Packers OT Barry could be available what do we think about him here?

[faba]

Barry might be the odd man out

Packers looking into trading tackle

By BOB McGINN

bmcginn@journalsentinel.com

Posted: March 15, 2007

Green Bay - Kevin Barry, the forgotten member of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line, is nearing full health but might not be with the organization in 2007.

NFL Basics

Packer Insider

The Packers have begun having exploratory talks with National Football League teams about trading Barry for a draft choice, an NFL club executive said.

General manager Ted Thompson has the Packers' own seven picks, an extra seventh-round choice from the New York Jets and no chance of being awarded a compensatory pick. He is always seeking additional choices and dealing Barry from a fairly well-stocked position would be one way to do it.

"I don't know about that," Thompson said. "I suppose theoretically we'd consider trading just about anybody. But we don't make a lot of trades."

In 26 months on the job, Thompson has consummated five trades involving players.

Born and raised in Racine, the 27-year-old Barry suffered a torn quadriceps muscle in minicamp last year and underwent season-ending surgery May 26. He spent much of the winter in Phoenix working out and rehabilitating with trainer Brett Fischer.

His agent, Russell Wittman, said Barry was ahead of schedule and has lost 14 pounds in the last five weeks.

"They want to get him lighter than he's ever been before if he plays guard," Wittman said. "He was inactive for a good five months. He couldn't do hardly anything except upper-body workouts."

If Barry returns to full strength, he would try to find a berth in a unit that includes Chad Clifton, Mark Tauscher, Tony Moll and Josh Bourke at tackle and Daryn Colledge, Jason Spitz and Tony Palmer at guard. Junius Coston and Tyson Walter can play all three positions.

The problem for Barry is that his style of blocking probably isn't a good fit for the zone running scheme. Barry, 6 feet 4 inches and about 340 pounds, is a massive mauler in a system that favors lean, athletic linemen.

Some teams in the league, including Atlanta, Dallas and Washington, still prefer bulk. Those are the teams that the Packers will attempt to interest in Barry when he regains full health.

"We haven't talked about (a trade) at all," Wittman said. "It hasn't gotten to that point. We've been talking to the O-line coaches and they seem to think there's an opportunity for Kevin to still earn the starting position there. They seem to be stressing guard but they haven't gotten rid of him playing tackle as well."

Last March, on the eve of free agency, Barry signed a two-year, $2.79 million deal that in 2006 contained a $600,000 signing bonus and $600,000 roster bonus. His '07 contract, which contains a $910,000 base salary, would be simple to trade.

Barry started the final three-regular season games for the injured Tauscher and Earl Dotson in 2002 as a rookie but never started another game. He played 19% of the snaps in 2003, 16% in '04 and 19% in '05 mainly as an extra tight end in the "U-71" package that went into mothballs with the firing of coach Mike Sherman.

On Monday, Barry is to report for the start of the off-season workout program as though he's in the Packers' plans.

"They haven't disclosed anything to me at this point," Wittman said. "We've talked to some other people that have definitely expressed some interest. That if something were to come up they'd definitely want to be notified."

In town: Tight end Ryan Krause (6-2½, 256), who spent the last three seasons with San Diego before being waived March 1, was in Green Bay for a visit early this week.

Krause, 25, was inactive for all 16 games in 2006 after leading the Chargers in exhibition receiving with 10 catches for 137 yards. Plagued by injuries, he started one of just five games in 2004 and '05 and had five catches for 81 yards