Rumors have been swirling around free agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha signing with the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. Many different reports have noted Asomugha’s interest in heading to Green Bay as well as several other destinations, including the New York Jets.
Think this is a long shot? In some ways, it is. Steps need to be taken in order for a signing of the once-highest paid corner in the league to take place. The most obvious one is avoiding an NFL work stoppage, which has become increasingly optimistic day-by-day. After a 24 hour extension was placed on the Collective Bargaining Agreement deadline on Thursday, there has now been another week added to the talks between owners and the player’s union. Many are hopeful that a deal will get done, even if it takes another extension, by mid-March.
As of now, free agents can’t be singed since the March 4th deadline to re-sign free agents has passed. Once a new CBA has been executed, 2011 free agents are free to join NFL teams. Also, their will be much more focus on who will end up where, via free agency, trade and the draft, with a lot of the focus returning to Asomugha.
Clearly, the players and owners will eventually reach an agreement, but why would Green Bay want to spend top dollar for a cornerback when they already have two pro-bowlers at the position? Enter Charles Woodson. Woodson has openly stated that he would make the move to strong safety, a position that he has some experience playing. A few years back, injuries forced Woodson into playing safety, and now a chance to notably boost the Green Bay secondary has Woodson willing to move to a position that he will eventually have to make a full-time move to anyway should he want to extend his career.
Woodson is being an ultimate team player by suggesting such a move, Asomugha seems interested in heading to Green Bay and the NFL labor talks have been heading in a positive direction, so what else could possibly be getting in the way? Plenty. Staying on the subject of Woodson, he is the last major free agent that the Packers have signed in recent memory. Green Bay is infamous for building through the draft and finding diamonds in the rough, but no one can argue that Woodson was a bad acquisition. The Packers may also be hesitant to disrupt the development of strong safety Morgan Burnett, whom Green Bay picked up in the 2nd round of the 2010 draft. Burnett missed over half of the 2010 season with a knee injury. Friday evening, the man who filled in for Burnett, Charlie Peprah, signed a 2-year deal worth over $2 million.
Just typing that previous paragraph was a painful experience for a Packer fan. Not signing Nnamdi Asomugha can’t be viewed as too much of a disappointment because injuries last season showed the incredible depth Green Bay has as well as the strength of their secondary with three players being selected to the Pro Bowl. Adding Asomugha would give the Packers an unprecedented four Pro Bowl players in the secondary. It doesn’t seem fair. It also doesn’t seem likely. But a kid can dream.