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Combine notebook: Packers will have hard time signing Williams

By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com

INDIANAPOLIS - The Packers probably will have an especially difficult time
signing defensive tackle Corey Williams to a long-term contract while he's
carrying their franchise tag, and could face a disruptive contract dispute
depending on how Williams handles the matter.


General Manager Ted Thompson placed the tag, a one-year contract worth
$6.363 million, on Williams Wednesday to keep him off the free-agent market.
But to sign a long-term deal, Williams probably wants an offer comparable to
what he thinks he would have received on the open market, where he probably
would have been the most coveted defensive tackle.


His agents' discussions with the team early this offseason yielded little
progress, and Thompson probably will draw a fairly conservative line on how
much he'll pay a player at a position where the Packers are especially deep.
Nevertheless, he tagged Williams because of concerns that one up-and-coming
defensive tackle, Johnny Jolly, is coming off major shoulder surgery, and
another key prospect, 2007 first-round pick Justin Harrell, had a pedestrian
rookie season.


So, while the Packers didn't want to lose the 27-year-old Williams, their
contract talks suggest they also could have a difficult time extending his
deal beyond 2008.


"Quite frankly, we didn't have many conversations with him," Thompson said.
"Andrew (Brandt, former vice president of player finance) touched base with
him a little bit. There's so much - neither side really wants to step out
and say, 'This is what I want,' or 'This is what I'll give you,' because
that's the way negotiations are. So, we never could get a handle on what the
market is. This just allows us to hang on to him and see."


That leaves open the possibility of contractual problems and missed
practices, depending on what Williams does. His agent, Blake Baratz, was
unavailable for comment, but he and Williams face some key decisions,
including whether to sign the tender immediately. If he does, the Packers
can't rescind the tag later in the offseason, and his $6.363 million
contract will be guaranteed. However, he'll also be obliged to attend all
mandatory offseason practices and training camp, and face significant fines
if he holds out.


If he doesn't sign the tender, the Packers could rescind it, perhaps in the
summer, and he'd go back on the open market, but when many teams will have
used up much of their salary-cap room. If he doesn't sign it and they don't
rescind it, Williams wouldn't be required to attend any offseason practices,
and could withhold his services for training camp and beyond in his quest
for a long-term deal.


On the other hand, he might be willing to sign the tender if he doesn't get
a long-term deal in hopes of playing well again and hitting it big in the
free-agent market next year.


"Things like that happen," Thompson said of the possibility Williams would
sit out training camp and perhaps beyond. "We'll see, we'll work through it.
We'll stay in touch with him and see how things work out."


Thompson didn't decide for sure whether to use the tag on Williams until
early this week. In the end, Thompson said good, big players are too hard to
find.


"We thought it was a fairly simple thing," Thompson said. "We think Corey is
a very good young player. He's been very durable, he showed a lot of
versatility this year, he's a good teammate and good in the locker room. We
felt like this is an avenue under the collective-bargaining agreement that
we had a chance to retain his services or at least have some control over
being able to keep him. So, we felt like it was the thing to do."


Murphy shows: New Packers Chief Executive Officer Mark Murphy made an
unexpected appearance at the scouting combine Friday because he wanted to
see it firsthand.


Generally speaking, few owners attend the combine, because aside from
Dallas' Jerry Jones, they're not involved in the firsthand scouting of
college prospects or the face-to-face negotiations that go on with agents.
However, Murphy is a former NFL player, who entered the league in 1977,
before there was a combine, and he wanted to see what it was like.


"It's amazing the way it's evolved," he said. "I always knew it was a major
event, but seeing it here in person ."


Murphy said only a few teams worked him out when he was a safety coming out
of Colgate, and that on the first day of the two-day draft, the Redskins
flew him and a handful of other players to Washington, D.C., under the guise
they were going to draft them the next day and wanted them there for a press
conference. However, they really wanted to keep them away from other teams
and sign them as a free agents, so immediately after Murphy went unselected
in the 12-round draft, Washington coach George Allen offered him a lowball
contract.


Despite being commandeered, Murphy managed to talk to several other teams
that wanted to sign him and got Washington to raise the offer. He signed
with them, was a co-captain from 1980 to 1984 and an All-Pro in 1983.


"(The Redskins) drove us around the city, showed us the Washington Monument;
it was really bizarre," Murphy said. "Then, as soon as the draft ended, they
drove us out to Redskin Park, the practice facility, and George Allen came
in and said, 'Mark, we really like you and here's our offer,' and then he
turns to his assistant general manager and says, 'If Mark doesn't sign,
let's get that safety from Oklahoma that we really like."


Etc.: Coach Mike McCarthy said because of the Packers' extended playoff run,
only players in their first two years in the league will spend the full 10
weeks in the team's offseason workout program. First- and second-year
players will report for the program March 17, and players in their third
season or more will report March 31. . McCarthy said it's in doubt whether
Jolly will be ready for the start of training camp after undergoing shoulder
surgery last year. "We'll play the high side of caution there. I'm not going
to say he won't be ready for training camp, but it may take all of training
camp to get him ready."

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