The Green Bay Packers sent defensive tackle B.J. Raji a pretty clear message with his contract. He'll have to earn the right to be on the team this year.

TotalPackers  wrote:

I'm probably in a very small minority on this -- I don't think Raji's biggest problem is his dedication/motivation/effort, etc. I think it is simply that he is not as good as people thought he was.

In another thread a long time about Jay Cutler I made this point: you can't go by sideline (or even line of scrimmage) demeanor

Most NFL players who play out their initial contract have the ability to make great plays from time to time. The problem with most of them, however, is that they lack the talent to make those great plays with consistency.

Raji, to my mind, is just not a great player. He's not going to be a game-in and game-out dominator. That's sad, perhaps, given that he was a first-rounder. But that's what he is. A typical NFL utility player. A talent not much above veteran minimum.

The number of reps he continued to get last year, and the fact that the Packers only dropped from 8 to 4 million (instead of, say, 1.75 million), tells me the Packers still see him as more than that.

I think they're dreaming.

Originally Posted by: Wade 

I think he had two problems.

1: He was playing out of position. He's not built to play end. He's built to play NT.

2: He was assigned to take up blockers. But that's not his game. His game is penetrating on the interior.

Originally Posted by: nerdmann