A breakdown of the first week of free agency for the Green Bay Packers:
Most significant signing: Packers general manager Ted Thompson hasn’t broken from his habit of more or less sitting out the early portion of free agency, except when it comes to re-signing his own players. To that end, he took care of his two biggest free agents well before they could hit the market. Defensive end Mike Daniels re-signed way back in December, and kicker Mason Crosby did so more than a week before free agency opened. If you want the biggest deal the Packers have done in the past week, you’d have to point to the one-year, $5 million deal they gave to bring back outside linebacker Nick Perry.
Most significant loss: B.J. Raji. The Packers didn’t lose him to another team; they lost him to other interests. Raji’s stunning decision to walk away from the NFL and leave an offer on the table to return to the Packers (he also said he had interest from other teams) leaves a hole on the Packers' defensive line. Raji proved in 2015 that he could come back healthy and dependable after missing all of 2014 because of a torn biceps.
Player they should have signed: The Packers want Clay Matthews to return to outside linebacker, but in order to do so, they have to make sure they're covered on the inside. They could have taken care of that by signing either Danny Trevathan or Jerrell Freeman. Trevathan even said he hoped the Packers would have called him. Instead, both signed with the rival Bears.
What’s next: Thompson finally brought in a free agent for a visit: former Rams tight end Jared Cook. That doesn’t mean the Packers will sign him, of course. He left town after his visit Monday without a deal. The Packers still have some of their own free agents to make decisions on. Among the most likely to return include running back James Starks, fullback John Kuhn, outside linebacker Mike Neal and long-snapper Brett Goode.
Overall grade: C. After consecutive overtime defeats in the playoffs the past two seasons, the Packers appear to be a player or two away from getting back to the Super Bowl. But it doesn’t appear they will add a significant difference-maker in free agency. Still, they re-signed just about all of the key players they needed to retain.
