When Charles Woodson was cut by the Green Bay Packers, the belief was that a veteran defensive back wouldn’t last long on the open market. But thanks to a depressed market and a drive to get younger, Charles Woodson remains a free agent and he’s willing to go to great lengths to make sure he has a job in 2013. Rather than demand a job with a contender, the ex-Packers Defensive Player of the Year is pretty much willing to play anywhere, contender or not.
“When this process first started out, that was my thing, I needed to go to a contender,” Woodson said Thursday, via ProFootballTalk.com. “I know I am towards the end of my career. At this point, I want to play football. So if it is a rebuilding stage, at this point if that is the circumstances I have to play under, then that is what I am going to do.”
Woodson’s willingness to play for a non-contender goes against the mantra most veterans in his position have. Bears legend Brian Urlacher remains unemployed thanks to no contenders being interested in him at the moment and Buccaneers legend Ronde Barber retired due to the fact his team was in the rebuilding phase.
The ex-Packer also says he notices a trend of talented, over-the-hill players not getting jobs and feels there is something wrong with the world when Dwight Freeney and John Abraham can’t get jobs.
“It is kind of the process, but at the same time it is frustrating,” Woodson said. “You have guys that can flat out play football. You look at Dwight Freeney and what he is able to do. They had a system last year that is different than he is used to playing, but he can play football. John Abraham, he led his team in sacks and you say, ‘We don’t have a spot for you on our roster?’ I can’t understand that. Myself, I am just a ballplayer. I need to be on a team.”
So it is indeed a jolt to hear Woodson talking the way he is, but it’s not surprising. Anyone who’s watched him play over the years knows that he’s a contender through and through and clearly nothing will stop him from playing football.
Of course, it’s one thing to say you’ll play for anyone and a totally different thing to actually put pen to paper with a team like Cleveland, Buffalo or Carolina.
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