James Jones To The Raiders; James Starks Back With The Pack

I thought the Packers had a chance of re-signing WR James Jones because other teams might have some (legitimate) concerns that he'd struggle without QB Aaron Rodgers. But it turned out that one team (the Raiders) had some money still burning in a hole in their pocket:

Raiders gave former Packers WR James Jones a three-year, $11.3M deal.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 17, 2014

That's a slight increase over his previous contract. It was rumored earlier this month that Jones might like to return to the West Coast and I floated the Raiders as a possible target. He doesn't fill a major need but having another wide receiver won't hurt them either. With the emergence of WR Jarrett Boykin, and the need to save some salary cap room for future extensions with WR Randall Cobb and WR Jordy Nelson, it left Jones as the odd man out. He's been a solid player for them, I was hoping they would re-sign him, but I can understand why they let him leave.

However, I did not see this latest re-signing coming:

Packers now expected to bring back RB James Starks on a two-year deal, per source; deal considered imminent.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 18, 2014

I've got nothing against bringing him back, he's a powerful runner when healthy, but he joins a crowded collection of back-ups behind RB Eddie Lacy. With the starting job settled and a collection of other solid reserves in hand, I expected Starks to find a new home in 2014.

The money shouldn't be an issue, but I doubt they'll keep four running backs on the roster. I wouldn't expect them to give up on RB Johnathan Franklin and they loved RB DuJuan Harris. Of course, both of them finished the season on I.R. and Harris didn't even make it to the start of the season. Starks will provide depth in case of injury, but if all four backs are healthy at the start of next season, one of them not named Lacy will probably be released.