Back in March the Green Bay Packers tendered a one-year contract to LG Daryn Colledge. It gave them the right to match any offer or let him sign with another team if that other team surrendered a 2nd round pick in return. While he entered the week unsigned, along with 3 other possible starters, he was the first of the final four to sign his one-year contract. From the Greg Bedard at JSOnline.com:
So Colledge, who has started 60 of 64 games since being drafted in 2006, is set to defend his left guard position in a wide-open competition against his best friend Jason Spitz, T.J. Lang and perhaps rookie Marshall Newhouse.
While sometimes players sign their one-year contract in advance of a trade, Colledge said he didn't sign in anticipation of one. He might feel pressure to sign and get ready for OTAs next week because of he can't afford to fall behind Spitz, Lang, or Newhouse. If he participated at the OTAs, it's possible he'd lose the starting job even before training camp begins.
On the other hand, DE Johnny Jolly, CB Tramon Williams, and SS Atari Bigby can afford to wait longer and push the June 15th deadline for them to sign (in hopes of earning a long-term contract extension) because I expect all three will either win the starting job or receive just as much playing time in 2010 as in 2009.