Free Agent G T.J. Lang Has Had “Good Conversations” With Packers, Still Plans To Test FA

Free agent G T.J. Lang mentioned during an appearance on “Wilde and Tausch” that he’s had “good conversations” about a new contract with the Packers. However, Lang added that he still intends to reach free agency next week

“Definitely have plans to sit down with Green Bay and talk things out. Nothing aggressive yet; just kind of playing the waiting game still. But at least there’s been a little bit of contact,” said Lang, via ESPN.com. “There’s been good contact, I’d say good conversations. Nothing crazy yet, but hopefully this week they’re going to sit down and discuss things so we can get a better vantage point of what to expect and what’s going to happen here in the next week and a half before free agency starts.”

Lang did say that they plan to give the Packers a chance to match the offers he receives from other teams.

“We told Green Bay all along that we’ll keep them updated on any other offers that come in, and really at that point it would just be, ‘Hey, this is what we’ve got sitting on the table, can you guys compete with it?’ Obviously we’re going to give them the first right of refusal,” Lang said. “[We will] let them know, ‘Can you come close? Can you match it? This is what we’ve got, this is what the market’s set at.’

“But at this point, it’s like, we’re nine days away from free agency starting up. I think every player, once they get to this point, it’s just smart business to go out and check out the market and see what you’re actually worth. Because that’s the only time as a player that you get to see what your true value is — when you actually hit the open market and you get other teams letting you know what they think of you and letting you know where you rank amongst everybody else in the league.”

A few weeks ago, Lang told Sirius XM NFL Radio that he hasn’t even heard from the Packers about possibly re-signing with them. He also added that he has mixed emotions about testing the open market, but is also “excited to see what other teams think of me.”

“I’ve really enjoyed my time in Green Bay and I’ve played my whole career there,” Lang said, per Sirius Radio. “I haven’t heard a word from them yet.

“I want to stay with the Packers but I have to prepare for Free Agency.”

Green Bay surprisingly released veteran G Josh Sitton last year at the start of the season, and it appeared as though they could allow Lang to move on and continue to get younger up front. Although, it sounds like there’s at least a chance Lang returns to the Packers for the 2017 season and beyond.

Lang, 29, is a former fourth-round pick of the Packers back in 2009. He has played out his four-year, $20.8 million contract that included $5,500,000 guaranteed and is now in a great position to cash in as one of the best available unrestricted free agents next week.

In 2016, Lang appeared in 13 games for the Packers and is rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 8 guard out of 72 qualifying players.

We have him featured in our Top 100 – 2017 Free Agents list.