Raji to retire from NFL

[HardRightEdge]

With Pennel suspended for the first four games and with the coaching staff most likely continuing to play Datone Jones at OLB the Packers will be pretty thin on the defensive line at the start of the season. They should for sure add another DL within the first three rounds.

There's a very good chance it will be in the first round.

 

[Vrill]

Five potential Raji replacements

http://www.packersnews.com/story/sp.../?hootPostID=39178ae7dc87144266521c8f498c9fd7

 

[HardRightEdge]

IMO that's kind of an odd comment. One more payday? He played well for two seasons and has received over $30M. In his statement he writes, "This organization not only made my NFL dreams a reality and provided financial security for me and my family for generations to come..." BTW some Packers fans believe his drop off in production was due to lack of effort, not "stupid injuries".

While Raji may have been a good locker room/character guy, his love of the game seems to have stopped at the sidelines. While mom and the aunt may be the exclusive reasons for his hiatus or retirement, whichever the case may be, his dancing bear style of play has been increasingly frustrated over the recent years and his play could not have been personally satisfying beyond the paycheck and the team camaraderie. I would not discount the possibility he's come to find strapping it on come Sunday a chore more than a joy. You can't play at this level if you don't love the battle at some level.

If the Packers made a very attractive offer, I'd chalk it up to Thompson weakness or stubbornness, whichever might apply, with respect to his first round picks.

 

[ivo610]

Raji played great during hi first two seasons in the league but after winning the Super Bowl his play steadily declined for the rest of his tenure with the Packers.

Position change and an injury didnt help. I was ok with his play last season.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Position change and an injury didnt help. I was ok with his play last season.

Raji underperformed while playing nose tackle as well. His play last season was decent but nothing to get excited about.

 

[P-E-Z]

I guess you can put a value on your health.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I guess you can put a value on your health.

I wouldn't begrudge anybody leaving the game over health or lifespan concerns. That does not appear to be the case here.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Raji underperformed while playing nose tackle as well. His play last season was decent but nothing to get excited about.

Agreed. I think Pennel outplayed him at nose.

 

[adambr2]

Agreed. I think Pennel outplayed him at nose.

Hate to say it, but ol' BJ did us a favor.

Thompson I'm guessing made him a classic Thompson offer, meaning he put extreme premiums on both draft position and years as a Packer, both of which Raji has, and less on actual performance, which the last few years has been lacking.

Guessing the offer was $4-$5M per season as a ballpark and given that Raji is much more easily replaced than most think, glad he went this route.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

I was hoping he would go out with a bang. Doin the Raji. Cashing checks...

I like big ol #90 in the middle.

 

[adambr2]

I was hoping he would go out with a bang. Doin the Raji. Cashing checks...

I like big ol #90 in the middle.

He had a chance to. I was glad he got at least one more shot after the 2013 and bicep injury so at least we knew.

He just didn't do enough to fret about losing him, IMO. I was hoping for a big rebound year, but overall it was just meh, mostly more of the same with a nice play sprinkled in here and there.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Hate to say it, but ol' BJ did us a favor.

Thompson I'm guessing made him a classic Thompson offer, meaning he put extreme premiums on both draft position and years as a Packer, both of which Raji has, and less on actual performance, which the last few years has been lacking.

Guessing the offer was $4-$5M per season as a ballpark and given that Raji is much more easily replaced than most think, glad he went this route.

I agree with that, but I question to some degree the "more easily replaced than most think" comment.

Raji was pretty decent in the run game last season; the line as a whole did a pretty good job in 2015 at holding ground and limiting room to run between the tackles, and Raji was a big part of that. The run game stats may not have been particularly impressive, but given the issues at ILB, including Matthews performance in the run game, the line play in the run game bordered on outstanding. Raji's 42% snap count in his 15 game 2015 season was in keeping with his current profile as a typical run-down plugger, not the 3-down player of his first couple of seasons. Even so, under that limited snap count (and a full year of rest going into the season), seeing him use pass plays as an opportunity to rest was pretty disappointing. I'm the first to blame the player, but we perhaps should cut some margin of slack for the excessive snap counts in his early seasons. That's got to have taken both a mental and physical toll, while acknowledging that when you take the check you must do what's necessary to earn it.

If we think of Raji as strictly the run down rotational player he's become, he has value and is not that easy to replace. The value that kind of player brings on 1st. down, 3rd. and short, or inside the 10 tends to be underrated. 3-down guys on the other hand, who are productive in both the run and pass games, cost $10 mil per year, as evidenced by Daniels' deal. If we think of Raji as a player on the order of Pickett in, say, his second-to-last season before his knees were shot, switching from DE to NT because his quickness had declined, we might view Raji a little more charitably.

The question, as always, comes down to 1) will you get performance at or above the contract and 2) who else ya got?

If we think about Raji in terms of who he is now and not what he once was, $4 - $5 mil as you suggest for a solid, veteran first team run down plugger is in keeping with the current cap.

Two problems remain with that thinking from a Packer perspective.

First, if what the Packers offered was attractive and others expressed serious interest, the number may have been higher than that. A 3-4 defense without a run down anchor at NT has a serious weakness, or even a weakness at strong side DE has to be a serious concern. A reach may have been on the table, and any number of years in the deal beyond 1 year presents a risk for a player who's already been in decline. If Raji is to be believed, multi-year offers were on the table.

Second, in the "who else ya got" consideration, Raji would not be the best NT on the roster in my opinion. Pennel was one of the pleasant surprises of 2015, and is a poster child for the McCarthy "second year jump". Coming in he was a fundamental mess, playing high and getting pushed around like an undersized player. We've joked about McCarthy's banging the drum on "pad level" as though it's some kind of universal fix for all that ails (while thankfully he's avoided using the term in the last year or two), the pad level issue is actually quite applicable in the case of Pennel. This appears to be a case of a guy being undercoached in small college ball.

I think Pennel is every bit the match of Raji in the run game at this stage, and given the developmental trajectory he may have some room to run. Where he gets the edge in my eye is his push in the pass game. While it might not show up in the stat sheet, he consistently moved centers and guards back a couple steps into the QBs face. No small thing in itself, consider he was out there primarily on run downs, showing ability to transition from run call to pass push, as opposed to guys who get the opportunity to tee off in long yardage.

Getting back to the original point, I'd express some caution in thinking Raji is easy to replace, and part of that goes to the "who else ya got" issue. Beyond the Pennel suspension, which would not have justified a multi-year Raji paycheck for a short term problem, the preferred depth in a 5 man rotation is not there. The issue was handled last season with Peppers and Neal getting some snaps inside in nickel and dime, but with Neal likely departing and Peppers likely needing a marginal reduction in his 67% snap count last season, we're looking at a need for 2 D-Line players.

Raji would have filled one of those needs for the run game. Maybe that guy will be Ringo, maybe not, it ain't that easy. But there is also a need for a guy to take on 3-tech duty on those 65 - 70% nickel and dime snaps. Daniels can't take all the snaps and while Guion is serviceable in that role, he's not optimal and you have to look at his snap count as well. Capers declared last season that Jones was unfit for the inside nickel role. While the conclusion was not particularly surprising, the bluntness indicated this is not something that can be fixed.

When there's one hole to fill, you might be inclined to look at a serviceable player rotating to his particular strength. When there's two to fill, you have to think hard about spending draft capital on a player with the potential to provide some impact as a rookie, and that spells a high pick.

Looking at the current roster, I think the Packers should be looking for that impact less at a one-for-one Raji replacement at NT and think more about a guy who can bring pass rush credibility from 3-tech. Besides the specific issues related to the current roster, it's been a long term problem since Jenkins' departure. With a potential for up to a 70% snap count in that role alone, a first round pick is justified. In other words, a Datone Jones redo.