In public, Packers G.M. Ted Thompson won’t reveal much about his plans for 2012, or any year. Behind closed doors, he reportedly has begun pursuing at least one player who is under contract with another team.
Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that, with efforts to re-sign center Scott Wells going nowhere, the Packers have turned their attention to Texans center Chris Myers. Specifically, McGinn reports that the Packers met with Myers’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, to discuss Myers.
Wells is 31, but Myers isn’t far behind. He’ll be 31 on September 15. (That’s also Florio Jr.'s birthday. Who is now nearly large enough to play center for the Packers. Or the Texans. Or any other team.)
It’s a clear and direct violation of the rules for the Packers to talk to Myers, but the Packers aren’t the only team doing it. Indeed, if the famously rules-conscious Thompson is tampering, everyone is tampering.
“Almost every re-signing, waiver and UFA signing upcoming germinate from supposedly illegal club-agent meetings in Indy,” McGinn writes. “All happens here.”
McGinn uses “supposedly” because the rules prohibit meetings with free agents who won’t be free until March 13 at 4:00 p.m. ET. But no one follows the rules. Indeed, as the Packers negotiate with Myers, Wells undoubtedly is negotiating with some other team, or teams.
Sometimes, this gauging of the market helps lay the foundation for a player to stay put. The bigger issue is that tampering remains rampant, and the NFL will continue to look foolish until the rules are revised to reflect the reality.