The business side of Packers news has dominated the past few weeks, with most Green Bay Packers columnists devoting their work to the ups and downs of the 2014 NFL free agency period.
However, as one former Packers player sees it, the business side of football can be a bit uncaring at times.
Per Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman had some relatively blunt comments in relation to the Packers opting not to re-sign veteran wide receiver James Jones -- leading to the receiver leaving the only team he has ever played for to sign a multi-year deal with the Oakland Raiders --
“This game is about dollars and cents,” Freeman stated to reporters on Friday. “It’s about cap value. That’s what these decisions come down to. It doesn’t come down to if James was a nice guy or a great locker room guy. He was a great guy. I met him a few times. I’ve heard great things about him. But it doesn’t come down to how nice of a guy you are. This is a business. This is Wall Street. This is Saks Fifth Avenue.”
Antonio Freeman found himself in a similar situation at the end of the 2001 season, forcing him to move on to Philadelphia for a year as a backup wideout in 2002, before coming back to the Green Bay Packers for his ninth and final season in 2003--
“I didn’t understand that concept [at first]," Freeman said. "If I have a young kid with just as much potential as the older guy who’s going to cost more money, it makes more sense to develop my younger guy."
"It’s dollars and cents. I can get 80% of what I had in that guy and pay him far less and this kid has a bright future.”
Former Packer wide receiver James Jones signed a three-year, $11.3 million deal last to act as new Raiders' quarterback Matt Schaub's veteran target in Oakland's wide receiving corps.
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