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Offseason notebook: The Packers' downward spiral

Yahoo Sports

Slowly and surely, the Green Bay Packers' grip on playoff berth in 2005 is loosening.

Arguably no team in the NFL has endured as much turmoil and talent fluctuation since the end of the regular season – from free-agent losses to legal clouds and even a looming holdout. If next season is indeed the Brett Favre retirement tour, the wheels fell off the bus disturbingly early.

Consider what the Packers have endured since their unceremonious collapse in the playoffs four months ago:

  • Head coach Mike Sherman was stripped of his general manager title.

  • For the first time, Brett Favre seriously contemplated retirement.

  • Cornerback Al Harris was involved in a sexual assault investigation.

Oh, and their chief rival in the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings, might be having the best offseason in the NFL.

Someone should check and make sure the "b" hasn't fallen off the Lambeau Field sign hanging over the stadium entrance.

Sherman pooh-poohs the tumult.

"We've always had issues," he says. "There are 101 players that are going to be here on Friday [for minicamp]. To assume that we're not going to have issues come up – we've been very fortunate in the past that we haven't had very many.

"I know these things come up. They come up among family. You raise kids to do certain things, and sometimes they make bad decisions. … This is part of it."

Sherman's "bad decisions" reference could be in response to any number of players on the Packers roster.

Maybe it's a jab at Walker, who wants a new contract and isn't expected to show up when the team kicks off its mandatory full-squad minicamp on Friday. Or maybe it's a reference to Green, who was arrested after his fourth domestic "incident" since 1999. Or Harris, who hasn't been charged by police, but is being investigated due to sexual assault allegations by an exotic dancer in Florida.

From a talent standpoint alone, Green Bay lost significant ground this offseason when its two starting guards, Wahl and Rivera, inked lucrative deals with the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys, respectively. Sharper had to be cut loose for salary cap purposes – and landed with the Vikings. While the first round of last weekend's draft delivered Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the balance of the Packers' picks aren't likely to improve the NFL's 25th-ranked defense.

Instead, that responsibility will fall completely on new defensive coordinator Jim Bates, the highly regarded Miami Dolphins castoff who will install a new set of schemes.

"There's a big adaptation," Bates admitted this week. "Our total package, especially up front for the linemen and linebackers, is a tremendous change."

Bates and that front seven might have the easy part. Green Bay's biggest challenge in the coming months will be figuring out a way to solve Walker's contract issues, and healing the public relations black eye created by Harris and Green's personal problems. Neither fix looks easy at this stage.

Walker – who notched 89 catches for 1,328 yards and 12 touchdowns last season and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl – has essentially one year left on his current contract at an embarrassingly reasonable $515,000. He and agent Drew Rosenhaus want a new deal, which isn't a huge shock considering the portfolio of torn-up contracts Rosenhaus has been collecting.

As for Green and Harris, both issues will likely have been sorted out in the legal realm. Police are investigating claims from an exotic dancer that Harris sexually assaulted her in a private room last week in a Pompano Beach strip club. Meanwhile, Green will have to appear in court in May, stemming from his Monday arrest on disorderly conduct. The arrest occurred after a 911 call ended with a hang-up and police suspected a domestic dispute.

Green said Wednesday that he wanted the press to know that "there's two sides to the story – and not to take something out of context and run with it. … The people that love me, my family and friends that love me, they know what type of person I am."

"Things happen," Green added.

After this offseason, the Packers understand that better than anybody.

WIND SPRINTS

  • Speaking of Rosenhaus: He's not a very popular guy around the NFL these days. More and more, personnel people are grumbling about Rosenhaus' clients wanting to tear up contracts.

Beyond Walker, Rosenhaus is seeking new pacts for Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens and Cleveland Browns running back Reuben Droughns. While Owens has established himself as a top-tier wideout, Droughns has just recently rounded into a productive player. After rushing for 97 yards on 40 carries his first three seasons in the NFL (two at fullback), Droughns switched to running back and rushed for 1,240 yards this past season with the Denver Broncos.

"I'm sure the complaint is the position switch and the contract being a [fullback] contract," said a source in an NFC front office. "But [Droughns has] shown one good year. Is it unrealistic to expect consistent performance before throwing [his last deal] out the window? … Take Javon Walker. [Rosenhaus] can't expect teams to get marginal return during developmental years, and then to just hop up and pay someone like they've been a Pro Bowler from Day 1. That's what a second contract is for."

  • The drafting of running back Eric Shelton should have made it clear what the Carolina Panthers think about the continuing rehabilitation of Stephen Davis. While the Panthers have been publicly supportive – and Davis' agent has guaranteed his return – word is circulating around the NFL that the Panthers' organization doubts Davis will ever be able to effectively recover from last season's microfracture surgery.

  • It's dumbfounding that the Buffalo Bills weren't willing to pull the trigger on a deal with running back Travis Henry around draft time. Bills general manager Tom Donahoe had been remarkably stubborn about receiving some kind of second-round compensation for Henry, despite there being no market for running backs and no team in the NFL willing to surrender that much for the former 1,000-yard rusher. What's most odd about this situation is that the longer Henry remains with the Bills, the more his value diminishes. But it seems Donahoe isn't the only person in this equation who needs to wake up.

If the Bills do trade Henry, he hopes to get a lucrative new deal. But that won't happen – not with other prime backs, such as Indianapolis' Edgerrin James and Seattle's Shaun Alexander, on the market. And not with another strong running back class in next year's draft (depending on some underclassmen declaring early, that is).

  • More detail has emerged on a few guys who surprisingly went undrafted.

Scouts thought Michigan safety Ernest Shazor (who landed in Arizona) was hiding something when he didn't work out at the combine, then were tremendously disappointed in his 4.7-second speed at his pro day. But what really hurt the former Thorpe finalist's value was his inability to get his body turned quickly in deep coverage. That, combined with Shazor's speed, made him appear as a serious liability against the NFL's faster players.

As for Heisman winner Jason White, who signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, it wasn't simply arm strength that hurt his value. Apparently some teams weren't pleased with the way his knees looked after his college surgeries. One team said a training camp with White was "an injury settlement just waiting to happen."

And finally, Oregon State cornerback Brandon Browner, who left school after just two seasons, was thought of as too long (he's 6-foot-4) and a step too slow to play cornerback in the NFL. While he fared well in college, some teams thought his skills and size translate poorly to the pros. In short, they had no idea where they could play him effectively.

Now we'll see if the Denver Broncos, who signed Browner as an undrafted free agent, can figure it out.