Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy did a couple things with Campbell’s Chunky Soup this week, and people asked him if he wanted to return to Green Bay Packers. Obviously, Lacy would keep that option open. He’s a free agent at the end of this year. Packers faithful, the ones who think they have an ear to Ted Thompson, would like him back with the team on a one or two year deal. That could happen, but my guess is this will not be the future for Lacy.

Chris Ivory, now of Jacksonville, is a poor man’s Lacy. They have a similar running style and build. Ivory signed a five-year deal for 32 million dollars with a signing bonus of 6.4 million dollars. Yes, that’s how much Ivory is getting paid to spend half the year on the bench for the Jacksonville Jaguars while showing a few moments of glory. If Ivory is getting paid like that at age 28, Packers running back could fetch a similar deal at age 25.

According to Spotrac, Lacy could be looking at four to five deal worth 27.9 million dollars with a six million signing bonus added on. The deal that might give Lacy diehards a glimmer of hope would be C.J. Anderson at four years, 18 million. That’s a reasonable deal, but Lacy is better than Anderson plus he’s an unrestricted free agent. Anderson got that money from Denver after Miami put in their own offer when he was a restricted free agent last year. Even with the injury, we should expect Lacy to get paid this offseason. Running backs are on the rise again, and an Alabama product would be a perfect addition for a team like Detroit, New York Giants or Baltimore.

Other thing to think about is the running back class is deep for this year’s NFL Draft. Christian McCaffery will be available whenever Green Bay picks in the first round. D’Onta Freeman is another name who could be there in the second or third round along with Wayne Gallman or Royce Freeman if they declare for the draft. Green Bay might be less likely to give Lacy a big deal when they know there’s talented running backs in the first three rounds of the draft.

As a Packers fan and a Lacy fan, it’s tough that his final game in Green Bay is an injured back playing against Dallas. He never got credit for how much he worked through injuries. If Eddie Lacy did return with Ty Montgomery as the lighting to his thunder, it would be a welcomed surprised.

Charlie.