Packers coaches, players reportedly mad team didn’t re-sign T.J. Lang

The Green Bay Packers are notoriously stingy in free agency. Though they spent money to bring in tight end Martellus Bennett this offseason, their free agency period was more defined by loss than gain. Eddie Lacy, Micah Hyde, Jared Cook, Julius Peppers and T.J. Lang all left for less green pastures.

However, it is the last person listed there that seems to have left some people within the Packers organization a bit upset. After cutting former Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton prior to the 2016 season and seeing him get swept up by an NFC North rival in the Chicago Bears, the Packers have now lost a second Pro Bowl guard in Lang, this time picked up by the Detroit Lions.

And that has some coaches inside Lambeau upset. From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob McGinn:

Lang had been talking to James Campen, his position coach for all eight seasons, throughout the process. You’ll be subjected to all that “next man up” happy talk for months to come. The truth is that the Packers’ coaches were incensed, and no doubt some of the players were, too.

Of course, the Packers had their reasons to let Lang go. The 30-year-old guard is coming off of hip surgery. Last year, his hip pain was so bad that it appears his play suffered. Now on the wrong side of 30, there’s no guarantee that Lang’s play will return to a Pro Bowl level.

But that doesn’t excuse the Packers for what McGinn calls “an embarrassingly low offer” that left Lang offended. Not only did the low-ball offer not work, but McGinn says it could affect how the rest of the locker room views management in Green Bay. “Lang played but wasn’t rewarded by management, a fact some of his former teammates won’t forget,” McGinn said.

The Packers’ loss is the Lions’ gain, however. While there are some inherent risks in Lang, and he came with a hefty three-year, $28.5 million price tag, Detroit will have one of the premier guards in the league on their roster for the first time since Kevin Glover Jeff Hartings.

[Editor’s note: The article previously listed Kevin Glover here. Glover actually played exclusively at center for the Lions.]

How does that make you feel, Lions Twitter?

Well said.