Offseason to-do list: Green Bay's restricted free agents, part two

Here is part two of our look at Green Bay’s restricted free agents.

No long-ass intros needed for this one.

Again, enjoy.

• Free safety Nick Colllins – Collins made $3.148 million last season in the last year of his rookie contract (some various incentives kicked in, thus the high salary). Of all the various scenarios regarding the team’s free agents, the one involving Collins is perhaps the strangest. After a rough start in the 3-4 scheme, Collins really flourished in the second half of the year. He finished with six interceptions, giving him 13 for the past two seasons. He’s been voted to each of the past two Pro Bowls and, at 26 (he turns 27 in August), he seems to be just now entering his prime. Plus, he’s a Ted Thompson guy and Teddy usually takes care of his guys. Yet, there seemingly has been no progress made on a new deal and no one quite knows why. There aren’t a ton of guys in the league who can do what Collins does, so Thompson needs to get going. With Collins’ past quotes, you have to think he’ll hold out if a tender is all he gets from the team. That can’t happen. Verdict: Forget the tenders and sign Collins to a six-year contract
• Defensive end Johnny Jolly – Jolly made just under $560,000 last season in the last year of his rooke contract. Oh, Johnny. You frustrate me so. Some times you’re great and you take over games. Heck, you batted down 11 passes this season, a club record. But sometimes you take dumb penalties (see: the headbutt in the second Vikings game) and disappear from games. You also have that little drug arrest thing still pending. If you could ever pull it all together, you could be very, very good. I’m not sure if you will, but I do think you should be brought back. A return of you and Ryan Pickett, plus B.J. Raji, Cullen Jenkins and maybe one more new guy could make for a very good d-line next season. Verdict: Tender Jolly at the second-round level
• Punter Jeremy Kapinos – Kapinos made just over $391,000 last season. He is an Exclusive Rights Free Agent, meaning once the Packers extend him a tender, he can not negotiate with any other team. He then has to sign his tender or sit out the season. No matter either way here as Kapinos was pretty bad this past season. He was 16th in average punt distance (43.8 yards per) but amongst the worst in punts inside the 20 and inside the 10. He was also near the top in touchbacks, meaning he’s not great at angling his kicks. Field position can mean a lot and he does little to help the Pack there. I know us Greeks are supposed to stick together, but on this one I just can’t. A new punter is needed. Verdict: Shake hands, thank him for his service and send him on his way
• Strong safety Derrick Martin – Martin made $535,000 last season in the last year of his rookie contract. At first, no one could figure out why Thompson traded for him (although it did rid us of Tony Moll, a good thing indeed). Martin stunk as a safety when Atari Bigby was hurt earlier in the season. Then we saw him play special teams and it started to make sense. Martin was a monster in that area. That said, to tender him at any level would equal a large pay increase for a guy who basically does one thing well. And since that thing is covering kicks and punts, he’s expendable. Verdict: Shake hands, thank him for his service and send him on his way
• Center Jason Spitz – Spitz made $1.792 million last season in the last year of his rookie contract. This past season was supposed to be the year Spitz broke out. The starting center job was his and he was going to anchor the line for the foreseeable future. Then the season started. Spitz was merely average before hurting his back and being put on injured reserve midway through the season. Then, he had to sit and watch as Scott Wells was basically fantastic at center, essentially re-claming his spot for the future. Spitz could still have a future, maybe at left guard, provided his back heals. Either way, he’d provide solid value, even if it’s just as a backup. Verdict: Tender Spitz at the low level, in this case a third-round level
• Cornerback Tramon Williams – Williams made just under $906,000 last season on an Exclusive Rights Free Agent tender. He’ll fall under that category again this season, meaning the Packers should be able to keep him away from other teams. This time, though, they should focus on a long-term deal. Williams was good again last season – first as a nickelback and then as a starter once Al Harris went down for the year. He picked off four passes – giving him nine for the past two seasons – and defended 15 more. He’s a bit too aggressive at times and draws his share of penalties, but he improved in both those areas this season. Harris and Charles “Defensive Player of the Year” Woodson are both well past 30 and, outside of Williams, the team doesn’t have much of a future at the position as of now. But the Packers have Williams, who turns 27 in March, and they need to make sure it stays that way. Verdict: Forget the tenders and sign Williams to a four-year contract
• Running back DeShawn Wynn – Wynn made just over $490,000 last season on a one-year contract. Like Kapinos and Williams, he is an Exclusive Rights Free Agent. Somehow it’s fitting that this list would end with Wynn, nicknamed “DeShawn Wimp” by some fans - not me…I would NEVER use such a nickname - because of his inability to stay healthy. Wynn made us hopeful that he could, maybe, do something this past season as he had a solid training camp. Once again, though, Wynn only played a handful of snaps in a handful of games before going on I.R. with a knee injury. At some point, the Wynn saga has to end, doesn’t it? What better time than now, right? Verdict: Shake hands, thank him for his service and send him on his way

That’s all for our look at Green Bay’s restricted free agents. Tomorrow we’ll be looking at some players under contract who could be released. All I’m going to say for now is: Jarrett Bush, be very nervous.

-Chris Lempesis