Receiver Greg Jennings is entering the last season of his contract with the Packers. Extension talks haven’t reached fruition. Credit: Rick Wood

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Green Bay - The week leading up to the regular-season opener is often the last marker when it comes down to contract negotiations around the NFL.

As far as Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings is concerned, that marker is soon to be in his rearview mirror and his concentration will be shifting exclusively to a Super Bowl championship. And then on to free agency.

Jennings said Monday he is not aware of any breakthroughs in whatever talks his agent, Eugene Parker, has had with the Packers and so there won't be a deal that buys out the risk a pending free agent like Jennings faces in trying to reach the finish line.

He is preparing mentally as though this is his last year with the Packers.

"Whether the contract comes with Green Bay in the near future or (with) one of the other 31 teams, that's the reality of it," Jennings said. "That's the way I have to approach it. My mind-set is 20 weeks of football with the Packers and then this is it.

"This is my last year with the Packers under contract. That's my mind-set. I'm not thinking about (the) contract. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, I have to make sure I go out there and do what I've been doing for six solid years here to get myself a chance to play somewhere."

In six seasons, Jennings has started 81 of his 88 regular-season games and caught 389 passes for 6,171 yards and 49 touchdowns. He has either finished first or second in receptions on the team since '07.

There is still plenty of time for the Packers to fire up the talks, but it's a lot harder to do so once the player gets to the regular season. Every week he plays, the harder his resolve to reach his number becomes because he's that much closer to free agency.

Jennings said he told his agent not to contact him about the contract during the season unless he was close to a deal. He would prefer to focus on football. He said he's not ruling out a future agreement, he just prefers to take the emotion out of it and assume his contract will expire after this season.

"My agent knows, we know our march to what we're trying to reach," Jennings said of the price range. "That's it. Unless we come to those numbers, then I don't want to hear anything about it.

"Like I said, I have one thing on my mind, that's football this year with this team that I've been loyal to for six years. I'm a realist. I don't put it past anyone. This organization has to do what it has to do for itself and I have to do what I have to do for Greg."

The Packers can be a hard nut to crack when they take a stance on economics. They have frustrated free agents-to-be like Scott Wells, Cullen Jenkins, Daryn Colledge, Corey Williams and Na'il Diggs with an insistence not to pay market-level prices during their final seasons.

All of them left in free agency.

The big difference in this case is that the Packers have never done it with a star player, a two-time Pro Bowl selection who turns 29 later this month. Jennings is the team's best receiver, ranking tied with Donald Driver for fourth in club history in 100-yard games (22), and topping all NFL receivers in catches of 40 or more yards (30) since '07.

Jennings isn't revealing what his price is, but if you think he's not aiming for more than the $11.1 million per year and $26 million guaranteed that Vincent Jackson got with Tampa Bay, you'd probably be wrong.

Other NFL star receivers like Kansas City's Dwayne Bowe, New England's Wes Welker and Pittsburgh's Mike Wallace are experiencing resistance as they try to exchange their franchise tags for a long-term deal. If they're successful, that could drive up the price for Jennings.

The Packers have the option of franchising Jennings before free agency at a price of around $10 million, but it's questionable whether they'll have the salary cap space if they're able to sign quarterback Aaron Rodgers, linebacker Clay Matthews and nose tackle B.J. Raji to contract extensions this year.

There are reasons they drafted receiving prospect Randall Cobb in the second round last year and signed Jordy Nelson to a contract extension last year, and one of them is Jennings' pending free agency. Part of their plan may be to let Jennings walk.

"I wouldn't put it past them," Jennings said. "That's the reality of this business. I have to put myself in a position where I tell the young guys when they come in, 'Everyone is not going to make the team. It's up to you to put yourself in a position to make somebody's roster.'

"I'm in that same boat."