Packers cede '06 pick to fortify line
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
Still seeking to add offensive line depth before the start of the season, the Green Bay Packers have acquired fourth-year veteran blocker Brad Bedell from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a conditional seventh-round choice in the 2006 draft.
Bedell, 27, will be joining his fourth NFL team and, though he is not a lock to make the Packers' regular-season roster, his versatility made him attractive to the Green Bay coaches, who are attempting to fortify the backup spots.
A former University of Colorado standout, Bedell can play guard and tackle, and Packers officials have been looking to add a veteran "swing" blocker. In three seasons, Bedell has appeared in 27 games and started four of them. He has not played in a regular-season game since 2001, however, when he was with Washington and started in four of 15 appearances.
He was claimed by the Dolphins in November, when Washington waived him, but spent his seven weeks with Miami on the inactive list. Bedell was out of the league for the 2002 season, but his size (6 feet 4, 302 pounds) still make him a prospect.
The Packers have been beset by injuries in training camp, and two starters, guard Mike Wahle (bruised femur) and center Mike Flanagan (patellar tendinitis), recently came off the preseason physically unable to perform list. If those two are healthy, Green Bay is expected to have one of the NFL's premier blocking units again.
Depth has been a problem for the Packers, however, and the team is hopeful Bedell can emerge as a solid backup.
Even with the addition of Bedell, who entered the NFL as a sixth-round selection of the Cleveland Browns in the 2000 draft, the Packers may scan the waiver wires for possible backup linemen.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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