One of the key elements of roster-building is finding the cast-off that is going to develop into a decent player down the road. So far in his career. Ted Thompson has acquired several roster cast-offs via waivers or through a late trade prior to cut-downs. I can think of several that are key players for this team. . .

Ryan Grant, Atari Bigby, Tramon Williams, John Kuhn, Jarrett Bush, Ruvell Martin, Charlie Peprah and Spencer Havner all were players who came to Green Bay around the cut down period. Some of them spent additional time on the practice squad before moving up to the active roster, but the talent was there and TT had the interest enough to sign, claim or trade for them.

Guys like Al Harris, Kris Dielman, Gilbert Brown, Ryan Lilja, Ryan Longwell, Colin Cole, Kurt Warner, Bertrand Berry, Mark Bulger, Vonta Leach and Scott Shanle have all been acquired or available during this time period in past seasons.

Is there anyone that you think has hit the cut list so far this offseason (or that might possibly be on the trading block) that you think is worth opening up a roster spot and adding to the team?

For me, I could see them adding any star player who is cut unexpectedly who presents as an upgrade over those currently on the roster. I think that adding a legitimate 3rd tight end should be a key priority during this cut-down period.

I'll try to update this as cuts come in and specific players are mentioned.

So far (for me) there's been three guys released that I'd have been interested in. . .

QB - Kevin O'Connell - New England (waiver claim acquired by Detroit)
DE - Travis Johnson - Houston (traded to San Diego for conditional 6th/5th round pick)
TE - Joe Klopfenstein - St. Louis (possible 3rd TE?)
OL - Marcus Johnson - Oakland Raiders (struggled in Minnesota, cut by Oakland?)

Anyone else?

I'll be surprised if Thompson finds someone this year after cuts. Teams have been reported to licking their chops in anticipation of GBs cuts.

Wasn't Johnson a pretty high draft pick not too long ago?

Do you mean Johnson or Johnson?

Here is John Czarnecki's thoughts from FoxSports. These aren't rumors, just his opinion on some trades that should occur. Green Bay is prominently mentioned in several.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/1000853...-before-kickoff

Marcus Johnson was a 2nd round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2005. He was an UFA this year and signed with the Raiders who just released him on the first round of cutdowns.

And apparently I wasn't the only one interested in him as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked him up, and are giving him a chance to come in to compete and see if he'll be worth keeping on the final roster.

Or maybe Johnson & Johnson?

"Atlanta needs secondary help badly and right now the Packers are loaded with defensive talent."

The current Packers safeties have been getting ripped (by some PC'ers) all off-season... but teams like Atlanta just can't wait to pick-off of the cut-list for our safety(s).

This has been such a competitive camp, I'm REALLY excited about the '09 Packers. Those that stick will have survived a really tough competition earning their roster spot.

Im cautiously optimistic about 2009. We have to stay healthy thats the key. If Rodgers goes down we are done, and our depth on defense is a concern. Granted many of these guys will be gone, but between the second half of the AZ game and last night, our second and third teamers got rolled up and smoked. I like what I see so far from our first team, but its a week to week thing with me throughout the season.

Trevor Canfield and Leonard Pope have been cut in Arizona. I thik neither is really a possibility, but Canfield was mentioned prominently by some before the draft and Pope is the highest profile TE to be cut so far.

One person so far has been released whom I might be interested in.

http://twitter.com/BradBiggs/status/3782486593

Dan Klecko. He's only 28 and played for the Patriots and Eagles.
He was a DT for the Eagles but could probably play LB for the Packers.
He's a better version of Spencer Havner as he plays special teams and is a good run blocker.
He blocked for 5 TD runs his rookie year.

Everette Pedescleaux was cut by Denver. Again a lot of people thought he might be a sleeper pick as a DE in the 3-4

Here is a guy who I think could help us. He was cut by Jax. after refusing to take a paycut.

http://www.jaguars.com/Team/Player.aspx?id=2700

I wold tend to agree, but I'd like to find a LT like this guy.

Looks good on paper. Who would we get rid of to put him on the roster.

Tony Pashos ended up signing with San Francisco for the year.

All things considered, I still wish that we would have added Kevin Shaffer once the Browns cut him.

He has experience in both a power and zone system (our system in fact) and he has experience on both the left and right side. Plus he ended up signing with Chicago for a very manageable salary (3 years and 6 million with only a 550 K signing bonus). He could have competed with Allen Barbre for the RT spot, or just been stuck behind Clifton as a reliable LT reserve.

He's the backup to both Pace and Williams and with their injury histories it's very likely that he'll end up seeing the field sometime this season.

Back to the origional question of available free agents. . .

The only other players that are still out there that I'd be interested in are SS: Bernard Pollard (Kansas City Chiefs - how is this guy still out there?) DE: Ikaika Alama-Francis (Detroit Lions), WR/TE: Matt Jones (Jacksonville Jaguars. . . I know, I know), OC: Steve Justice (Indianapolis Colts) CB: Jack Ikegwuonu (Philadelphia Eagles Practice Squad), CB: Eric Green (San Francisco 49ers), TE: Leonard Pope (Arizona Cardinals), and of course. . . our very own WR: Ruvell Martin and LB: Danny Lansanah (who's on the Dolphins Practice squad.) All these players are under 30 years old FYI.

Of that list, the two that interest me the most are SS: Bernard Pollard and Ikaika Alama-Francis.

Both players were 2nd round picks (Pollard in 2006 and IA-F in 2007). Pollard is still only 24 years old and has been a 2 year starter for the Chiefs. Granted, he's never played in a 3-4 defense. . . but he just seems like an in-the-box safety/enforcer. I'd have claimed him or Aaron Francisco off of waivers instead of adding Martin, but that's just me. Alama-Francis is still very raw as a player, but he has great physical measurements (6'5" - 290 lbs. and strong). I really like the ends that we have now, but if a spot came open I'd certainly take a good, long look at him.

Other than that, I'm happy with the guys we have. I'm hoping that Ruvell gets on somewhere after the first week of the season games are over and I think that TT will snap up Lansanah in a heartbeat if anything happens to any of the LBs on the roster injury-wise. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him added again at some point this season.