http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=411552
Woodson carries high price tag
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
Posted: March 28, 2006
Orlando, Fla. - It will take more than a token financial bid for the Green Bay Packers to lure free-agent cornerback Charles Woodson into their organization, but if they can pull it off it could result in a dramatic improvement in their defense.
That was the opinion of a number of coaches and personnel officials who were interviewed about the Oakland Raiders veteran.
Woodson, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, is scheduled to arrive in Green Bay sometime this weekend for an official visit. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the only other team that has had Woodson in, so the potential for the Packers to reel in their first big-name free agent certainly exists.
“If we’re talking to him, we’re serious,” coach Mike McCarthy said.
The Packers were also talking to New England kicker Adam Vinatieri after his visit, but they let the Indianapolis Colts steal him away with a more lucrative offer. Signing Woodson, should the Packers deem him healthy and a good fit, will be a challenge, given that his agent, Carl Poston, has a reputation for seeking huge numbers for his clients.
But the free-agent market has slowed down after nearly three weeks of activity and countless millions of dollars spent, so Woodson might find himself in a similar situation as New England cornerback Ty Law last August. After healing from a foot injury, Law, another Poston client, signed a complicated long-term deal that for all intents and purposes was a one-year deal worth around $4 million.
It’s clear the Raiders aren’t interested in Woodson anymore, but some of that has to do with the fact that as their franchise designation Woodson was paid base salaries of $8.78 million in 2004 and $10.53 million in ’05. The Raiders don’t appear interested in investing any more money in him.
Speaking at the National Football League owners meetings at the Hyatt Grand Cypress, new Raiders coach Art Shell said of Woodson, “I haven’t had time to think about players other than those involved with our team.”
Asked if Woodson can still perform at a high level, he said, “I haven’t studied him.”
Regardless of the Raiders’ disinterest, there are plenty of people around the NFL who think the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Woodson can still be an effective player despite missing 21 games over the past four seasons because of injury, including 10 with a broken right leg last year. Some think his days as classic cover cornerback are behind him, but if moved to a safety position where he can use his strong tackling and blitzing skills he can be special.
The Buccaneers have indicated that they intend to play Woodson at safety, but in Green Bay Woodson would probably play a multitude of positions to utilize his different skills.
“I think in a certain system he can play corner,” Kansas City Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. “It’s just a matter of in his mind does he want to play corner. He can play both, but I don’t know what he wants to play. I still think he can do that (bump and run). I think Charles Woodson can do whatever he wants if his mind is right. It’s according to what he wants to do.”
According to a longtime member of the Raiders organization, Woodson is far from being washed up. He might not have the speed he had as a Heisman Trophy winner coming out of Michigan in 1998, but he hasn’t lost his overall athletic ability.
Last year, the Raiders played him all over the field, moving him from cornerback, to the slot, to inside the box, to deep safety. He had 30 tackles and one interception when, in the seventh game of the season, he suffered a broken right leg making a tackle at the line of scrimmage. He was lost for the season.
“That’s probably the worst thing that happened to him is that he was used too many places,” the Raiders source said. “To find out about him you need to leave him out at corner. He’s a good tackler, so you’re always tempted to move him to safety or in the slot where you can blitz him. But he can live playing one position.”
During Woodson’s first five seasons, the Raiders went 49-31, but in his last three they have gone 13-35 and the 29-year-old cornerback would have been faced with playing for a third head coach in four years had he returned. In 34 games during that three-year span, Woodson has 172 tackles, 3½ sacks and five interceptions.
When he joined the Raiders, he was so talented that some people thought he was Hall of Fame-bound. He was considered one of the top two or three cover cornerbacks in the game during his Pro Bowl run, but of late his stock has dropped and he has been lumped in with the mess that has been the Raiders the past few years.
He missed seven games in 2002 with a broken shoulder, two games in 2004 with a knee injury and 10 in ’05 with a broken leg.
In 2003, Woodson was involved in a highly publicized feud with Raiders coach Bill Callahan and was deactivated for the season finale after breaking curfew. He publicly slammed Callahan during the season and claimed later that the deactivation was retaliation for his comments.
Woodson was also arrested for public intoxication during the 2004 season after he and teammate Marques Anderson refused to get out of a woman’s sedan outside a bar in Oakland at 4:20 in the morning. But prosecutors chose not to charge either one.
According to the Raiders source, Woodson is not a problem in the locker room and can be someone younger players can look up to if the burden of leadership doesn’t fall all on his shoulders as it sometimes did in Oakland.
“I think he’s good in the locker room as long as the organization is straight with him,” the source said. “He’s a bright guy and he wants to win. At times he wasn’t focused on being the best. He sometimes let things bother him that shouldn’t bother him. He took things too personally and lost focus.”
The Packers figure he could team with Al Harris to form a solid cornerback tandem, while also stepping out into a safety or slot position to cover up newly signed safety Marquand Manuel’s coverage liabilities. Woodson would be a major upgrade over starter Ahmad Carroll, whose job will be challenged regardless if the Raiders veteran is added.
“This guy is a good football player,” Thompson said. “And whether he’s a corner or a tackle or whatever, if he’s a good football player, we talk about it. We spend hours talking about these guys and sometimes we bring them in for a visit and see how that goes.”