Starting right outside LB probably won't be Peppers

Starting right outside LB probably won't be Peppers
By Pete Dougherty • pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com • March 4, 2009


The starting right outside linebacker for the Green Bay Packers’ new 3-4 defense probably isn’t on their roster.


That means they’re looking hard at a deep draft and thin crop of free agents to fill the position.

In free agency, their top candidate is Dallas linebacker Kevin Burnett, though there are two or three teams pursuing him as hard.

The Packers appear to have “strong interest” and want to bring in Burnett for a visit, agent Ricky Lefft said, but Lefft started contract negotiations with Oakland on Wednesday and was expecting to begin talks with San Diego later in the day. Burnett visited both teams this week.

Burnett hadn’t set up a visit with the Packers as of Wednesday afternoon, and he also may visit the Houston Texans after finishing his visit in San Diego.

“I’m in discussions with Oakland as we speak,” Lefft said Wednesday, “and I’m expecting some dialogue from San Diego here in a little bit. We gave (the Chargers financial) parameters when we took the trip, so they know what it’s going to take. If we don’t get what we want there, we’ll go onto the next one.”

Burnett, 26, is a young player who has been a backup at outside linebacker and inside linebacker the last four years in the Cowboys’ 3-4 scheme. Dallas did not re-sign him because of its lack of salary-cap room. The Packers are looking at the 6-foot-3, 242-pound Burnett primarily as an outside linebacker, though they undoubtedly like his versatility.

With the Packers’ switch to the 3-4, Aaron Kampman will start at left outside linebacker, but the job at right outside linebacker is open. Among their current players, the main candidates are Brady Poppinga, Brandon Chillar, Jason Hunter and perhaps Jeremy Thompson.

Because outside linebacker is the prime playmaking position in the 3-4, the Packers will be searching all options to acquire a better-suited player or two for that spot.

After Burnett, identifying potential starting-caliber outside linebackers in free agency is difficul. The possibility of a trade for Carolina’s Julius Peppers, an elite player who has asked to be dealt, appears minimal.

Carolina has designated Peppers as its franchise player, which in effect prevents any team from signing him in free agency because it would have to give up two first-round draft picks.

Peppers’ agent, Carl Carey, wouldn’t comment on any trade talks for his client. A deal with the Packers appears unlikely on the surface because of Ted Thompson’s history as Packers general manager and the costs of such a deal.

First, the Panthers probably will demand multiple high draft picks, which would run against everything Thompson has done in four previous years as GM. Considering Minnesota gave up a first-round pick and two third-rounders to Kansas City for defensive end Jared Allen last year, the Panthers likely will demand at least a first-round pick, a third-rounder and perhaps more.

Second, any team would insist on a long-term contract with Peppers before agreeing to a trade, and Peppers’ contractual demands figure to be enormous, especially considering Carolina has to pay him $16.683 million this year as its franchise player. He presumably will want a deal similar to defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, who signed Friday with Washington for $48 million over the first four years, including a staggering $41 million guaranteed.

The biggest guarantee Thompson has paid was $20 million to quarterback Aaron Rodgers last season.

Short of such a blockbuster move, the Packers’ options in free agency aside from Burnett are pursuing an aging player such as Jason Taylor, who was cut by Washington this week, or projecting a backup-type 3-4 defensive end as a possible starter.

The Packers don’t appear interested in the 34-year-old Taylor, who had 35 sacks in three seasons as a 3-4 outside linebacker with Miami before being traded to Washington last year.

Taylor's agent, Gary Wichard, said his client has received calls from numerous teams, but not the Packers, and is going to take a few weeks to decide what to do. There also are questions about whether Taylor will play a 13th season because he wants to begin an acting career.

“He’ll probably be lining up somewhere,” Wichard said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Among the backup 3-4 ends available as free agents are: Cleveland’s Shantee Orr (6-1, 245), who had seven sacks for Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers while with Houston in 2005 but only 1½ sacks since; Andre Frazier (6-5, 245), who had one sack for Pittsburgh last year and has been mostly a special teams player with the Steelers and Cincinnati the past four years; San Diego’s Marques Harris (6-1, 231), who has six starts and eight sacks in four years as an outside linebacker with the Chargers; and Arizona’s Clark Haggans (6-4, 243), who had 31½ sacks for Pittsburgh from 2000 to 2007 but was a backup for the Cardinals last year and turned 32 in January.

The agents for Orr and Frazier said the Packers have not called.
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