in a drug ring that included the buying, selling and transportation of cocaine and marijuana between 2006-08.

While coach Mike McCarthy said DL Johnny Jolly is in the team's plans, that is now subject to further review after he was arrested Friday (March 25).

Jolly was arrested for felony possession of codeine. Stopped for a traffic violation, police learned his driver's license is suspended and ineligible for renewal. In a search of his car, police found 600 grams of codeine.

His suspension occurred when he settled charges for possession of codeine. Jolly entered a pre-trial diversion program in which his record would be wiped clean if he remained out of trouble for a year.

Jolly has been in jail since the arrest, and his request for bond was denied by a Harris County judge Monday (March 28). He is scheduled for a court appearance Wednesday.

At the league meeting, coach Mike McCarthy was asked about the futures of LBs Nick Barnett and Brandon Chillar, who both finished the 2010 season on injured reserve.

Said McCarthy "You have to look at the whole football team and how it fits together. Ted (general manager Ted Thompson) has made it clear from day one that we're going to keep as many good football players as possible. I don't look at that position any differently. That was an extremely competitive position going into camp last year. We felt from a depth standpoint it was clearly one of our better positions, and thank goodness it was with the injuries to both Brandon and Nick, we didn't miss a beat and A.J. (Hawk) and Desmond (Bishop) had excellent years and deserved those contracts. I don't really like to ever comment on medical situations because really a lot of this lays in the hands of what the doctors think.

Running back Ryan Grant recently made the rounds in the Milwaukee area. He said he's fully recovered from the right ankle injury that cost him all but the first game of last season.

Grant told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his weight dropped about 20 pounds to as low as 204 in the weeks after he sustained a torn ligament because he was on crutches and couldn't work out.

The team's top back no longer is rehabilitating the injury and has resumed his regular offseason training.

With the players barred from the team's facilities in Green Bay, Grant plans to join teammates Nick Collins, James Jones and possibly Brandon Chillar, who missed the last two months of the season because of a shoulder injury, for 7-on-7 drills with other NFL players in Florida.

Kicker Mason Crosby had a career-low four touchbacks on kickoffs last season, due in part to special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum's amended scheme that put an emphasis on placement kicking.

The strong-legged Crosby's touchback numbers figure to spike if a proposal by the NFL competition committee is approved by league owners at their annual meeting in New Orleans next week. The point of kickoff would be moved up five yards to the kicking team's 35-yard line. Any touchback, however, would result in a starting spot of the receiving team's 25-yard line, an advancement of five yards from the longstanding policy.

Crosby is headed to free agency whenever the league resumes business but is expected to be re-signed by the Packers.

He was among the league leaders in touchbacks his first three years as a pro with 14 in 2007, 17 in '08 and 12 in '09.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I do feel like there will be football at some point. But, maybe this needs to happen. Being a part of this from my stance might hurt me individually and might hurt my age group, but maybe this needs to happen for the younger guys down the road so that they're in a better position, so that for the future this doesn't have to happen (again)." - Running back Ryan Grant, on the league lockout.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

The Packers were awarded a fourth-round compensatory in next months' draft. The pick was awarded as compensation for the free-agent loss of LB Aaron Kampman.


OTHER TEAM NEEDS

Offensive tackle: This could be the position general manager Ted Thompson targets in the first round for the second straight year. Iowa's Bryan Bulaga, who was pegged as the eventual successor to left tackle Chad Clifton, wound up replacing an injured Mark Tauscher at right tackle. Having two starting tackles of the future, if not the present, in hand is a must.

Wide receiver: Donald Driver vows to play until he's 40, but the team's fringe No. 2 wideout is descending at age 36 after producing his worst numbers in nine years - 51 catches for 565 yards and four touchdowns. James Jones, if he can rectify his penchant for key drops, would be a worthy successor to pair with Greg Jennings, but Jones may leave as a potential free agent.

Running back: Ryan Grant and James Starks give Green Bay potentially a dynamic 1-2 punch in the backfield. However, there's no telling what kind of player Grant will be after he missed all but one game last season because of an ankle injury and whether Starks is the real deal following his breakout performance in the playoffs as a rookie. Plus, free agent-to-be Brandon Jackson could bolt.

MEDICAL WATCH: No updates.


DRAFT ELIGIBLE PLAYERS WITH PRIVATE WORKOUT OR VISIT

CB Antareis Bryan, Baylor (March 23)


FRANCHISE PLAYER: None.

TRANSITION PLAYER: None.

PLAYERS RE-SIGNED

LB A.J. Hawk: FA, had been released by Packers; $33.75M/5 yrs, $8M SB/$1.8M RB.

S Charlie Peprah: Potential RFA; $2.25M/2 yrs, $150,000 SB.

PLAYERS ACQUIRED: None.

PLAYERS LOST

TE Donald Lee (released).

S Derrick Martin (released).

USAToday wrote: