Best guesses on Kampman, Cliffy and Tausch

As of now,  it’s 11:00 p.m. Lambeau Time, meaning we are now officially at the start of the free agent signing period.

And as of now, the Green Bay Packers’ three biggest unrestricted free agents – defensive end/outside linebacker Aaron Kampman, left tackle Chad Clifton and right tackle Mark Tauscher – remain unsigned.

Will any of them be back in green and gold next season?

At this juncture, I’m almost certain Kampman will not be. There are just too many reasons why he won’t return. In no particular order:

• He’s 30 years old and coming off a major knee injury.
• The defense didn’t lose much once he went down for the year. In fact, the group got better in certain areas (i.e., no longer having to cover for the fact that Kampman, well, couldn’t cover).
• He hates the 3-4 scheme and likely still resents the team for making him switch positions in a contract year. He’ll want to get back home to the end spot in a 4-3.
• There are teams with clear needs at the position – like Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington, Chicago, Tampa Bay and even Detroit (the dark horse to land Kampman, in my mind) - who are looking to spend. They’ll throw big money at Kampman’s potential to re-gain form. The Packers will offer little, knowing his value in the 3-4 scheme.

Add all this up and there’s just no way he’ll be back. And, in my mind, that’s for the best. Simply put, he doesn’t belong anymore.

I’m a little less sure on Tauscher. To hear Greg A. Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tell it, head coach Mike McCarthy is lobbying hard for Tauscher’s return. Makes sense as, in some ways, Tauscher saved the offense last season.

Ted Thompson, however, wants to move on. Just last week at the combine, McCarthy told reporters that T.J. Lang was likely to get the majority of his work at right tackle next season. Given how much the organization likes Lang, that might lead you to think Tauscher’s gone, given that – in the scenario McCarthy laid out – Lang, Breno Giacomini and, yes, Allen Barbre would all be at RT next season. Three’s plenty; four is ridiculous.

So that must mean Clifton’s coming back, right? Well, I thought so until I read this, posted roughly an hour ago by Bedard. In short, it says a deal between Clifton and the Packers isn’t likely to happen. That threw me for a loop, to say the least.

Can the Packers really afford to start next season with two new tackles, though? I’m not sure they can, if they really hope to make a run at a Super Bowl.

In the end, I doubt that happens as I still think one of the two comes back. As for who it will be, though, I can honestly say I couldn’t even guess at this point (sorry, guys).

Clifton’s older and is likely asking for more money, but he plays a more important position than does Tauscher. The team has some options at right tackle – it has none at left tackle. Still, Thompson must know Tauscher’s value and that – while the team is saying he is going to be a right tackle – Lang could always be used somewhere else along the line.

Either way, we should know soon. I doubt both these guys sit on the market together for that long. One will get snapped up fairly quick. There’s a good chance that Thompson goes hard after the other, in that case.

As always, make sure to check back at OBOD throughout tonight and the weekend as we will keep you posted on all Packers free agency news (and league free agency news, as a whole).

-Chris Lempesis