Allen Lazard Absent from Day 1 of Packers Mandatory Minicamp

Mandatory minicamp began on Tuesday for the Green Bay Packers and one player was not present—wide receiver Allen Lazard.

Why isn’t Allen Lazard participating in Green Bay Packers minicamp?

This offseason, Lazard was a restricted free agent, and the Packers placed a second-round tender on him. In short, what that means is that if another team wanted to offer Lazard a contract, the Packers would either have the right to match the offer, or if they chose not to, the team who offered the contract would then give Green Bay a second-round draft pick in return.

Since no team has made a contract offer to Lazard, he will play out the 2022 season on a $3.98 million deal — a figure that is predetermined by the CBA — before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2022.

To our knowledge, at this time, Lazard has not yet signed his restricted free agency tender, which means he is technically not on the team; therefore, he is not required to be at minicamp.

As far as why Lazard hasn’t signed his tender yet, well, one reason could be that he is instead looking for a long-term extension. However, when it comes to making this happen, it is the Packers who hold the negotiating power.

As Ken Ingalls, who independently tracks the Packers salary cap, pointed out, Green Bay has sole negotiating rights for Lazard in 2022, and if he hasn’t signed his tender by June 15th, the Packers have the right to reduce his RFA tender down to $935,000.

Without Davante Adams, Lazard’s role is expected to expand this season, which means his production could as well. Last season he would total 513 yards on 40 receptions with eight touchdowns–including an impressive five-game stretch to finish the season where he caught 21 passes while averaging almost 14.0 yards per catch with five touchdowns and looked like a true No. 2 receiver.

On top of that, Lazard does the dirty work as a blocker, which, as we all know, is an important element at the receiver position in the Matt LaFleur offense.

Perhaps the Green Bay Packers are in wait-and-see mode with Lazard before wanting to begin negotiations, or maybe the two sides are currently in the middle of them. One could also make the argument that if the Packers do want to sign him to a longer-term deal, now would be the right time as Lazard’s price tag may only increase following the 2022 season as he takes on a larger role.

It’s also worth noting that an extension could end up saving the Packers some cap space as well in 2022–depending on the length of the extension and how much new money is infused into it.

On Lazard’s Instagram on Monday, he posted himself at the airport with the caption “back to business.” So he very well could be in Green Bay as we speak, potentially going through his physical and finalizing his RFA tender.

Minicamp will continue to take place on Wednesday and Thursday, in which we will see if Lazard makes an appearance.