PACKERS: A holdout, holdovers and fresh faces 00:00 am 7/23/05 Jason Wilde Wisconsin State Journal
GREEN BAY - James Franklin had just one conversational rule Friday morning. And, predictably, it pertained to wide receiver Javon Walker's holdout.
"Let me start by saying this," Franklin, the Green Bay Packers' first-year wide receivers coach, said shortly after exchanging hellos. "Anything with Javon's contract and holdout, (general manager) Ted Thompson and coach (Mike) Sherman I'm sure would be more than happy to talk to you about that."
While Thompson and Sherman have hardly been "happy" to talk about Walker's impending training-camp boycott, it's hard to blame the 33-year-old Franklin, who was hired for his first NFL job just five months ago after spending five years as the receivers coach at Maryland, for wanting to avoid the team's touchiest subject.
That said, it's hard to look at the Packers' wide receiver corps and not discuss Walker, who went to the Pro Bowl after a breakout 2004 season (89 receptions, 1,328 yards, 12 touchdowns) and now wants a new contract.
His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, confirmed this week that his client will not report with the rest of the Packers' veterans Wednesday, and with the team having vowed not to renegotiate the final two years that remain on Walker's deal, the standoff could last into the regular season.
Nonetheless, Packers offensive coordinator Tom Rossley pronounced during the June minicamp - one of two camps Walker skipped - that "it looks like we're going to be deeper than we've ever been" at receiver. And that might be true, if and when Walker returns.
Walker's boycott elevates veteran Donald Driver, who went to the Pro Bowl after catching 70 passes for 1,064 yards and nine touchdowns in 2002, to the No. 1 receiver spot. After a down year in 2003, Driver actually topped his 2002 numbers last year with career highs in receptions (84) and yards (1,208).
Good for him. He should hold out. If you have a breakout year you have every right to ask for more money. If he goes out and tears up his knee they can release him at any time. Bottom Line: If you are worth the money you should be paid the money.
***Poster of the Year*** Hail to the Redskins. Everything else is inferior. Guess who's not a HOMER on this site.
Faced with the threat of a training camp holdout by Javon Walker, the Green Bay Packers appear to be taking a firm stance against renegotiating the wide receiver’s contract.
“You’ve got to remember this: every contract you do, the other 52 players on your club are looking at it,” Packers President Bob Harlan said.
“If you start doing things with one, you’ve got to be careful what it’s going to lead to with the other 52.”
While Harlan was speaking only in general terms, it’s clear the Packers don’t want to set a precedent with Walker that could come back to haunt them.
Walker has two years remaining on his contract, and the Packers generally have refused to renegotiate deals with that much time remaining.
Walker’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said last week his client wouldn’t report to training camp unless the Packers promise to give the Pro Bowl receiver a new contract.
Another Rosenhaus client, cornerback Mike McKenzie, staged a holdout during training camp in 2004 and eventually was traded by the Packers to New Orleans.
When asked if Walker is heading down a similar path as McKenzie, Harlan said: “I would certainly hope not. I think Mike McKenzie and Javon Walker are totally different personalities, and I would hope it would come to a different conclusion.”
Harlan negotiated contracts for the Packers from 1971 to 1985 and ran into his share of difficult agents who threatened holdouts.
“I guess I got used to it,” he said. “It’s never pleasant.”
Walker signed what was in effect a five-year, $6.7 million contract as a rookie in 2002. He is scheduled to earn $515,000 this season and $650,000 in 2006.
Walker hired Rosenhaus earlier this year after earning his first Pro Bowl berth and didn’t attend the Packers’ two spring minicamps.
“I’m sorry we’ve got the contract confusion we have, but that’s just part of the game and you learn to live with it,” Harlan said. “The agents have a job to do and we’ve got a job to do and we’re going to move on.”
