Green Bay Packers defensive free agents: Who stays and who goes?

B.J. Raji

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports photograph

7. B.J Raji – the Packers drafted Raji as the NT of the future, but moved him off his mark in favor of Pickett this year, leading to career low numbers. Raji was obviously not happy with his situation, as he already declined an $8 million per year offer from the Packers early on in the season. Once a dominant force on the line, Raji coasted this year, seemingly determined to test the free agency waters.

• Returns to GB if – Raji comes back down to Earth. He’s feeling himself right now and can’t see that the Packers offer of $8 million a year was more than generous. He is currently bringing in little more than $3 million per year and is set to hit free agency, where he will most likely be offered between $4 and $6 million. If he is willing to take a deal worth less than $8 million to return to GB and most likely be moved back to NT, Raji will re-sign. The Packers are not likely to offer so high a bid the second time around; and he isn’t likely to find anything close to that kind of generosity from any of the other 31 teams.
• Walks from GB if – he is overpaid elsewhere. It could happen, we’ve seen the big name acquisitions like Greg Jennings, Mike Wallace, Kruger and Ellerbe be signed to big contracts based off of previous big seasons. They don’t always live up to the hype. Raji is coming off his worst season as a defensive lineman and chances are good that he won’t attract the attention that he thinks he deserves.