Packers cornerback Sam Shields, a restricted free agent, will be brought back into the fold for next season.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

The NFL Free Agency period doesn’t start for more than a week, but already rumors of player movements are rolling across the league – though it looks like the Green Bay Packers role will be very limited – like that’s a shocker, right?

Ted Thompson has been about as active in free agency over the years as Santa Claus at Easter. Nevertheless, there has been some talk that Green Bay may slap the Franchise Tag on wide receiver Greg Jennings. Well, let’s put an end to those thoughts immediately.

The deadline for placing the tag on a player is Monday, March 4, 4 p.m. EST (3 p.m. CST). If the Packers had been serious about all this, they would have been negotiating to re-sign Jennings. That hasn’t occurred and neither will the franchise tag.

We’ll talk more about the Packers’ unrestricted free agents as we move through the week toward the unofficial and the official start to the bargaining period. But first we must take a look at the team’s restricted free agents.

Tom Crabtree
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Those restricted Packers players are Sam Shields, Evan Dietrich-Smith, Robert Francois, Frank Zombo, and Tom Crabtree.

Now, the Packers aren’t going to tender all of these players – simply put, if they were to do so, they would have to match contract offers by other teams to retain their services. Clearly, the Packers aren’t going to want to retain Frank Zombo – so he’s out of the equation. He will become an unrestricted free agent as soon as the Packers say they aren’t interested.

However, the other four will be tendered, but each of them will be tendered by varying degrees. I know, it gets a bit complicated here, but stay with me.

There are tendering categories: high, medium and low. Here’s the way each of those designations have been described:

If another team signs away a low-tendered player, the team that incurs the loss gets a draft pick in the same round that player was chosen in as compensation. Medium supplies a second-round pick and the high tender carries a first-round pick as compensation.

There are also dollar amounts associated with each tender, meaning the team has to pay the restricted free agent X dollars on a one-year deal. For the low tender that is $1.323 million. Medium is $2.023 million and high is $2.879 million.

That being said, Shields will get the high tender = a one year contract worth $2.879 million; Dietrich-Smith, medium = $2.023 million; and Crabtree, low = $1.323 million. Francois will be offered the veteran’s minimum which is $715,000.

It will be interesting to see if the Packers gamble even more and don’t offer Dietrich-Smith or Crabtree the higher tenders. They might not in hopes they can bring them back into the fold for fewer dollars. However, even at the higher tenders listed above, they will be good values for the team.

In all, it looks like it will cost the Packers between $5 million and $6 million to bring these players back, which will leave the team with about $16-$17 million in which to work with in possibly signing a free agent or two, as well as retaining some dollars to rework the deals for B.J. Raji, Clay Matthews and Aaron Rodgers.

Chris Canty
Photo by Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger via USA TODAY Sports

Former New York Giants defensive lineman Chris Canty is expected to visit Green Bay this coming Wednesday, while the Packers have also expressed an interest in visiting with 49ers defensive lineman  Ricky Jean-Francois. No visit has, as of yet, been set with him. There has been some speculation that the Packers may also be interested in the services of Cullen Jenkins, but again, no visits have been scheduled.

The unofficial start to free agency (when teams can start talking with players’ agents) begins Friday, March 8, while the official start to the period begins Monday, March 12.

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Packers cornerback Sam Shields will most likely receive a nice boost in his salary this spring.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

By Tuesday, March 12, 3 p.m., the Green Bay Bay Packers will face a decision on how to proceed with the five restricted free agents among their ranks.

What will be their direction and what can they afford at this point?

Of the five – Sam Shields, Evan Dietrich-Smith, Tom Crabtree, Frank Zombo and Robert Francois – it will be Shields and Dietrich-Smith who will command at least a bit more than the veteran minimum. Published reports today are saying that those two, who were starters for portions of last season, will be offered about a combined $4 million and some change.

Throw in Crabtree, who will be offered just more than another million and you’ve got three solid, contributing players at about $5 million against the Packers salary cap, which currently sits at around $20 million.

Whether Frank Zombo is back with the Packers will depend on whether any other teams offer him a nice salary boost and whether the Packers want to match it.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

As for Zombo and Francois, they are on their own. Unless someone else swoops in and picks them up at a price they can live with they most likely will be brought back to compete for a spot on the team. Zombo, the ever-injured linebacker, may simply be cut, but Francois has contributed in spot linebacking situations and has been a contributor on special teams, so he is valued a bit higher.

However, the Packers certainly value the contributions of Shields, Dietrich-Smith and Crabtree and will probably give them what they need for them to stick with the team. Shields, especially, has shown he deserves a shot as a starter next year. Though he started very slowly in training camp, by the time the regular season began, he was a regular contributor and showed some spunk and aggression in coverage. He was starting to come into his own before he got injured against Houston. He was out several weeks, but came back without missing a beat – demonstrating to the Packers that he is a player with which to reckon.

Dietrich-Smith, most well known as the player who was stomped on by Mr. Suh in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day 2011, took over as the starting center at the end of last season after Jeff Saturday was benched. He played well, but not great, and isn’t a shoe-in to be a starter next year. In fact, the packers most likely will go out and secure at least one lineman in the draft to compete.

Crabtree has shined in specific spots, most notably last year on the fake field goal against the Bears when he scored untouched and on a long pass play against the Houston Texans for a touchdown. He’s a decent blocker and gets open against specific coverages – and he’s a fan social media favorite. The Packers like his blue collar work ethic and will probably make sure they keep him on the roster.

The bottom line question is whether the Packers will make more room on the roster and attempt to clear more cap space as we move through free agency and into the draft. One of the bigger questions is whether the Packers cut ties with A.J. Hawk and Jermichael Finley to help with the camp situation. My guess is that Finley sticks and Hawk goes – just a gut feeling. Maybe Ted Thompson feels good enough with the cap money they have and moves on with Hawk and Finley … we shall see.

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