I don’t know about you, but we all kind of forgot that nose tackle B.J. Raji needs a new contract. That was pretty easy to do after the Green Bay Packers signed Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews to massive long-term deals.
Like Matthews, this will be Raji’s final season under his rookie contract and the Packers presumably want to lock him up. Raji says he absolutely wants to stay in Green Bay.
“Green Bay gave me my first opportunity, my first shot at this thing,” Raji said. “Obviously I’ve had a great run here. I love the people here. It’s a great organization, it’s a great city for football. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Like the Packers, Raji doesn’t appear too concerned about his contract, though.
“I’m just going to continue to do what I’ve been doing,” Raji said. “Obviously, there are some areas I can improve. But ultimately it’s just being the guy I’ve always been. I’m confident everything will take care of itself.”
Raji’s best season came in 2010, when he had 39 tackles and 6.5 sacks. Raji has just three sacks since then and didn’t register a single one in 2012. Some people attribute that lack of production to his snap count, which has been much higher than any other defensive lineman in recent seasons. Raji is valuable because he takes on a lot of double teams, but the fact remains that the production hasn’t been there.
It’s possible the Packers could wait until after the season to give Raji a new contract. If the production returns, Raji will command a lot more then than he will now.
And, if the production doesn’t return? Raji isn’t AJ Hawk-like cap burden for years to come. So, no—he doesn’t “need” a new contract. Not yet. And, he’s not worth any more than the $6.5 million he’s already pulling down. It’s not like Raji was vastly underpaid like CM 3 and Rodgers.
He is an “Anchor-Man”
He will not appear on the stat sheet like others will.
We fell in love with him in 2010. Truth is, we don’t win a Superbowl without him.
In our system (our defense), a huge Nosetackle that looks like “The Blob” from the X-Men comics is paramount. His job is to simply gobble-up 2 blockers & make the Linebackers’ jobs easier.
If we let him go, we will be right back at the drawing-board drafting another Nosetackle early in the draft all-over again.
It’s a lose-lose situation. If he has a great season, we probably won’t be able to afford him. If he has a crappy season…well then, he has a crappy season. :/ … & if he gets hurt, he probably gets well & plays elsewhere because…we can’t afford him.
Tough situation to be in.
Iv’e been talking about his lack of production for how long now?…..The talk of him being one of the big 3 needing BIG contracts…Made me laugh….Pay him Big money for what?…2010?…Like we did with Tramon Williams?….He had 16 tackles and 0 sacks last year….Weird i didnt see him in the Pro Bowl.
He needs to put up and shut up.
C’mon Freezer. Have a personal renaissance and do what you do.
BJ Raji shows up on the game tape even if he doesn’t in the stat sheet. He was a dominant force down the stretch for the Packers last season.
You need a big body in the middle to play the 3-4. Pickett is likely going to be gone after this season. Raji is that GUY unless you already have someone in mind for the draft or available in free agency.
Raji just needs to work on his leverage against double teams. If he improves there, he should be a better player than Pickett. He has a similar body type and quicker feet.
Plus, the Packers have plenty of money to keep him thanks to the great deals they got A-Rodge and CM3 to agree to.
The Packers likely do the same thing they did with Tramon and Jordy Nelson. You let Raji play most the year to see where his production is at, then you sign him with a couple games left. Even if he is having a good season, he’ll likely want to avoid the uncertainty of free agency if you throw a nice guarantee at him.