Less than 24 hours after being released by the Green Bay Packers, linebacker A.J. Hawk is already back on the team. The Packers released him yesterday, not wanting to have his salary for next season become guaranteed once the new league year starts. The expectation all along was for him to re-sign with the team, and neither side wasted time in making that happen, as Hawk inked a new deal today.

Hawk's new contract is for five years. Essentially the Packers simply reworked his contract and agreed on an extension. The only reason he was released is because the Packers didn't want to risk his old contract becoming guaranteed, so they cut him while negotiations for a new deal were getting started.

Again, this is no surprise, but I was hoping the lockout would hit before Hawk locked up a new deal. While he likely would have returned to the Packers anyway, I was hoping he would spend the time during a lockout reconsidering the idea. At the very least I was hoping the Lions would get to take a shot at him, but he was back on the Packers in the blink of an eye and probably had no intention of playing anywhere else.

A Buckeyes reunion with Hawk and Bobby Carpenter would have been nice, but now the Lions will have to continue looking elsewhere to fill their needs at linebacker.