Packers Resign LT Chad Clifton
by Brandon on Mar 5, 2010 10:51 PM CST
in Green Bay Packers Free Agency
21 comments
When LT Chad Clifton was allowed to test the market as an unrestricted free agent, I assumed it was a sign the Packers considered him done due to his age and recent injuries. But apparently they did think he was worth keeping. From ESPN's Adam Schefter:
Packers re-signed OT Chad Clifton. 3 years, $20 million, 7.5 million guaranteed.
This was announced shortly after Clifton spent the day visiting the Redskins. That's certainly a fair deal. The $7.5 million guaranteed amount is less than the 2010 franchise tag of $10.731 million for an offensive lineman.
Clifton can still play, but he's unlikely to ever start 16 games in a regular season again. That's OK so long as OL T.J. Lang is available for spot duty, or the Packers look for another young tackle in the draft. It's much better to have Clifton return than to watch a 2010 version of Allen Barbre (or potentially even Barbre himself) try and take over as the starting left tackle.
It's certainly a better move than taking that same $7 million in guaranteed money and giving it to RB Chester Taylor. Without a hint of irony, it's said that the Bears offense is now "very scary" after they "add a couple offensive lineman."
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Not sure I agree on the Chester Taylor comment. First, he got a 4 year 12.5 contract…sure the guaranteed part is the same but the rest of the contact is VERY different. Chester is a versitile and dangerous weapon who could have really given us an edge on offense in those tough third downs.
I don’t mind us keeping Clifton, but honestly does it improve our team? No…it just keeps us from getting worse.
"…it just keeps us from getting worse."
that’s a good first step! :)
Get out of my dreams and into my Chuckie Carr
-Molitorfan 12/23/09
haha Um WHAT???
three years, wow… nobody likes the uncapped year
RIP Jim Thome 1-25-2010
an AL team not having a DH is like a giraffe fucking a mule. - larry
Exactly...
Securing Clifton was the safe step. It had to be done. We couldn’t go into 2010 with a worse o-line than we had in 09. If we didn’t have Clifton, we would’ve had NO realistic options at LT. Now we can relax and look to the draft for his replacement. 3 years may seem a little lengthy, but I guess if that’s what it came to, oh well. Personally, I don’t know if we’ll be to keen on bringing Tauscher back at this point. Our starting line-up could very well be Clifton, Spitz, Wells, Sitton, and Lang.
"stay (green and) gold"
I completely agree
I seriously doubt TT was going to go get a LT in FA, meaning that if we didn’t resign Chad, we were mostly likely going to have at least one rookie starting tackle. Considering where we’re drafting in the first round, there probably wouldn’t be anyone suited to play LT, and we’d be stuck with sub-par tackle play for the next year.
Is the contract longer than I would have liked? Yes. Is it for more guaranteed than I would have liked? Yes. Was it necessary? Absolutely.
dickie_thon: Third baseman Bill Hall / Watches the third strike go by / Gamel grabs his glove
safe?
not safe. mandatory, no choices, backed into a corner, ect..ect…
this is what happens when you try to replace a LT with mid to late round draft choices. you can get away with that thinking with the RT, but the left tackle, not a chance. now you had to overpay your LT cause you had no other options, but you still need to draft a LT this year. probably in the 2nd round instead of the first.
2nd mock coming soon.
a lot of money
for an old, injury prone, flag prone, average player. however we didnt have much choice. TT has left us SO thin at OT that we had to resign clifton or give up a first and money for one of the RFA’s or trade way up in the draft. Personally I would have rather gone with the latter two options, but that’s not TTs way for better or worse.
I still hope we draft at least 2 OL this year.
I think we're forced to draft at least 2 OL's, still have too many holes.
2010 WhiteSox Baseball: "even if it works it's still stupid"
who do we draft now?
I expect that this signing of Clifton means that we will likely not draft an OT in the 1st round, unless TT and MM are sold on Campbell of Maryland, or Brown of USC as development projects.
My guess is that we take the best CB available in the 1st round, and go for a project OT in the 2nd or 3rd round. Someone like Veldheer from Hillsdale.
Project OTs
Do not come in the second round. They’re 4/5/6/7th round selections.
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Mar 7, 2010 4:48 PM CST up reply actions
Project OT
I could EASILY see us taking a project OT in the 2nd (Veldheer) or 3rd (Tony Washington) to learn behind Clifton for a year!!! It would allow the Packers to draft Jerry Hughes and complete the transition to a 34 D. Hughes has been my pick for the Pack for over a month!!! He is my favorite player in this draft.
Bulaga, Davis and Trent Williams should still be the pick if on the board (unlikely)… But the departure of Kampman and the re-signing of Clifton allows the Packers to focus on other positions instead of LT and make it more likely they pick Hughes and completer the transition to a 34 D!!!
+1
him or Sergio Kindle. If they aren’t availalbe, then draft a CB or trade down. Unless a really good OT falls in the 1st Round, I say we address this need in the 2nd Round.
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
available
I am not sure about Kindle… Most mocks have him going mid 1st rd.
Even considering that I still like Hughes more than Kindle! Kindle is more well rounded, but I love Hughes’ motor, tenacity, explosiveness and most of all his PRODUCTION!!!
26 sacks in the past 2 years, in 26 games?
http://www.draftboardinsider.com/cgi-bin/prospect.cgi?id=905
It's a good move.
I like the signing, it is the first step towards being better at the tackle positions next season. We’ll see Tauscher resign too, I hope. I’m not keen on Cambell, unless he’s around in the second. He’s a combine stud, but really rough.
Lang..
My hope is that Iupati is there in the first and GB takes him. Go in to the season with Clifton – Iupati – Wells – Sitton – Lang. College & Spitz as backups.
Reality is a subtle thing
So many people were quick to say that the Packers no longer wanted Clifton, despite TT and Clifton’s agent repeatedly saying otherwise. If you believed them then you’d have to think that the issue was money. TT wanted Clifton back, but not at any price. Clifton wanted to come back, but not if he had to sell himself short. This is a subtle situation, ill suited for today’s adrenaline pumping talk show formats. Gee, you mean we just have to wait for these two adults to work things out? I’d much rather foam at the mouth about how horrible it will be when Clifton leaves.
In fact one report had the Packers offering $5M and Clifton wanting $7M. Given the impasse what more logical thing to do than to get an outside opinion? Hence the flight to Washington. Once Washington offered substantially more than $5M, TT accepted the fact that he had to pay more. My guess is that the $7.5M was a compromise number, less than the Washington offer but more than TT’s final offer.
My take is that TT paid $0.5M more than would have if he’d accepted Clifton’s offer in the first place. But that is just a guess.
In an uncapped year, $7.5M is cheap insurance that AR will survive while we find our next LT.
by 50 years and Counting on Mar 6, 2010 1:15 PM CST reply actions
Good move
I was afraid he wouldn’t make it through FA. So, this is a relief. But it’s also kinda’ the kiss of death, too.
Fact is, he didn’t go elsewhere because the phones didn’t light up, which is a good indication of where he is in his career. An 11 year starter at LT with pro-bowls on his resume, who’s not getting interest from around the league? He’s a band-aid for our LT needs at this point.
…which is fine. That’s all we need. Draft a new kid and let him learn on the bench for a year or maybe two. Clifton’s got at least one more good year left in him.
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