Savage improved from yr 1 to yr 2 under Pettine. After Barry became DC he seemed to digress. I'm of belief he will sign with a team and have a Micah Hyde/ Casey Hayward type of breakout/turnaround season.... you never know, maybe even with Green Bay.
That's my strong feeling, as well.
He's a mixed bag. He's never really shown the onfield presence we all hoped we'd see, considering how much we traded to draft him, but there are some real positives. Lafleur has often spoken highly of his leadership and his support of his teammates, and the locker room loves him and supports him. He missed 7 games on IR last season, and instead of sitting at home watching MTV and playing video games, he made it his mission to stay part of the team. He was in the locker room and on the practice field constantly, talking to his teammates (especially the younger players), encouraging them, trying to share his suggestions and insights and making sure everyone knew he was there for them all the way.
He even spent last offseason in Green Bay because he thinks being a Packer is a fulltime job. I think I've read that he's done that most offseasons. Whatever his shortcomings, it's not like he lacks commitment or motivation and doesn't really care about making the extra effort. But still.... there were several defensive players who consistently just did not seem to know what was expected of them the last couple of years, and Savage is one of the first ones who come to mind.
This was the year you would have hoped he'd step up and make a case for a respectable contract, but that didn't happen. But at the same time, he's shown enough that I think he can still have a really nice career, but probably needs a fresh start with a new system.
Which he now can get here in Green Bay, and I'd kind of like that to happen if the price is rght. He's said he wants very badly to be back, and if he wants it badly enough, it might be worth a one-year "prove-it" deal at a reasonable but still respectful number. If he's motivated to say yes to that, I'd like to do it, but if he insists on a longer deal and/or too much money, I think we'd be better off spending that cash on a higher-end UFA who may cost more but has shown a more impressive body of work the last couple of years.
I think Green Bay will make a sincere effort to keep him on the team, but the two sides may have a hard time meeting in the middle. Green Bay is likely to want to pay him mostly on the basis of his last couple of years of demonstrated performance, but it's a good bet there will be at least one team out there willing to pay more for what they see as his potential. And then he's going to have a decision to make.
Out of all of our UFAs, this may be the most important call we have to make. If we give him a one-year prove-it deal, and he rises to the occasion, we may end up looking very smart. But I don't think we're going to stick our necks out too far - I think we're going to be approaching this rather cautiously, or at least we [ishould[/i].