This will make you throw up in your mouth a little bit. The frontrunners to sign soon-to-be free agent guard T.J. Lang aren’t the Green Bay Packers, but the Denver Broncos and… wait for it… you know where this is going… the Minnesota Vikings.
Sources consider #Broncos & #Vikings frontrunners for TJ Lang. @1043TheFan
— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) March 1, 2017
[puke]
We knew it was going to be tough for the Packers to re-sign Lang. Just this week, Lang said he’s had contact with the Packers, but fully intends to test the free agent market. Lang also said he’d give the Packers the opportunity to match any offer he received, but we all know that’s probably pointless.
The way free agency works is needy teams greatly overpay players for positions they needed filled. The Packers won’t get into a bidding war. It’s that simple.
As for the two teams mentioned, both of their offensive lines were terrible in 2016. It has been noted on more than one occasion to me that the Broncos’ offensive line is what kept them out of the playoffs. The Vikings’ line was perhaps even worse. It was clearly the weak spot of that team and the reason they went from 5-0 to an 8-8 finish.
Now, I surely don’t have to point out how many times the Vikings have picked up the Packers’ retreads. The list is long, so this would be nothing new.
Perhaps the one wild card here is Lang’s health. On Wednesday, Packers coach Mike McCarthy noted that Lang likely won’t be fully recovered from hip surgery until training camp. Could that scare potential suitors away?
Probably not and Lang is going out of his way to make sure it won’t.
Went thru this last year and was voted to my first pro bowl.. No worries over here! 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 https://t.co/l2Jn58gZTZ
— Teej. (@TJLang70) March 1, 2017
Yes folks, we have probably seen the last of T.J. Lang in a Packers uniform. Let’s hope that uniform doesn’t turn purple.
It surprises me that the Broncos are able to sign external free agents yearly, and they have already given Von Miller QB1 money. And we are always trying to hold on to our own guys. Are they that good that we don’t consider external options as potential competition to them?
Don’t worry, Barclay will slide right in there:) Love this time of year when that great white freak goes underground while other teams are retooling. Old Ted is somewhere getting tea bagged while AR gets a years older. Wake me up in September.
TT is a charlatan plain and simple. Riding on the coattails of Aaron Rodgers for waaaaaaaaay too long.
MMTTDCSUCK, good news is that his contract is up before 2018 and bottom line is he doesn’t deserve a new one after this. And I don’t think he will get a new one, I think he is gone after next year. He sucks on the defensvie side but good on the offensive side. I just think he overstayed his welcome and when a coach, GM, or coordinator overstays his/her welcome, they get fired or they resign. TT is one of those people.
Lang is going to get at least 8 mil a year from someone. I think a guy like Lang is needed on an offensive line. The guy will play not just hurt but injured, he will fight to the end, and has a mean streak.
Since Lang signed his last extension that paid him almost 6.2 mil this year the salary cap has raised about 33% and will continue to increase. Is Lang as good or a better player than when he signed his last contract? It is hard to tell what the foot breaks are about. Sometimes foot injuries and big guys don’t go well together. Only the Packers know how bad Lang’s foot injuries are and if they have someone better. One thing to remember about Lang, he went back out onto the field with a broken foot that was not healed. Lang will do what it takes to make sure he is available, and he usually performs well in the process. I would like to see Lang stay. Lang would probably work a deal that helps the team in the cap this year and/or next year.
Well, maybe the decision is, or was, we pay him, or we pay Tretter. All i know, is watch that Falcon game, watch the O line, now picture it without Lang. So we’ll have Taylor and someone new at right guard. We lose Lang, we also lose depth.
IDK….But what i do know…is that wherever Lang goes, even if it’s Minnesota, who i think will go after him hard. I will hold no ill will against Lang whatever happens. Just like players Scott Wells, Aaron Kampman, A J Hawk, Brian Noble…. Lang was nothing but a warrior for the Packers. Nose in the dirt football players.
I commend Monty on an unexpected streak of noble gratitude in his post as PF4L. A green shoot of good sportsmanship is breaking through the moral muck in Monty’s heart and, who knows, may blossom further.
Not sure the Vikings will land Lang but I can tell you I’d love it if they did. I respect his play and demeanor. He is… just… like… a … Viking!
I know Packer fans on this site have had a lot of resentment about Packer players leaving and that resentment has been directed at the innocent players and also have resentment about the Vikings sometimes signing them.
First, a players job is to provide for their families. It behooves them to get the best contract they can. That is the American way and that is capitalism and that is smart. Apparently, many Packer fans are anti-American and anti-family.
Second, who really is to blame if there is blame? The Packer organization does not want to pony up the necessary money. They believe loyalty should be a one-way street. One way loyalty is also known as foolishness. Unfortunately for the Packers brass many of the Packer players are not foolish (though rumor has it they intentionally target less intelligent players in the draft in hopes of duping them into a one-sided deal when they hit free agency. Consider the sub-par intelligence of Eddie Lacy, Clay Matthews, and HaHa Clinton-Dix as proof of that theory.)
Many Packer fans feel that once a player plays for the Packers they are ruined. I do not subscribe to that theory. For instance, Josh Sitton played very well for the Bears last year. As did Hayward for the Chargers. As did House in 2015 for the Jaguars. And Brett Favre had his very best season of his long and storied career as a Viking. So, no, having played for the Packers does not ruin a player.
As per the Vikings and former Packer players I am fine with it. If they see the light and want to work for the purple cause I say let them. But I do live in the present sooooo, who picks up whose “retreads” nowadays? The Vikings have exactly zero former Packers. The Packers have former Viking Letroy Guion and also signed a Viking RB cast off early last year before week one.
Also, Lang in his prime is not exactly a “retread”.
The Vikings released Brandon Fusco from the RG spot recently. That freed up another nearly 3 million or so. So, if the Vikes did sign Lang for 8 million per year (that would be almost a steal) it would be like a massive upgrade for only 5 million in a sense.
I had actually pictured the Vikings signing Larry Warford from the Lions (also an RG) for whatever reason but Lang would be better. Much better. Hoping it happens. I will laugh most joyously.
And the Vikings will continue to choke like they usually do. Who missed a game winning field goal against the Seahawks at home? The Vikings. Who started off 5-0 and went 3-8? The Vikings.
And Dix is a good safety.
Resign Lang, Hyde, Cook, and Perry (but don’t overpay him).
Also take a look at House, DRC, or Barwin, if they are cut.