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Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was on the radio recently and made it clear: He wants to play in 2013, and he would prefer to end his career as a Chicago Bear.
The real question is: Should the Bears make it happen?
Complicating everything is the very real lack of cap space the team faces as we head into the NFL offseason.
You or I could live off $13.3 million for a very long time, but for an NFL franchise, that's not much money.
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Greg Jennings has put his Green Bay house up for sale—and with it, in all likelihood, his roster spot as well.
For those Packers fans holding out hope that he will return, never say never. But this—combined with the depth at the position and the likely distance between what Jennings wants and what the team is willing to offer—makes it look unlikely.
Even when he cleared out his locker after the Packers' loss to San Francisco, Jennings seems resigned to be signed elsewhere.
Really, while selling his house isn't definitive by itself, it certainly looks to be one more nail in the coffin of his Packers career.
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There's never any shortage of ridiculous pieces of news even for teams watching the Super Bowl and media day from the comfort of their own homes.
For the Vikings, today's silliness involves an alleged interest in aging Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver.
There is no way in hell this happens. Take an ice cube's chance in hot place, reduce it by a factor of 200 and you're in the ballpark.
I like Driver. I stumped for him to return to the Packers this past season. He's an amazing player and by all accounts a tremendous veteran presence.
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Certainly the season didn't end the way the Bears were hoping it would, but they're already making some huge changes to correct their issues.
New coach, new staff—new Bears?
There's a lot of offseason to go and a long list of things to take care of before we begin the 2013 NFL season. I've pulled together what you need to know as we wade into it together.
Needs
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The Lions added former Broncos GM Brian Xanders as senior personnel executive on Monday. According to the Free Press' Dave Birkett, he'll be assisting with pro and college scouting but report to GM Marty Mayhew.
This is an interesting move for several reasons, but likely not an indication that Mayhew should watch his back—after all, he hired Xanders.
By all accounts this is a tremendous hire, by the way.
Since Xanders is a former Broncos executive, I reached out to a guy who knows all there is about the team in 102.3 ESPN's Cecil Lammey.
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It looks more and more like Reggie Bush—former New Orleans Saint and soon-to-be former Miami Dolphin—will be hitting free agency this offseason.
He's definitely someone who should be a person of interest for the Detroit Lions.
We'll be talking about the state of the Lions a little later this week, and without a doubt a big part of that will be the cap space—or lack thereof.
The Lions don't have anything in the way of cap space right now (they are currently over the 2013 cap) so any free agency move will require copious amounts of trimming and juggling by the front office.
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courtesy of Comedy Central & The Colbert Report
I know he's not everybody's particular brand of vodka, but I love Vikings punter Chris Kluwe.
Kluwe has spent a lot of the season (and now the offseason) getting attention for things other than his punting—whether it's for his video game playing, his advocacy of marriage equality or his harsh criticism for those involved in the Saints Bounty scandal, Kluwe is not what you'd term a shy individual.
He was at it again on Monday, as he "attended" (in the virtual internet sense) Commissioner Roger Goodell's live chat on the website, Reddit (Deadspin.com).
Please note the very sly "RickRoll" at the end of the question there.
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The Packers fell just short of the mark again this season, but they continue to be in the conversation every year for a run at the Super Bowl.
They've got the overall talent, but they'll have to spend this offseason determining what parts need to be added to put them over the top again.
Where are their biggest holes? Which free agents should they bring back, if any? Where should they focus their attention in the upcoming 2013 NFL draft?
We'll take a look at all those questions this offseason, and to get us started, here's your Green Bay Packers' offseason guide for the team needs, their free agents and how they look under the salary cap.
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This past weekend Jeff Saturday got one more snap off to Peyton Manning before riding off into the Honolulu sunset according to Wes Hodkiewicz of the Press-Gazette.
The one-year rental of a center by the Green Bay Packers is over and it's a fair question whether it was worth it.
According to Pro Football Focus, Saturday was the 28th best center in the NFL this year (subscription link) and struggled immensely in run-blocking, where he was ranked a -13.9—dead last among centers.
On that basis alone, the signing looks like a big waste.
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The news that Jahvid Best is unlikely to play football ever again should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog.
I've been saying he was done (and should be) since this summer, and so I almost feel as if this whole subject is a bit retread.
That said, things look much different for the Detroit Lions now versus what they looked like even three months ago, so the subject is worth revisiting one more time.
Back in July, there were much bigger question marks about who would pick up the torch with Best down. At first, it looked like Kevin Smith was the guy, but Smith quickly faded.
