Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings has a three-year contract extension, and he didn't have to boycott his team's offseason program or training camp to get it.
"We didn't feel like there was any need for me to sit out and choose not to participate," Jennings said Wednesday after the Packers formally announced the deal and wrapped up their three-day mandatory minicamp. "That was not the route I wanted to go."
NFL Network's Jason La Canfora reports that the extension could be worth as much as $31 million if Jennings reaches all the incentives. Jennings will earn about $16 million in 2009 with his signing bonus and base salary.
Jennings had been scheduled to receive a $535,000 base salary in 2009, the final year of the deal he signed as a second-round draft pick from Western Michigan in 2006. He'll be an unrestricted free agent again following the 2012 season.
Jennings caught a career-best 80 passes for 1,292 yards and nine touchdowns last season, and he was an NFC Pro Bowl first alternate behind Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, Carolina's Steve Smith and Atlanta's Roddy White.
"We're excited for Greg Jennings' future here; there is no doubt," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "I think Greg is a young man that has developed here in Green Bay, and I can't say enough about him personally. I like the way he goes about his business, and he is definitely well-deserving of this contract."
Jennings promised the blockbuster deal wouldn't make him complacent and vowed to take his game to a higher level, acknowledging that Packers fans likely will expect more from him.
Greg Jennings' contract extension gives Anquan Boldin and Roddy White a starting point in negotiations with their respective teams, Steve Wyche writes.More ...
"My expectations are higher than anybody else's, I guarantee you that," Jennings said. "Money is not going to change the player that I am. It probably will change the outlook of fans, thinking that I should produce more, but I should produce more anyway. So that's not a concern of mine.
"I'm going to come out here and be the same guy, and if not the same, I want to be better. And that's me. I like to improve on anything there is that I do from year to year."
The Packers still have a large class of soon-to-be unrestricted free agents, a group that includes eight starters: Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins, linebacker/defensive end Aaron Kampman, nose tackle Ryan Pickett, left tackle Chad Clifton, left guard Daryn Colledge, center/guard Jason Spitz, safety Atari Bigby and defensive end Johnny Jolly.
Offensive tackle Tony Moll and kick returner Will Blackmon also will be unrestricted free agents after the 2009 season.
After Jennings reached his deal, Collins said: "It's about time. Somebody deserves something."
"There's a lot of guys coming up on free agency next year," said Collins, who skipped virtually all of the Packers' offseason program and organized team activity practices but did report for the mandatory minicamp during his contract dispute with the team. "I'm just glad somebody got it. Greg, he's a great guy and he deserves it. Hopefully things will work out for me."
Collins hinted that he won't hold out of training camp as he seeks a new deal, although he wouldn't say definitively.
"I'm not saying I'm not (coming to training camp), put it that way," Collins said. "I'm here now, and I plan to be here for the rest of the offseason. I'm not going anywhere. My family's here. I'm here now. I'm not worried about my contract. I can't control that. If things work out, they work out. If they don't, I'm still here."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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