GREEN BAY, Wis. — It seems the pass rusher Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson has been looking for at least has a chance to arrive through free agency.
After the Oakland Raiders cut Kamerion Wimbley on Friday, a league source confirmed that the Packers were one of more than a half-dozen teams to reach out to the 28-year-old free agent.
However, the source said, Green Bay has not yet scheduled a visit with Wimbley. The Packers apparently want to see what the market will dictate in terms of contract demands.
As with any free agent hoping to break through Thompson's build-through-the-draft policy, Wimbley would have to come with an appropriate price tag. Just last August, Oakland gave him a five-year contract extension worth $48 million. With Wimbley due $17.5 million in bonuses Saturday, the Raiders chose cap savings over keeping him.
Currently, the Packers are about $6 million under the salary cap for 2012 but could go as far as $17 million under if they cut two veterans, wide receiver Donald Driver and tackle Chad Clifton. Such moves could leave room for Wimbley, who could offer a sorely needed pass rusher opposite linebacker Clay Matthews.
However, several of the Packers' top players are due new contracts in the next two seasons, including wide receiver Greg Jennings a year from now. Based on the enormous contracts being handed out to receivers such as Calvin Johnson, DeSean Jackson and Vincent Jackson this offseason, Jennings could demand quite a ransom.
Wimbley, the 13th overall pick by Cleveland in 2006, played defensive end in a 4-3 scheme at Florida State, but his best year in the NFL came in his rookie season, when he recorded 11 sacks as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense.
Under defensive coordinator Dom Capers, Green Bay uses a 3-4. During his two seasons with Oakland, Wimbley has recorded 16 sacks in a 4-3.
With Wimbley now 28, the prevailing belief is that, though the 6-foot-4, 255-pounder can play in either style of defense, he might be best suited for a 3-4.
If the Packers were to acquire Wimbley, he would be their first significant free-agent signing since 2006, when Thompson brought in cornerback Charles Woodson and defensive lineman Ryan Pickett. Since then, Thompson has built the Packers' roster almost exclusively through the draft.
With Green Bay's defense having taken a significant step back in 2011, the pass rush and the line were already the main issues for the Packers to address this offseason. But when Mike Neal was suspended for the first four games of 2012 by the NFL earlier this week for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, Green Bay's needs in those areas became even more immediate.
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