After seven years on the Packers’ defensive line, Cullen Jenkins assumes he’ll sign elsewhere in free agency.
Jenkins repeated Wednesday what he has previously said, that he wanted to stay in Green Bay enough that he offered last year to take less money to stay with the Packers than he thought he could make in free agency, but the Packers weren’t interested.
“Heading into last year, I’ve always been up there and always been a Packer, and I wanted to stay a Packer,” Jenkins said, per Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com. “So we approached the team and wanted to get some type of security, some type of longer-term deal before the season so I would know I would be there. It wasn’t about money, it was about security, about trying to see if we could work something out.”
When asked if he would have given the Packers a hometown discount, Jenkins said, “Yeah. That was the thought then. I knew in going to them, I know Green Bay, I know the market, I know how they handle business, and the thought was if we could get something reasonable worked out, I knew I would take less than what I could’ve gotten in free agency. But they never approached me with anything and never got any type of negotiations going. It’s just how the business is. They had a lot of younger guys and felt they could move forward in that direction.”
So Jenkins expects to sign with another team, whenever free agents are allowed to sign with teams. He may not have to move his family too far, as the Bears are thought to be interested.