Update: Chris Canty has signed with the New York Giants, who now have 42 defensive lineman. And while it was exciting that the Green Bay Packers were talked about on the first weekend of free agency, the guys at Acme Packing Company got it right — Canty wasn’t worth it.
The Green Bay Packers lost one of their own on Sunday morning, when defensive tackle Colin Cole signed with the Seattle Seahawks.
Cole signed a 5-year deal worth $21 million.
The Packers made a strong push to re-sign Cole before free agency started, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who employ former Packers defensive line coach Robert Nunn, also showed considerable interest in Cole. Despite being a career backup in Green Bay, Cole possessed the protypical size (6-1, 330) to play nose tackle in the Packers new 3-4 defensive scheme.
The loss of Cole seems to have prompted speculation that the Packers have intensified their efforts to sign Dallas Cowboys defensive end, Chris Canty. Although the Packers have yet to bring Canty in for a visit, they have already placed a bid for his services, according to the National Football Post.
Ed note: The National Football Post has been erroneous on at least one report this weekend, so please take this with a grain of salt. Case in point…
The Journal Sentinel’s Greg Bedard says that the Packers have made no offer for Canty, as of 1:30 p.m. CST.
Canty was in New York this weekend, visiting the Giants and is schedule to fly to Seattle to visit the Seahawks today.
Although there was speculation yesterday when the Giants signed former Seattle defensive tackle Rocky Bernard, they would stop pursuing Canty, that is apparently not the case.
“Chris is still with Giants (and) they remain steadfast that they would like to sign him, in addition to Bernard,” agent Brad Blank told the New York Daily News this morning. “We’ll see.”
Canty is apparently seeking $8 million per year, which is a high price to pay a run stuffing defensive end. The Daily News reported that the Giants have offered between $5-6 million per year to Canty.
It would be surprising if Ted Thompson went as high as $8 million, but the Packers interest seems legitimate.
Look at the Giants roster and then look at the Packers roster. This is ridiculous! The Giants now have a plethora of talent to pick and choose from and the Packers look very thin on the D-Line after the Colin Cole and Michael Montgomery have vacated. I suppose, true to form, old Teddy T is planning a run on acquiring great D-Line personnel in this year’s draft but that is simply to big of a gamble. They look like they are trying to position themselves for a player like B.J. Raji at #9 and then maybe pickup another edge rush/LB type in Larry English or Clint Sintim later in draft. I’d prefer the go with a weapon like Moreno (RB) or Pettigrew (TE) at the number 9 spot, but that likely will not happen based on this roster.