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Packers’ Brandon Underwood won’t face sexual assault charges

WTMJ 620 in Milwaukee reports that Packers cornerback Brandon Underwood won’t face sexual assault charges, although he could wind up facing charges of solicitation of prostitution (fancy term for, “he tried to pick up a hooker”).

Here are the details to this doozy:

Underwood met the two women at Chubby’s, a gentleman’s club outside of the Lake Delton area. Underwood solicited one or both of the women to return to his room. While an encounter between Underwood and one of the women was taking place, the other woman in question attempted to rob the Packers player. Once she was discovered, the two women were thrown out of the condo. That’s when the two women called police and reported the assault. The two women in question were seen laughing and “carrying on” after wards by witnesses.

According to the article, the other six Packer players who were named by the Lake Delton Police Department were not involved in the situation outside of being nearby at the time of the incident. The two women were also known prostitutes in the Milwaukee area.

This is the exact reason why it’s important that the media not jump to conclusions when a story like this breaks. While it would be a stretch to call Underwood a victim, it’s clear that he’s only guilty of having a lack in judgment. Some of his coaches have commented that he has been immature in the past, so maybe he’ll use this incident as a learning experience before he gets into any real trouble.

What a fiasco.

Vick to Packers? Yeah, not so much.

Not that it stood much of a chance of happening in the first place, but the Michael Vick-to-the-Packers rumors seem to have been officially squashed.

Per Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com:

Nevertheless, Thompson did that Tuesday during a mini-news conference when he seemingly left the door open for Michael Vick to join the Packers by saying he would “not rule anything out.”

Well, rule it out. As several team officials later clarified, Thompson was merely staying consistent with his own personal policy — never show your hand on personnel moves. To absolutely rule out Vick publicly would be setting a precedent for the “reclusive” general manager.

As I wrote yesterday when this rumor first hit the net, Vick winding up in Green Bay made little sense. They already have Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and youngsters Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn to back him up.

Where would Vick fit in? Running back?

Anyone who ever thought Vick was a running back was dreaming. First of all, he’s not that big and while he has (or used to have; who knows what prison life did to him) immense athletic ability, can you actually envision Vick running up the middle and taking on 250-pound linebackers? He would get crushed and if he didn’t get crushed, he would certainly fumble.

The only role the Packers (or any other team not looking for a QB) could have used Vick for is their version of the “Wild Cat” formation. But to my knowledge, Green Bay didn’t hop on that craze last year, so it’s not like they’re desperately looking for a player to help fill that role in their offense.

I maintain that Vick will wind up in Oakland, Seattle or San Francisco. Those are the three teams that I’ve said all along, so I’m sticking to them, although rumor had it that Jacksonville was a reasonable landing spot for him too.

Packers not ruling out Vick?

FOX Sports.com is reporting that Ted Thompson isn’t ruling out potential interest in free agent quarterback Michael Vick, although the Packers’ GM isn’t saying that his team is interested in Vick either.

“We look at everything,” Thompson said.

Vick has been conditionally reinstated in the NFL after completing a 23-month federal sentence for running a dogfighting ring. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said Vick can sign with a team and begin playing by week six of the NFL season.

While I wouldn’t put it pass Thompson to do something unpredictable (Justin Harrell at No. 16 in 2007, Ted? For realsies?), I don’t think he would sign Vick. Not only does Vick have character issues, he doesn’t really seem like a great addition to a team that already has Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and Ryan Grant at running back. Unless the Packers want Vick to serve as a backup for Rodgers (and why would they with Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn on the roster?), why take on his baggage just to try and see if he could play a position outside of quarterback?

Thompson is smarter than this and besides, he has always tried to take on players with high character issues, so it would reason that he would stay away from Vick.

Jennings, Packers close to contract extension

The Packers and Greg Jennings are in the process of finalizing a three-year extension that would allow the receiver to make $27 million in new money and could be worth as much as $30 million if he plays at a Pro Bowl level.

Jennings will earn slightly in excess of $16 million in guarantees, a source told ESPN.com’s Len Pasquarelli. The source also said that the structure of the contract is more front- than back-loaded.

Though both sides have come to an agreement on the numbers, a couple things have to be worked out as far as the language of the contract. First, it must be approved by the NFL Management Council. Second, it has to be signed by both parties. The plan is to try to get the final draft ready in the next couple of days.

Jennings will roughly earn $7.63 million per year, which is quite fair for a young receiver coming off an 80-catch, 1,292-yard season. Considering T.J. Houshmandzadeh will receive $8 mil a year in his new deal with Seattle, Packers GM Ted Thompson did well with Jennings’ contract.

Is Driver unhappy about his contract?

Packers wide receiver Donald Driver skipped the team’s OTA session on Thursday, apparently because he’s unhappy about his contract.

Receiver Donald Driver also skipped the OTA session, and the Wisconsin State Journal reported that Driver wants the team to redo his contract.

Driver, 34, has two years left on his contract and is due to be paid base salaries of $3.9 million this season and $4 million next season. The report said this is the fourth straight year that Driver has approached the team about reworking his contract. Driver’s agent, Jordan Woy, did not return messages.

Driver is certainly getting up there in age, but he’s always been one of the most underrated players in the league. This might be an interesting story to follow this summer, although given how Driver is the consummate professional, I highly doubt he would hurt the team in any way by holding out.

Hopefully for Packer fans the situation gets resolved, because Driver and Greg Jennings continue to be a solid 1-2 receiving combo.

5/30 Update: The Packers are currently working with Driver’s agent on a new deal.

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