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Packers Add Three Veterans, Re-Sign Davenport
posted 03/27/2006
After a busy weekend in which the Green Bay Packers negotiated contracts with four players, the team on Monday received signatures from unrestricted free agents Marc Boerigter, Najeh Davenport and Ben Taylor. The club also signed free agent Billy Cundiff. Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations Ted Thompson announced the signings.
Boerigter, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound wide receiver from Hastings College, joins Green Bay from the Kansas City Chiefs, where he had spent the previous four seasons. A tall, speedy receiver, Boerigter in 41 games with the Chiefs caught 39 passes for 697 yards (17.9 avg.) and eight touchdowns, including a 99-yard score in 2002. Boerigter, whose name is pronounced BO-rick-ter, launched his pro career in the Canadian Football League, playing two seasons (2000-01) with Calgary before the Chiefs signed him as a free agent before the '02 campaign.
Cundiff, a 6-foot-1, 201-pound kicker from Drake, played his first four seasons in a Dallas Cowboys uniform. Like many NFL kickers, Cundiff originally entered the league as a nondrafted free agent. After winning a training-camp competition in 2002, Cundiff's tenure in Dallas became the longest by a Cowboys kicker since Rafael Septien (1978-86). In 53 games, Cundiff connected on 60 of 82 field-goal attempts (73.2 percent), including a career-best 56-yarder last season, and 100 of 101 point-after conversions. Regarded as a strong kickoff specialist, Cundiff in 2004 helped limit Dallas' opponents to an NFL-low 17.5-yard kickoff-return average. Limited by injury to six games in 2005, Cundiff had joined Tampa Bay following the season but was waived after the Buccaneers recently re-signed Matt Bryant.
Davenport, the Packers' fourth-round selection (135th overall) in the 2002 NFL Draft, re-signed with Green Bay after a broken ankle ended his 2005 season. A 6-foot-1, 247-pound running back from Miami (Fla.), Davenport owns an impressive 4.9-yard average per carry but injuries have affected three of his four NFL seasons. A bruising back, Davenport also has averaged 24.1 yards on 46 career kickoff returns. He is the third player from the Packers' backfield to re-sign as an unrestricted free agent, joining Ahman Green and William Henderson.
Taylor is the Packers' fourth unrestricted free agent on defense, joining linemen Ryan Pickett and Aaron Kampman, and safety Marquand Manuel. A 6-foot-2, 238-pound linebacker out of Virginia Tech, Taylor started for the Browns in three of his first four NFL seasons, compiling 248 tackles (154 solo) and one interception. Cleveland's fourth-round choice, taken 24 spots ahead of Davenport in the fourth round of the 2002 draft, Taylor posted a career-high 139 stops (76 solo) in 2005. He rebounded from a pectoral injury, which ended his 2004 season, to start all 16 contests last year. |
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