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Less than 24 hours after he was released, Green Bay Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk looks set to sign a new five year contract.
At the NFL Combine, Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said of LB A.J. Hawk's contract, which pays him $10 million in 2011:
"I'm hopeful we can work that out," said McCarthy. "I like A.J. Everybody likes A.J. I like the year he had. I think A.J. belongs in Green Bay."
Apparently they couldn't get it worked out. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Packers released Hawk on Wednesday.
Hawk was due over $10 million in salary for the 2011 season and it would be guaranteed on the first day of the league year (once a new CBA is done). Reports this week indicated that the Packers would waive Hawk, rather than pay him over $10 million, if a new contract wasn't worked out.
That said, Hawk may not be out of Green Bay for long. Schefter tweets he has a "hunch" Hawk will be back with a new contract (and soon). If the Packers are going to do another deal for him, it'll have to be before midnight on March 3rd when the labor deal expires.
Check out Acme Packing Company for more on the A.J. Hawk news.
A.J. Hawk Set To Sign New Five-Year Contract With The Green Bay Packers
Less than 24 hours after he was released, Green Bay Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk looks set to sign a new five year contract, according to a report from Lance Allan at WTMJ Milwaukee. Hawk was released due to the fact that his old contract would have paid him in excess of $10 million for the 2011 season, but there was rampant speculation that Hawk would return to the team. That speculation appears to have been proven true, and Hawk is set to fly to Green Bay to ink his new contract on Thursday.
Terms of the deal are yet to be disclosed, but Hawk's salary should be well south of the $10 million he was set to earn under his old contract. Though Hawk played in all 16 of Green Bay's games last season, starting 15 of them, the level of competition for a starting job he was set to face in training camp meant that his value to the team was nowhere near what the final year of his rookie contract paid him.
The NFL's collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight on March 3rd, so Hawk will only be able to sign a new contract up until that point. If the report is true, both Hawk and the Packers intend to do just that.
Mar 03 12:24a by Kevin McCauley - 0 comments