As first reported by Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Green Bay Packers have signed defensive lineman B.J. Raji to a one-year, $4 million contract.
Raji accepted this offer after turning down a contract from Green Bay worth $8 million during the season and after not finding a long term deal from another team on the open market. NFL Network’s Ian Rapport tweeted that only the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders showed interest in Raji, both of whom have general managers in John Dorsey and Reggie McKenzie who worked under Ted Thompson.
Raji has been a disappointing player for Green Bay since 2010, when he was a key contributor to their championship team. He only had 17 tackles last year and has not had a sack since 2011. Raji will be moving back to nose tackle where he played in 2010, so the hope is that he will regain his 2010 form playing his most comfortable position.
The Packers are also hoping that a motivated Raji looking to get paid will lead to better production, although that did nothing for him last season.
Despite the low production recently, Thompson does not like to give up on his own draft picks, especially one who was selected with the ninth overall pick.
Raji marks the fifth of his own free agents that Thompson has signed. He had previously re-signed cornerback Sam Shields, linebacker Mike Neal,tight end Andrew Quarless and tendered restricted free agent linebacker Jamari Lattimore.
——————Matt Bove is a writer at PackersTalk.com. PackersTalk.com. You can follow him on twitter at @RayRobert9.
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