The Packers would like to move B.J. Raji to nose tackle. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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Green Bay — The Green Bay Packers have offered defensive lineman B.J. Raji a short-term deal to keep the unrestricted free agent on their team.

Now they're waiting to see if he takes it before free agency begins.

The Packers offered Raji the options of one- and two-year contracts, a source told the Journal Sentinel. For one year, their offer was for about $4 million.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Thursday that Raji was close to a one-year deal, but sources told the Journal Sentinel the deal is not imminent and there are indications Raji isn't interested in the Packers' offer.

Raji would only want to sign a one-year deal if he thought the long-term offers he received weren't lucrative enough and there was still time left to shop himself when the NFL free agency signing period begins at 3 p.m. Tuesday. At what point the Packers would move forward without him only general manager Ted Thompson can say.

The Packers can't afford to wait too long because if they lose Raji, they're going to have to figure out an alternative and the best ones will be gone fairly early in free agency.

The Journal Sentinel reported during the 2013 season that Raji turned down a long-term offer averaging $8 million. That offer contained about $20 million in guaranteed money. Raji chose to play out the season and see if he could do better as a free agent.

After Raji's contract season turned sour, the Packers pulled their offer and determined they would let Raji test his value. His agent, David Dunn, has had several weeks to feel out teams to see how much interest there would be in his client. That's something most agents do and although rules prohibit it the NFL rarely polices them.

A one-year deal for Raji would fill what would be a major hole in the Packers' defensive front. For Raji, 27, it would provide the chance to put up far better numbers in 2014 and seek a more lucrative contract for 2015.

One of the selling points the Packers are using to get Raji to accept their offer is a return to a true nose tackle position, one source said. Raji has played a lot of end and three-technique, the latter a defensive tackle position used mostly in 4-3 defenses.

At nose, Raji would be likely to receive a lot of double teams, but if the Packers can generate enough pressure with their ends, he might see more one-on-ones and have freedom to use his quickness to get upfield. Last season, he was asked to take on double teams and keep blockers off the linebackers behind him more often than in the past.

Coach Mike McCarthy's plan with the defense appears to include using more athletic, nimble players as opposed to 320-plus pounders like Raji, Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly. One source said he was told McCarthy is looking for more players like Datone Jones, Mike Daniels and Josh Boyd, who may give up bulk but add athleticism to the defense.

That does not bode well for the return of Pickett, Jolly and C.J. Wilson, free agents who are all big, run-stuffer types.

But to run that type of defense, McCarthy will want a big man in the middle, and Raji fits that bill. The Raji of 2010, when he was disruptive playing a majority of the time at nose tackle, was far better than the one trying to sell himself on the market.

Several scouts in the last week said Raji didn't push himself last season and forecast a disappointing reception if he was unsigned by the March 11 start of unrestricted free agency.

Raji, 6 feet 11/2 inches and 335 pounds, ranked last on the defensive line in tackles per snap (one every 16.4) and was fourth in pressures per snap (one every 87.3). In 2010, his best year, he registered a pressure every 32.4 snaps.

While staying in touch with Raji, the Packers were also talking regularly with tight end Andrew Quarless, who is in line to become a free agent.

Quarless' representative spoke with negotiator Russ Ball at the scouting combine, and the two have been in regular contact ever since. How deep their discussions have gone is unclear.

Not a first-tier free agent, Quarless is someone that the New York Giants and their new offensive coordinator, Ben McAdoo, might be interested in adding. McAdoo was the Packers tight ends coach when Quarless was drafted in 2010. Quarless is from the New Jersey area.

The starter after Jermichael Finley was lost for the season with a herniated disk, Quarless possessed the best combination of receiving and blocking of any of the other tight ends. Though Brandon Bostick emerged as a receiving threat before being lost for the season with a broken foot, Quarless was the preferred option and finished the season having played 61.8% of the snaps.

He caught 32 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns.

The Packers are expected to take a look at a number of the tight ends who are on the free agent market knowing there's no sure thing with either Finley or Quarless. Among those who will be available are Houston's Garrett Graham, Detroit's Brandon Pettigrew, Buffalo's Scott Chandler and the New York Jets' Jeff Cumberland.

Fox Sports reported the Packers had some interest in recently released Minnesota tight end John Carlson, who visited the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday. Carlson, 29, caught 32 passes for 344 yards and a touchdown in 13 games last season but suffered his third concussion in six years in the NFL.

Carlson had pondered retirement at the end of last season because of the concussions.

The 6-5, 248-pound Carlson played three seasons in Seattle before sitting out his fourth with a torn labrum. He caught just eight passes in 2012 after signing a five-year, $25 million deal with the Vikings. Minnesota cut him earlier this week despite not needing the $2 million cap savings it gained.

In addition to Bostick, tight ends the Packers have signed to their roster are Ryan Taylor, Jake Stoneburner and Raymond Webber.