Tauscher's deal for this season only
The contract that tackle Mark Tauscher signed this morning is for the remainder of the 2009 season only.
Tauscher, who is in his 10th NFL season, said the Packers were the first team to offer him a contract. He worked out for the Kansas City Chiefs two weeks ago, but the Chiefs didn't make him an offer.
The NFL minimum for a player with nine accrued seasons is $745,000. Players are paid in 17-week installments (16 games plus the bye week), so Tauscher already has missed five weeks pay. It's not clear yet whether Tauscher's contract has performance-based incentives or is strictly a minimum deal.
Tauscher had been working out mostly at the University of Wisconsin, where he went to college, since he had surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Jan. 15. He said he felt good after practice but indicated that he's probably not quite ready to play yet.
"I'm in good shape," Tauscher said. "But there's a different between football shape and jogging down the street shape."