The Green Bay Packers and defensive lineman B.J. Raji continue to be at odds regarding a rookie deal.
As Tom Pellisero of the Green Bay Press-Gazette has pointed out, nothing is imminent between the player and the team.
On Saturday, Pelissero reported that it’ll be “at least a couple days” before a deal gets done.
On Sunday, linebacker Clay Matthews said that Raji is “champing at the bit” to work the thing out. (Based on his size, we assume that Raji also has been champing at the bear claws, too.)
The obvious problem is that the two of the three picks directly in front of Raji (Andre Smith at No. 6 and Eugene Monroe haven’t signed) and the three picks directly behind him (Michael Crabtree at No. 10, Aaron Maybin at No. 11, and Knowshon Moreno at No. 12) haven’t signed yet.
Then there’s the reality that Raji is represented by Athletes First, the same firm that had last year’s ninth overall pick, Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers. If the agents do too good of a deal in comparison to last year’s contract at the same slot, Rivers might feel miffed. And if they don’t do good enough of a deal at No. 9 this year, they might be leapfrogged by Crabtree.
Regardless of how it all works out, Raji already is eating more than the bit and/or the bear claws.
He’s eating his words.
“There will be no problem, as far as holding out on my end,” Raji said in June. “I’m a rookie but from what I’ve been told, holdouts are not necessarily a good thing.
“Especially a rookie coming in, you can’t afford to miss a week or two of training camp, especially when you’re trying to find a way to get on the field. Yeah, that’s my agency, but I’m in control, not the other way around.”
We’re not sure who’s in control at this point. But the bottom line is that Raji is missing time that he’ll never be able to make up.