• Jennings close to new deal with Packers

  • By AJ Mass | June 23, 2009 7:23:46 AM PDT
Green Bay is about $27 million under the salary cap, and it appears the team is getting ready to spread some of that cash around. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the Packers and Greg Jennings are close to agreeing to a new deal that would keep the wide receiver in green and gold for many years to come. Jennings is in the final year of his original three-year contract and made less than $1 million last season despite being the fourth-highest-scoring fantasy wideout (using ESPN standard scoring).

The paper estimates the expected deal to be in the neighborhood of the $8 million-per-year deal T.J. Houshmandzadeh signed with Seattle. While this means the combination of Aaron Rodgers and Jennings should continue to flourish for years to come, it also might cause a little tension with other Packers seeking their share of the salary cap surplus, most notably veteran wide receiver Donald Driver and linebacker Aaron Kampman, who is expected to be the focal point of the team's new 3-4 defense under new coordinator Dom Capers.

• You might want to bump Ronnie Brown up a few spots in your rankings, as reports out of Dolphins camp are that Brown looked fit and faster than ever in recent organized team activities. The Palm Beach Post also reports Ricky Williams was "mostly invisible" and second-round draft pick Pat White "looked small" on the field alongside NFL players. That could mean even more work for Brown in both the lead-back role and from Tony Sparano's Wildcat formation.

• Will Isaac Bruce have any fantasy value this season? The wide receiver is entering his 16th (and likely final) year in the league, but according to the San Francisco Examiner, the team is focused on the future, in the form of Jason Hill, Josh Morgan and rookie Michael Crabtree, two of whom will most likely be in the first offensive huddle of the season. Don't expect Bruce to get anywhere near the number of targets he received last season, and expect far fewer than his team-leading 61 receptions.

• Tight end Jared Cook, a second-round pick by the Titans, has been taken under the wing of Alge Crumpler, according to The Tennessean. "I let him know he can count on me … I gave him my number and told him to call me anytime if he had any questions. I won't steer you wrong," Crumpler told the paper. Cook is still behind both Crumpler and Bo Scaife on the Tennessee depth chart, but offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger compares Cook favorably to Shannon Sharpe. Given that kind of praise, Cook bears watching throughout the preseason.

• Store the name Caleb Hanie in the back of your mind. The Chicago Sun-Times reports Hanie has taken "clear control" of the Bears' No. 2 quarterback job. Certainly, if anything happens to Jay Cutler, the Bears are going to be in a whole lot of trouble, but Hanie, who Chicago signed as an undrafted free agent out of Colorado State last season, already has displayed a far stronger arm in workouts this year than Kyle Orton ever did in his time with the team.


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