Desmond's Big Day

Posted by Mark Daniels on

While General Manager Ted Thompson takes a lot of guff for not opening the Packers wallet in unrestricted free agency, this much is certain, if you perform in a Green and Gold uniform, you do get taken care of.  Another example arrived Tuesday when it was reported 4th year linebacker Desmond Bishop will be given a new four year contract worth a reported 19 million dollars.  Bishop was a 6th round pick out of Cal in 2007 and was a part time linebacker and big time special teams player.  Given a chance to play after Nick Barnett was lost for the year with a wrist injury against Detroit in early October, Bishop has more than risen to the occassion.  He's piled up 121 tackles, second on the team behind A.J.Hawk, he has three sacks and took an interception of Brett Favre to the end zone in the Pack's victory over the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field.  Bishop's previous high in tackles was 27 in 2008 when he had his one and only start until this year.  He joins the list that includes Tramon Williams, Greg Jennings and Brandon Chillar who earned big pay days this season.  Thompson's plan of drafting core players, watching them develop and then locking them up with long term deals appears to be more wise than the Daniel Snyder approach in Washington who showers the Albert Haynesworth's of the world with 100 million dollars and watches it go poof.  A potential headache awaits Thompson now however as he has a lot of money invested in the linebacker position.  Chillar's deal is very similar to Bishop's, Barnett has a base salary of 5.5 million for 2011 and Hawk stands to make 10 million dollars unless his contract is renegotiated.  You can never have enough good players but the financial squeeze may force Thompson to make a move.

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