I have no idea what his roster bonus and/or cap number is, but the money could be better used elsewhere. Paying Clifton top ten OT money for 5 games is absolutely assinine. Where's my partners in the trio of idiots - Nerdman and Non for this conversation?

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Chad Clifton (from rotoworld)
3/5/2010: Signed a three-year, $19.58 million contract. The deal contains $7.5 million guaranteed, including an initial roster bonus of $6,376,250. In order to max out the contract, Clifton must be on the Packers' 45-man game-day roster 16 times in each year. He can earn another $250,000 annually via workout bonuses.
2012: $5.25 million (+ $203,125 roster bonus)
2013: Free Agent

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You don't need your posse for this discussion. If you read my first post I said Clifton is gone. I have not seen anyone say he is going to be back. I said Driver comes back only if he has a new (more affordable) contract. And I think there is only a 50-50 chance they will come to terms that are mutually agreeable.

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Keeping Driver for one more year more so affects the development of Randall Cobb. I am not even thinking of Gurley yet since he hasn't proven much other than to be good in a practice session or pre-season match up (not saying he isn't going to be good).

Cobb is the player we should worry about if Driver's contract is restructured. When a linebacker is covering a wide receiver, that is not a good thing.

Sad to say, but Driver either has to hang it up or find another team (even if its a division rival).

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I'm not sure Donald Driver's presence hurts Randall Cobb. It's only his second season. An off season of mentoring from Driver might do more good than harm. As I said before, maybe keep one less TE and keep an extra WR if there's a 6th WR worth keeping. This is of course only if Donald Driver proves some value to the Packers on the field. He sure as heck won't be much of a contributor on Special Teams so I think he'll probably be out ... unless the Packers keep one less TE and keep an extra WR who's skilled in Special Teams.

Of the three in the original post, the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking Scott Wells is the only player who will return.

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Actually my 50-50 estimate on DD is high. It is more likely 35-65 that he will return. I simply wanted to say that it is far from a sure thing.

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What if Cobb is already better than Driver is? Driver's one of my favorite Packers of all-time, but he doesn't give the Packers' offense the kind of juice that Cobb does. Frankly, nobody does, which is why Cobb is such a special talent. The Packers need to devise ways to get him on the field more. Fact is that Driver's presence takes away snaps from Cobb, as James Jones, Jordy Nelson, and Greg Jennings are going to receive the majority of reps. I'd argue that Cobb should see more reps than Jones because defenses need to account for his speed, but that‘s a different discussion.

For the sake of this discussion, Green Bay keeps Driver, so he can continue to mentor the young receivers. This is something he's good at and he's probably a more valuable locker room asset than he is on the field now. However, he's the No. 5 receiver. He'll probably earn more money than most No. 5 receivers will and he doesn't play special teams. Kevin brought up a sixth receiver, but that doesn’t matter. The No. 5 receiver must contribute to special teams. If you lose a TE, then you’re losing a special teams player. In that sense, the No. 6 receiver isn’t pushing the No. 5 receiver out of the special teams lineup. He’s pushing that TE because odds are high that TE was playing a special teams role. There's only so many guys activated on game day. Driver's not running down the field and covering kicks anytime soon. The numbers just aren’t in his favor.

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good one porky. I was going to mention the TE played ST and failed to do so.

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I said last year Clifton wouldn't be worth it. Turns out I was right, he missed more than four games. Still I'm not sure he doesn't stick again this year. At least until Sherrod is ready. AND proves he can play. I suspect Sherrod might land on the PUP while he's still recovering from the broken leg, which will also keep him from getting reps in the offseason.

As for DD, he's got an uphill battle. Not only does he have to prove he's a better player than these other guys, but that a short term investment in him is preferable to a long term investment in the younger guys.

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Lots of good points, pro and con, mostly con on keeping Driver.

This I know was posted already but thought i would include the link

http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20120210/PKR01/120210198/Green-Bay-Packers-WR-Donald-Driver-willing-to-take-a-pay-cut-to-stay-with-the-team?odyssey=tab |topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Another interesting article from a week or so ago had this little blurb:

• Even though the Packers are well-stocked with young running backs like James Starks, Brandon Saine and Alex Green, who showed some flashes before suffering a season-ending knee injury, our sources suspect the team will still re-sign RB Ryan Grant, probably to a one-year deal.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/2012/02/04/seahawks-believe-healthy-gallery-will-rebound 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/139393643.html 

Too early to speculate IMHO, but I'll play.

Chad Clifton retires.

Donald Driver restructures his contract and is back in 2012.

Ryan Grant signs 1 yr deal and is back.

Scott Wells is signed to a 3 - 5 yr deal.

Jermicheal Finley leaves via Free Agency.

Charles Woodson re-structures his contract to be more cap friendly in 2012.

Rb's/Fb's at start of training camp:
Ryan Grant, James Starks, Alex Green, John Kuhn, Brandon Saine,Jon Hoese
If no injuries, Hoese goes to PS the rest make final cuts and are on 53 man roster.

Wr's at start of training camp
Jennings, Nelson, Jones, Driver, Cobb, Gurley, Borel and Smithson
Smithson and Borel go to PS, the rest make the final cuts and are on 53 man roster.

TE's at start of training camp
Crabtree, Quarless, Taylor and Williams
All make final cuts and are on 53 man roster

5 rb's, 6 wr's, 4 te's if I am right that is 1 more than the total last year at start of the season, that 1 will come from 1 less lb kept on final roster.

Bonus Info:

For their 1st pick of the 2012 draft The Green Bay Packers select:




CHANDLER JONES DE/OLB Syracuse University.

There I put it out there and will stick with it.

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