Packers to Release Charles Woodson
The first domino is about to fall for the Green Bay Packers and according to Ian Rapoport that domino is safety Charles Woodson.
The Packers will release Woodson in a move that will save $10 million against this season’s salary cap.
Carl Poston, Charles Woodson’s agent, tells me: “They’re getting ready to release him. It’s part of the business.”
Although this sucks, it wasn’t unexpected.
The Packers need the salary cap room. They had just over $7 million when the season ended. They’ll spend around $5 million to sign their draft class and then they’ll need to address their own free agents.
The priority there would seem to be cornerback Sam Shields, who’s a restricted free agent. He will likely command at least $2 million per season.
The question now is will the Packers try to re-sign Woodson to a cheaper contract?
We know he wants to keep playing. The Packers don’t exactly have a ready-made replacement on the roster either.
Jerron McMillian would be the top candidate to replace Woodson in the lineup, followed by M.D. Jennings. Neither player inspires a lot of confidence.
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After this initial report came out, the Journal Sentinel came out with a story saying the Packers will not attempt to re-sign Woodson. That piece went as far to say Woodson would have been a backup if he was with the Packers in 2013.
It also more or less blamed Woodson for the playoff loss to the 49ers.
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This just in: “Due to the stellar play of our defense, the Packers have elected to only play 8 players on defense.”
I can’t recall, did San Francisco have 579 total yards with 323 on the ground? Salary cap room through our defense makes sense, Ted. (sarcasam) Renegotiate his deal!
he’ll be 37 before the 5th game of next season !
what good will he be on the sidelines?
What fan wants to hear: he’s-week-to-week, close, staying-in-shape, waiting-on-the-doc ?
the best safeties in league make half of what he was due — and he isn’t among the best.
Like this move. Defense played well without Woodson all season. Woodson is a hall of famer and a class act, but the NFL is a young mans league for most positions. We need cap salary space, and AJ Hawk is hopefully next to go
Pay attention to the NFL Draft gurus for once, get your head out of your ass Ted and get us some play makers on both sides of the ball…we can’t afford to be fiscally conservative every year, he needs to draft better players…period.
Utter rubbish.
Nick seems to forget, the Packers had the leagues most pathetic defense in nfl history in 2011, with Woodson. Father time is undefeated. Good luck to Charles, he was a great player for us. time to send Tramon, and A J Hawk packing. This defense needs a new attitude and mindset and physical presence. Not to sure if Capers is the man for the job anymore. I’d like the see the intensity that Kevin Greene could bring to this defense as defensive coordinator.
Stop with the distortion of the facts. It is like listening to our President talk.
In 2011, the Packers had the worst PASS defense, by yards, in NFL history. It was NOT the worst defense by total yards in NFL history. And by the metric that counts most- points, it wasn’t even the worst defense in the league that season.
Yeah, teams threw for a lot of yards. They had to. They were behind in every game by multiple scores.
He is freeing up cap space for Matthews, Raji & Rodgers
this move and hawk make the most sense. i think tramon deserves one more shot, hes young and talented and helped us get to dalllas
“hes young”
…not sure I agree with that.
If you go to…
http://www.packers.com/team/players.html
(click on “age” twice, for descending sort)
…and eliminate Saturday, Benson, Grant, and Jennings — Tramon will be the fifth oldest on the roster.
He might move up, as Kuhn and Hawk may not be guaranteed a spot.
This is disappointing. I agree that he was scheduled to make way too much, but why do I get a bad feeling that the savings made won’t be spent in a better way? I could see if the Packers used the cap space to bring in an upgrade, but it will probably be used to extend the contract of a marginal player that is currently on the roster. “The Green Bay Packers have released Charles Woodson. On an unrelated note, DJ Smith has just been given a three year extension worth $5 million.”
I knew this was an option, but I’m kinda bummed it’s happening. Aside from A-Rod, Woods is my favorite player on the roster. *sigh*
Yeah. Woodson, Driver and Jennings were a big part of the heart of the 2010 Championship. Sad to see them go.
MXZ seems to forget that Mathews was on the 2011 Team too. Should we cut him? Go look at some game film and u wont find Woodson as a weak link. The point is, u should make cap room where u can make up from the play of others. We simply dont have the talent, unless Ted is going to actually land a free agent.
The Packers defense cant win without Mathews, they can win without Woodson. Thats the bottom line….Who else is going to be our pass rusher besides Mathews?…Casey Hayward took over Woodsons slot corner position and had 6 picks. You should go watch some game film.
thiss is disappointing, i thought wood was a real good playmaker and a real x-factor on defence – sure he got burned sometimes but he has been making stellar plays for years. For 2 or 3 years he was hands down our best player, before rodgers came into his own. He was the leader on that defence that won us the championship, back when they were playing lights out ball. Best of luck to him
omg….Woodson has been in the NFL for 15 seasons people…..publious?….Who is this marginal player that the Packers are going to extend his contract that you speak of?….Or did you just “make that up”?
Woodson is not worth 10 million dollars a year going into 2013. There is no disputing that, and anybody that is trying to argue this decision is clueless.
Woodson..played 15 seasons, he’s past his prime, he’s on the other side of the mountain. We all loved his play, but the Packers are moving on (for the good of the team) Its about time Packer Fans LET IT GO and move on, you cant change the inevitable, and crying about won’t change a thing.
Love Woodson but 10 mill bucks is huge. Plus the defense was really much better when he was out let’s be honest.
Hawk should be the next to go as should “can’t tackle Tramon”.
You mean the defense that gave up over 400 yards rushing to Adrian Peterson when he was out, as oppose to 99 in the Wild Card game?
You got that right rich….the problem with Hawk is, they save next to nothing cutting Hawk as far as salary cap, because they signed him to a BAD player friendly contract, that gave the team no out as far as cutting Hawk. Couldnt agree more about Tramon.
People seem to forget Woodson missed 9 games last season….Thats a lot of sideline time for a player that made 11.5 million that season. He broke the same collarbone twice…I dont want to say he’s too brittle to play anymore, but it isnt a good sign. Charles Woodson (was) a true Pro Bowl caliber corner back in the league for a lot of years and a great asset to the Green Bay Packers. But it’s time.
MDX, Packers went 15-1 with Matthews only having 6 sacks. The point is, it is a team sport. You need dynamic players on your roster. I’m not saying pay the guy, but at least try and negotiate his deal. Now if TT is going to land someone big I would get it. But we all know we are going to watch MD Jennings get smoked to the tune of 650 yards.
Nick….lets see what TT does, before you proclaim the ship is sinking and negativity…….When TT let Favre go….TT was one of the most hated person in Wisconsin…..How did that work out?…pretty well, i’d say.
C-Wood is pure class and a champion.
But he was unable to make the move to safety and remain a viable player. Both the last minute TD by the Vikings and the 12 yard untouched jaunt by Crabtree in the San Fran game were coverage assignments blown by Woodson. He had the knack of continuing to play man-to-man even when everyone else was in zone. He also continued to gamble a lot even though he no longer had the agility to cover for his mistakes.
With the Packers young and loaded at corner, there is no room for Woodson.
Morgan Burnett has shown a lot more ability at strong safety than free. That means free safety remains near the top of the Packers’ draft needs.
See you in Canton, C-Wood.
hate seeing woodson leave, but it’s the right move. he still takes the same risks he did 3-4 years ago, without the results. in fact, giving up big plays because of it. still, had some great years with the packers.
I hope the Packers and Woodson end this with no hard feelings on either side….Woodson may not wind up in the Ring of Honor, but he surely will be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame.
It’ll be interesting to see if he ends up in the Ring of Honor. Every person in the Ring of Honor (save for Ron Wolf) are in the Canton, which is where Woods is heading.
It should be noted, that Ted Thompson, in announcing the release of Charles Woodson did so, with the utmost of praise, respect, and gratitude. Good job TT
It’s hard to watch a legend go. To me DD and Woodson will always be Packers….I get attached to these guys. I hate to see them go. I know they cannot play football forever…but I still hate it nonetheless.
I honestly think he’s got another pro-bowl year left in him if healthy. I wish we would have been able to agree to a re-structured deal. My heart wants him to end his career in Green Bay, but I understand the nature of the business.
\That still doesn’t mean I have to like it though. Farewell Woods. We’ll see you in Canton.