Per Adam Schefter:

Green Bay Packers placed their franchise tag on DT Ryan Pickett. The DT franchise tag is $7 million. Pickett not going anywhere.

Of course, this does not preclude a long term deal getting done, as Packer Update pointed out on Twitter (before he deleted it – way to stand behind your opinion!) with Wilfork reportedly close to signing a long term deal with New England, those parameters could help speed along negotiations between Pickett and the team. Is Pickett worth Wilfork money? Debatable, but that deal could be a helpful guideline, if not a blueprint.

UPDATE:

Thompson’s statement:

Ryan has been a good teammate and productive player for us on the field and also a good representative of the Packers in the community. We look forward to having him be a part of our future.

Emphasis mine. And I think that’s a bigger part here than people may think.

Greg Bedard has not been sitting around twiddling his thumbs down in Mobile.

His piece in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is stuffed with information regarding the Packers’ plan of attack when it comes to their mammoth free agent class. As was reported toward the end of the year, the Packers are talking contract extension with Ryan Pickett, which is, in my view, the absolute right thing to do. Pickett did much better than expected at the nose tackle position, and the fact that his backup, top draft pick B.J. Raji, was less than awe-inspiring when he filled in at the nose, makes getting Pickett back in the fold all the more important. The defense simply operated on a different level when Raji was allowed to rotate in at defensive end and nose. Add in that Pickett reportedly is a fantastic locker room guy, I love that he seems on track to be back, with Bedard writing he could be signed within a few weeks.

In a mild surprise, Bedard also reports that the Packers next move will be to resign Clifton with an eye to trade for or draft a tackle as well. They don’t view Clifton as ‘the answer’ obviously, but as a safeguard, which is fine.  Like I wrote a few weeks ago, you simply can’t count on the guy for a full season but the Packers would do well to protect themselves there.

The surprise comes in the form of the Packers plans in regards to Mark Tauscher. According to Bedard:

…the Packers may make an offer, but it’s almost certain to be on the low side.Thompson said Breno Giacomini, a fifth-round pick in ‘08 who was active for three games his first two seasons, will be expected to compete for the job.

Jesus weepin’ on the Cross, here we go again.

Not content to screw up the 2009 season with Alan Barbre, Thompson seriously intends to trot out Giacomini? The guy is a complete stiff who can’t bend, can’t set the edge and has a first step in pass pro that makes Barbre look like Michael Roos. I mean, it’s just absurd. This reeks of Thompson trying to justify keeping Giacomini around all year, even though with the offensive line falling apart early in the year the coaching staff wouldn’t make him active on game day on a dare.

I’m all for letting guys develop, and we’ve seen guys struggle early before only to watch as they blossomed into quality players. But that’s the thing – we watched them. They were in games. Guys like Mike Whale and Mike Flanagan at least had the natural abilities to get on the field. Giacomini is so obviously not ready for prime time it’s scary.

Lots more in Greg’s piece that you should check out, from the plans for Colledge (see ya Daryn) and Bigby (a true disappointment) to Thompson’s thoughts on Kampman coming back to the Pack (they’ll offer him a contract – I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t sign with a 4-3 team)

Make sure you read it all. Great stuff.

One of my biggest concerns when the Packers announced their intention to switch to a 3-4 scheme was the nose tackle position. I said then (and still worry now) that Ryan Pickett just isn’t the kind of dominate player you need at the position for the Packers to be successful. I also think far too much has been made of the transition Aaron Kampman is going through while Pickett’s transition has been completely whitewashed. I realize this is partly due to the perception that he’s just a big guy bumping into other big guys, but believe me, going from a defensive tackle in a 4-3 to the nose tackle in a 30 front is a big change.

So it’s nice to read things like this:

The common  thread was the defense taking it to the offense for most of the live work. The quarterbacks spent a lot of time running out of the pocket. The running backs spent a lot of time on the ground at or behind the line of scrimmage. On one play, Aaron Rodgers was chased out of the pocket immediately when Ryan Pickett split a double team.

The Packers need to see a lot of that for this to work and now that his main backup, rookie BJ Raji, is holding out, Pickett’s presence becomes even more valuable and important. He needs to be disruptive and demanding double teams on every play. If he can do that, this defense will have a chance at being truly dominant.

Of course, by the time you read this he could be signed with the Giants or the Seahawks, but if not…

The interest shown by the Packers in ex-Cowboy defensive end Chris Canty is surprising, but not entirely without precedent. Neither is Thompson’s deliberate approach. While Packer fans gnash their teeth and pull their hair out wondering why Thompson doesn’t throw stupid money at a second tier free agent, they would be wise to remember how Thompson went about acquiring Ryan Pickett. They have forgotten that Pickett was being pursued by several teams, most ardently by the Buffalo Bills. Thompson was patient, set his price and sold Pickett and his agent on what the Packers had to offer. When Pickett made it clear they were going to visit other teams, Thompson didn’t panic. He knew that the value he had assigned to Pickett was exactly where it should be and he refused to be pressured into overpaying. After seemingly losing out on the defensive tackles services, Pickett surprised most onlookers by choosing to sign with the Packers.

Now, this is far from a perfect analogy, of course. Canty is being persued by many more teams, and all of them save for the Packers are offering a 4-3 end position, a much more glamourus spot than the thankless end position in the 3-4. But Thompson’s early interest indicates that he is more than willing to meet whatever price Canty and his agent have set. No doubt Thompson (or Reggie McKenzie) has sold Canty’s agent on the Packers and what they have to offer (A young defense in need of leadership, a young talented quarterback who will only get better, a town that worships their football players like demi-Gods etc.) 

As stated above, there’s every chance Canty is signed somewhere by the time you read this. (As I said in the comments below – I’ll be shocked if he makes it past the weekend without signing a contract) But the chances the Packers could land Canty’s services are probably better than they appear.

I’m still dubious, but Mike Lombardi is selling that Pickett is a great fit for Capers’ brand of 3-4 defense. Who am I not to buy?

The 3-4 that Capers runs is not a two-gap 3-4 and uses quickness and movement of the defensive line to make plays. Ryan Pickett would be the perfect nose tackle in this scheme and they have plenty of 3-4 ends to make this work. The nose is never in a two-gap mode, he can swing from A gap to A gap in the same fashion he did when Pickett played in the 4-3. Quickness is the key for this to work and the Packers, once they get healthy, will be able to fit the pieces into the scheme.

Not sure I’ve ever seen Pickett’s name used in conjunction with the word ‘quickness’ but the idea of Pickett not playing two gaps is encouraging.

McCarthy just had his Monday presser and indicated that Ryan Pickett would be ‘questionable’ for Sunday’s game against Indy. I know people will think I’m insane, but McCarthy should sit Pickett against the Colts, thereby giving him two weeks to rest with the bye week following the Colts game. Yes, he’s our best run stuffer, but if he aggravates the triceps injury further on Sunday, you can kiss the season goodbye. Plus, the Packers catch a bit of a break as Joseph Addai and his backup had to leave the Colts’ game against the Ravens due to injury and most likely won’t play against the Packers.

If the medical staff says there’s zero chance of him making things worse, then he should be allowed to play. Otherwise, McCarthy would really be playing with fire if he let him take the field.

I am trying desperately to write a positive article about the Packers defense. I guess I could write about the linebackers being deep or the fact that we have two of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. But I keep coming back to Fritz Shurmur, one of the greatest defensive coordinators in Packer History, who said “If you don’t have a defensive line, you don’t have a defense”.

And so here we are at the end of Training camp with a multitude of questions- the most pressing being Ryan Pickett and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. Reports from Monday on KGB are not promising, Bob McGinn writes:

Back in pads Monday for the first time since his surgically repaired right knee acted up July 30, Gbaja-Biamila stayed away from making sharp cuts and tried to avoid heavy contact before shutting himself down with about 30 minutes to go.
If Gbaja-Biamila, whose cap salary of $7.727 million ranks No. 1 on the team, isn’t ready for Minnesota, the Packers probably would be down to using Jason Hunter at right end on passing downs. Rookie Jeremy Thompson, a fourth-round draft choice, has been invisible. Michael Montgomery is another option.

If KGB & Pickett can’t go, all Minnesota will have to do is double Aaron Kampman and Adrian Peterson has 200 yards rushing. Over at The Tundra Vision blog I have to take exception with this quote:

The sack, in my long-standing opinion, is the most overrated statistic in football. I would trade all my defensive sacks for consistent pressure, hurries, and knockdowns on the quarterback. Give me Aaron Kampman’s consistency over KGB’s once-in-a-while sack any day.

That’s like saying you would rather score field goals than touchdowns. Seriously. Please. There is nothing overrated about a sack and here’s why:

1. It has the potential to take out the most important position on the opponents team.
2. It’s a game momentum changing play.
3. It can generate negative psychological effects on the opposing team. (i.e. scare the living crap out of them- especially the QB)

And what about Reggie White? Are his record sacks in the Superbowl overrated? Come on.

I can remember many a game where we needed a game changing play and KGB delivered. The $7.27 million dollars KGB will make this year is worth it…if he is on the field.