The Green Bay Packers and GM Ted Thompson are known as a disciplined team - they set a value for their free agents and refuse to go further, even for a player deemed to be an essential part of the core.
Young Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb is coming up against this principle as we speak.
Cobb, a former second-round pick slated to hit NFL free agency for the first time in his career, is reportedly seeking a deal worth approximately $9 million annually, per ESPN.
Thompson is reportedly agreeable to such a deal and has informed Cobb's agent Jimmy Sexton of that fact.
Sexton and Cobb were unimpressed.
"According to sources, Sexton has been told by the Packers they'll sign Cobb to a five-year contract averaging in the $8 million to $9 million range. Sexton basically has told the team he's confident more lucrative offers await come Saturday," writes Bob McGinn of The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.
Per McGinn, the team has been attempting to sign Cobb to an extension for nearly six months, but to no avail. They have exclusive negotiation rights with him until 3 p.m. Saturday.
"Sexton does a good job for his players," an executive in personnel for an NFL team, told McGinn. "He measures the market well and knows how to create a market for his clients as well.
"For Randall, it's perfectly timed. He had a very good season. Making it tougher for the Packers is the franchise tags that were used at the position."
Cobb finished last season with 1,465 yards receiving on 106 catches in 18 games of work. Perhaps more importantly, he stayed healthy for the entire season.
The Packers signed receiver Jordy Nelson to a contract extension prior to last year that averages $9.763 million - Nelson had one less reception than Cobb this past season, but had 1,612 yards receiving and a better dropped passes rate.
Cobb's injury history is extensive - he missed 10-plus games in the 2013-14 season due to a fractured fibula - and he's a smaller guy at 5-foot-10, 195-pounds, so the injury issues will most likely only get worse as his career progresses.
All of which means that Cobb, according to McGinn, is likely headed elsewhere once the NFL's market opens for business.
"They're a disciplined team," an NFL executive said of the Packers, per McGinn. "They stay true to their foundation and their blueprint. They put a value on a guy. Sometimes a player will get overvalued because a team needs the player. It's supply and demand."
Demand will be high for Cobb.
While he may never be the same type of pure wideout that Nelson is, he provides immense value in terms of versatility - he frequently played out of the backfield last year and appeared on 42 special teams snaps - and can take the ball to the house on nearly every snap.
It seems he'll likely be doing that for another NFL team next season, should the situation hold to form.
