It’s hard to believe there will be much competition for a 32-year-old right tackle on the free agent market, but then, the free agent market isn’t very strong this year.
So, Green Bay Packers right tackle Mark Tauscher, who will become an unrestricted free agent later this week, could have some teams kicking his tires. One of those teams could be the Cleveland Browns, who hired Mike “The Walrus” Holmgren to run their football operations this offseason.
The Canton Repository has a list of 10 unrestricted free agents who have been “inspected” by the Browns. Like Tauscher, most of them are wily veterans (read: old). Think Chris Chambers, Mike Vrabel and Brian Russell.
Here’s what they have to say about Tauscher.
The Browns dipped into the NFC North for their right tackle last year, signing John St. Clair away from Chicago. It might be time to dip again. Tauscher, 32, has fought back from knee issues and played well after returning to the Packers last year. He has made 128 career starts.
It will be interesting to see whether the Packers have real competition for Tauscher. Although one agent predicted Tauscher will be worth $5 million per season on the open market – a number that seems high, especially for the Packers to pay – it’s hard to envision Tauscher wanting to play somewhere other than Green Bay.
While the Packers have stated they want to bring Tauscher back, they also have second-year pro T.J. Lang waiting in the wings. Lang will likely be given an opportunity to start at right tackle or left guard in 2010.
So, while having Tauscher around for stability and depth is preferable, it probably isn’t pertinent to the Packers success in 2010.
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