Packers' free agency news and notes

Interesting posting on the Green Bay Press Gazette’s Insiders Blog today in which beat reporter Pete Dougherty (the Press Gazette’s best beat guy, in my humble opinion) gets two scouts to give their opinions on some free agent defensive linemen who could be possible targets for the Packers.

You can click on the link for the entire story, so I’ll just give you some of my thoughts on the list.

San Diego’s Igor Olshansky heads Dougherty’s list, which is funny because he heads my list, as well, now that Chris Canty is off the market.

My affinity for Olshansky has already been documented on this site, so I won’t bother re-selling him here. I will say this, though:  Seeing as though he didn’t get snapped up early in free agency, you have to think the Packers could now get him for a relatively low number. He should be priority No. 1 in free agency.

Two other somewhat appealing players were listed in the story: New England’s Mike Wright and Miami’s Vonnie Holliday.

Wright, 27, spent his first four seasons as a backup for the Patriots. He’s coming off his best season yet (27 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles) and can apparently play either end or tackle in the 3-4. Wright would also come very cheap and bring a knowledge of the 3-4/4-3 flex defense that New England runs (and Green Bay will now run).

We all remember Vonnie, don’t we? Taken by the Packers with the 19th pick of the 1998 NFL Draft (some guy named Moss went two picks later), Holliday posted good, but not outstanding, numbers over his five seasons with the team. Holliday then spent two seasons in Kansas City before playing the last four with the Dolphins, the team that just released him Monday.

Vonnie is now 33 years old and probably doesn’t have much beyond a couple of years left in him. That being said, he’s always been good against the run and posted solid numbers (46 tackles, 3.5 sacks) playing in the Dolphins’ 3-4 scheme last season. He’d come cheap, as well.

Tennessee’s Kevin Carter (age), Dallas’ Tank Johnson (lunatic), Oakland’s William Joseph (chronic underachiever), Baltimore’s Marques Douglas (too small) and Houston’s Anthony Weaver (even smaller than Douglas) do absolutely nothing for me and should probably be avoided at all costs.

Kuhn, Montgomery Hawk Wares

The Insiders Blog is also reporting a pair of Green Bay’s free agents, fullback John Kuhn and defensive end Mike Montgomery, have garnered some interests from other teams.

Kuhn has already visited with the Arizona Cardinals and, according to the post, might have a visit with an unknown AFC team sometime next week.

Montgomery, meanwhile, was visiting with the Atlanta Falcons today.

Kuhn played in all 16 games for the Packers last season, starting three contests. He was solid for the most part and looks to be on the rise. However, Korey Hall is firmly entrenched as the starter at the position and has more upside than Kuhn. Thus, if Kuhn receives an offer that’s much higher than the $1.01 million tender given to him by the team last week, Green Bay should thank him for his services and let him go. Kuhn was an undrafted free agent, so the Packers get no compensation if he signs elsewhere.

Montgomery, an unrestricted free agent, should not be brought back, even if Atlanta doesn’t offer him a contract. For all the talk about his ability, you can count on one hand (with less than five fingers) the amount of big plays Montgomery has made in his four years with the team. Good riddance.

–Chris Lempesis

Packers’ free agency news and notes

Interesting posting on the Green Bay Press Gazette’s Insiders Blog today in which beat reporter Pete Dougherty (the Press Gazette’s best beat guy, in my humble opinion) gets two scouts to give their opinions on some free agent defensive linemen who could be possible targets for the Packers.

You can click on the link for the entire story, so I’ll just give you some of my thoughts on the list.

San Diego’s Igor Olshansky heads Dougherty’s list, which is funny because he heads my list, as well, now that Chris Canty is off the market.

My affinity for Olshansky has already been documented on this site, so I won’t bother re-selling him here. I will say this, though:  Seeing as though he didn’t get snapped up early in free agency, you have to think the Packers could now get him for a relatively low number. He should be priority No. 1 in free agency.

Two other somewhat appealing players were listed in the story: New England’s Mike Wright and Miami’s Vonnie Holliday.

Wright, 27, spent his first four seasons as a backup for the Patriots. He’s coming off his best season yet (27 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles) and can apparently play either end or tackle in the 3-4. Wright would also come very cheap and bring a knowledge of the 3-4/4-3 flex defense that New England runs (and Green Bay will now run).

We all remember Vonnie, don’t we? Taken by the Packers with the 19th pick of the 1998 NFL Draft (some guy named Moss went two picks later), Holliday posted good, but not outstanding, numbers over his five seasons with the team. Holliday then spent two seasons in Kansas City before playing the last four with the Dolphins, the team that just released him Monday.

Vonnie is now 33 years old and probably doesn’t have much beyond a couple of years left in him. That being said, he’s always been good against the run and posted solid numbers (46 tackles, 3.5 sacks) playing in the Dolphins’ 3-4 scheme last season. He’d come cheap, as well.

Tennessee’s Kevin Carter (age), Dallas’ Tank Johnson (lunatic), Oakland’s William Joseph (chronic underachiever), Baltimore’s Marques Douglas (too small) and Houston’s Anthony Weaver (even smaller than Douglas) do absolutely nothing for me and should probably be avoided at all costs.

Kuhn, Montgomery Hawk Wares

The Insiders Blog is also reporting a pair of Green Bay’s free agents, fullback John Kuhn and defensive end Mike Montgomery, have garnered some interests from other teams.

Kuhn has already visited with the Arizona Cardinals and, according to the post, might have a visit with an unknown AFC team sometime next week.

Montgomery, meanwhile, was visiting with the Atlanta Falcons today.

Kuhn played in all 16 games for the Packers last season, starting three contests. He was solid for the most part and looks to be on the rise. However, Korey Hall is firmly entrenched as the starter at the position and has more upside than Kuhn. Thus, if Kuhn receives an offer that’s much higher than the $1.01 million tender given to him by the team last week, Green Bay should thank him for his services and let him go. Kuhn was an undrafted free agent, so the Packers get no compensation if he signs elsewhere.

Montgomery, an unrestricted free agent, should not be brought back, even if Atlanta doesn’t offer him a contract. For all the talk about his ability, you can count on one hand (with less than five fingers) the amount of big plays Montgomery has made in his four years with the team. Good riddance.

–Chris Lempesis

Packers finally bring someone in for a visit – and I've never heard of him.

According to a posting on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s website, the Green Bay Packers have finished up a visit with free agent strong safety Mike Adams, formerly of the Cleveland Browns. The story quotes Adams’ agent as saying the visit went well but also says that Adams will now head to New England for his next visit.

Let’s get to know Mike Adams a little bit, since I had never heard of him until a little while ago:

Undrafted out of Delaware, Adams, 27, had spent the last two seasons as a backup for the Browns. The first three seasons of his career were with the San Francisco 49ers, were he started 18 of a possible 38 games. It was with the 49ers that he recorded his best season, 2005, in which he had 77 tackles, four interceptions and 10 pass breakups. His numbers with Cleveland last year weren’t terrible, either, as he finished with 44 tackles and two interceptions.

The Packers would seem to be looking at Adams as a backup to Atari Bigby, although that’s strange considering Aaron Rouse already holds that position. Perhaps the team is thinking of moving Rouse or Adams to free safety or, just maybe, moving Rouse to outside linebacker.

Either way, signing Adams would be a decent move. He’d be extremely cheap and bring 3-4 experience – he’s played in the system the last three years – something the Packers are very much lacking at this point.

–Chris Lempesis

Packers finally bring someone in for a visit – and I’ve never heard of him.

According to a posting on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s website, the Green Bay Packers have finished up a visit with free agent strong safety Mike Adams, formerly of the Cleveland Browns. The story quotes Adams’ agent as saying the visit went well but also says that Adams will now head to New England for his next visit.

Let’s get to know Mike Adams a little bit, since I had never heard of him until a little while ago:

Undrafted out of Delaware, Adams, 27, had spent the last two seasons as a backup for the Browns. The first three seasons of his career were with the San Francisco 49ers, were he started 18 of a possible 38 games. It was with the 49ers that he recorded his best season, 2005, in which he had 77 tackles, four interceptions and 10 pass breakups. His numbers with Cleveland last year weren’t terrible, either, as he finished with 44 tackles and two interceptions.

The Packers would seem to be looking at Adams as a backup to Atari Bigby, although that’s strange considering Aaron Rouse already holds that position. Perhaps the team is thinking of moving Rouse or Adams to free safety or, just maybe, moving Rouse to outside linebacker.

Either way, signing Adams would be a decent move. He’d be extremely cheap and bring 3-4 experience – he’s played in the system the last three years – something the Packers are very much lacking at this point.

–Chris Lempesis