From jsonline:
Barnett's contract extended
Linebacker latest in-house player rewarded by team
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 10, 2007
Green Bay - Nick Barnett might be a little bit biased - he had just become the Green Bay Packers' highest-paid player on defense - but he sees nothing wrong with the philosophy general manager Ted Thompson has adopted for his team.
Building through the draft and using the team's money to lock up those who are already in house sits well with him.
"A lot of times you see a lot of GMs, not that I'm knocking all of them, but you see they go out there and waste a lot of money on players that don't pan out, that they don't even know," Barnett said during an afternoon news conference to announce his signing. "You go out there and you don't even know this player and you spend all that money on them and they come in and they don't add up.
"They (the Packers) have been focused on us, the players that are in the locker room, the people with big hearts and good personalities and (who) work hard."
Barnett became a beneficiary of that ideology Tuesday when he put his name on a six-year contract extension worth $35 million, including around $12 million to be paid this year. The Packers and Barnett have been negotiating off and on since the season ended in an attempt to reach a long-term agreement and the tide turned last week when the numbers started reaching Barnett's expectations.
The Packers have signed only one free agent this off-season - backup cornerback Frank Walker - but they have locked up Barnett, cornerback Al Harris and defensive end Cullen Jenkins to long-term deals in just the last 3½ months.
In all, they have spent roughly $35 million in bonus money to secure Barnett, Jenkins, Harris, center Scott Wells and defensive end Aaron Kampman to long-term deals over the past year. In contrast, they have spent only $15 million in bonus money over the same period on free agents Charles Woodson, Ryan Pickett, Marquand Manuel and Walker.
"I think that's normal," Thompson said of investing mostly in his own. "A lot of teams try to do that. From a timing standpoint, this was just a good time. It was good for the player and good for the club."
The Packers identified Barnett, 26, as one of their core players and set out to complete a deal a year before the four-year veteran was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. Though Barnett has not made it to the Pro Bowl, he has led the team in tackles three times and assumed the role of one of the leaders.
"We think he's special," Thompson said. "He's very valuable to our defense. You have to have a guy to play that position now."
Barnett's $5.8 million average puts him in company with such veterans as Denver's Al Wilson ($6 million average), Atlanta's Keith Brooking ($5.7 million), Miami's Zach Thomas ($5.78 million) and Carolina's Dan Morgan ($5.6 million). His bonus money is better than any of the rest and falls just short of the elite group, which includes New England's Adalius Thomas ($20 million in bonuses), Baltimore's Ray Lewis ($19 million) and Chicago's Brian Urlacher ($14 million).
Had Barnett collected his '07 salary of $1.95 million and gone to free agency next year, there's no telling what he would have received given what Thomas and Miami's Joey Porter ($13 million in bonuses) received as free agents this year. But Barnett didn't want to risk getting hurt and wanted to continue playing in Green Bay.
"There are numbers and then there's real numbers," agent Chuck Price said, alluding to the inflated free-agent salaries this off-season. "When you looked at what the real numbers were going to be and what they could be, there was absolutely no real decision do we wait or not.
"Once the numbers got to the point where, 'This is Green Bay, I can be set for life,' it was pretty clear that this was the place to finish up."
Barnett, whose deal runs through 2012, said he had embraced a leadership role and never thought about holding out or skipping off-season workouts to show the Packers he was serious about wanting a new contract. He said the troubles he had with his local nightclub, FiveSix Ultra Lounge, did not dissuade him from making the league's smallest city his home for the next six years.
His hope is that the defense stays together for years to come and that he's its leader.
"I definitely feel like this is my defense," he said.
Because much of Barnett's 2007 money won't be delivered in a signing bonus, the Packers were able to eat up a considerable amount of their $21 million salary-cap surplus. They are now thought to be about $14 million below the cap.
And as a result of sewing up so many starters, they face an off-season in 2008 where defensive tackle Corey Williams is the only player of any significance who will be an unrestricted free agent. The others are players who aren't even guaranteed of making the team this year.
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That last part makes it sound like they could be planning on making a push next year. They'll hopefully have a solid group of 2nd and 3rd year players then (last year's and this year's draft) and can use the free money to get a couple FA's, if the pool is stronger.
Barnett signs long term extension
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