Trading Williams Best-Case Scenario

Corey Williams was an upstanding citizen in the Green Bay locker room and talented member of the team's defensive line rotation. It would have been nice to keep him around.

However, general manager Ted Thompson did the right thing by trading the team's franchise player to Cleveland for a second-round pick in the April 26-27 NFL draft.

First, even though the Packers had plenty of salary cap room, paying Williams the $6.363 million on a one-year contract was too much despite the fact that he has reportedly inked a six-year, $38 million deal with the Browns.

If Williams had been a full-time starter or a Pro Bowl player, those numbers would be a bargain. But his production decreased after Colin Cole and Johnny Jolly were lost to injuries and he was forced to carry a much bigger load.

He recorded seven sacks but like most guys who get the franchise designation, he could have grumbled about not being able to auction his services to everybody in the free-agent marketplace. It also would have been too prohibitive to work out a long-term deal with him because of Oakland's outrageous seven-year, $50.5 million deal with Tommy Kelly.

Williams has a new home and big paycheck_one report has said he'll get $18 million in guarantees_while Green Bay gets to keep that $6.363 million to spend on other free agents or put toward signing young core players such as running back Ryan Grant to long-term deals.

Williams' absence obviously creates a hole. Cole and Jolly must bounce back, and Jolly's shoulder injury could keep him out for most of training camp. That leaves veteran Ryan Pickett and second-year player Justin Harrell in the middle, and the latter was a non-factor in 2007.

Cole, a restricted free agent, was given a second-round tender of $1.47 million, meaning that the Packers will receive a second-round pick if another team signs him to a contract. That may not be likely, but with more money to throw around and teams always looking for defensive linemen, I wouldn't dismiss the possibility entirely.

Thompson no doubt will address this area through free agency and/or the draft. This move gives the Packers two second-round choices (Nos. 56 and 60) and seven overall, and they'll likely obtain a compensatory pick, too. It also increases the chances that Thompson could package several picks and move up in round one, although he's never done that in his first three drafts in Green Bay.