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Reggie McKenzie just can't seem to get enough former Packers on his team.
The Packers' former director of player personnel has spent the last three years as the Oakland Raiders' general manager, and has signed numerous former Packers - Charles Woodson, James Jones, and C.J. Wilson come to mind. He is apparently targeting yet another: wideout Randall Cobb.
No shock, but hear expectation around NFL is #Raiders will make run at Cobb. But #Packers not expected to hit him hit FA.
— Bill Williamson (@BWilliamsonESPN) February 23, 2015
Reports surfaced last week that Cobb is looking for about $9 million per year on his new contract, a number which would result in his annual compensation being nearly that of his Packers teammate Jordy Nelson. Furthermore, if Cobb does not re-sign with the Packers before hitting free agency, the Raiders could pay him top dollar. According to Overthecap.com, Oakland has the second-most salary cap space of any team, with about $54 million to work with (depending on the final cap value).
However, the last sentence of Williamson's tweet is critical here as well - and note that it should read "Packers not expected to LET him hit free agency." That suggests that Ted Thompson and Cobb's agent, James Sexton, are or will be in communications over the next week and a half before the NFL's "legal tampering" period begins on March 7th. In fact, ESPN's Rob Demovsky reported this weekend that Cobb is among Green Bay's top priorities, stating that "everything that isn't related to Cobb or (Bryan) Bulaga appears to be on hold."
If, however, we are still waiting on a deal between Cobb and the Packers at this time in two weeks, expect Oakland to be right in the thick of things.