Donald Driver is back for a 14th season with the Packers. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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Green Bay - Four years in the National Football League can be an eternity.

That's how long Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver and James Jones have been together as the Green Bay Packers' top four wide receivers.

Eager Randall Cobb, even free agents Diondre Borel and Tori Gurley, undoubtedly will have a lot to say about the pecking order in 2012. Still, it wouldn't be surprising if the Big Four remains intact for an almost unheard of fifth straight season.

An ongoing story in training camp will be Driver's chances to play a 14th year in Green Bay. He's 37, and with such talent behind him there is reason to think he might not make the 53-man roster.

Tom Clements, the first-year offensive coordinator, was asked if he knew that Driver would be on the club.

"I don't make the roster moves," said Clements. "But based on history I would anticipate that. We expect him to play like he did last year."

On May 30, Driver signed a one-year, $2.3 million contract that represented a $2.7 million reduction from the last year on his deal. The team's all-time leading receiver now ranks merely 56th among wide receivers in average annual compensation.

A week later, the Packers paid him a roster bonus of $500,000, far less than the $1.5 million roster bonus that they would have been obligated to pay him on the first day of training camp.

At the same time Driver undoubtedly was making points with fans by accepting the pay cut, he also became a celebrity in the entertainment world by winning Season 14 on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

When Driver rejoined his teammates on the practice field, hundreds of fans at Ray Nitschke Field in June kept trying to draw his attention by cheering and screaming his name.

Perhaps the loudest roar from the crowd of 12,500 Tuesday morning at the corporation's stockholders meeting came at the end when Packers President Mark Murphy hoisted aloft Driver's Mirrorball Trophy that had been hidden behind the speaker's podium.

Money is hardly an issue. At $11.26 million, the Packers have more room beneath the salary cap than all but nine teams. Cutting Driver would save $1.8 million of cap space, which isn't much given the team's adjusted cap of $128.1 million.

Driver helped his cause by scoring five touchdowns in the last six games after scoring just two in the first 11.

"He got better as the year went along," Clements said. "At the end, I thought he played well. He's great for the room, great for the young guys."

Opposing personnel people have said Driver has lost speed and explosiveness from the slot. Assuming Driver makes the team, it's obvious he can't afford further slippage and still warrant playing time ahead of Cobb.

"Obviously, the biggest thing with (Cobb) is once he gets the ball in his hands he can see a hole and get through it," Clements said. "In the spring he was starting to develop good route-running ability utilizing the right techniques."

No matter who plays, the Packers are absolutely loaded with experienced, gifted players.

"It's the best group I've been around," said Clements, in his 16th year as an NFL assistant. "To have guys like that who have played with Aaron (Rodgers) the same four or five years, it's very beneficial. Because he can just give them little looks or signals and they know what he wants."

Since Rodgers took over in 2008, the Packers have played 70 games, counting playoffs. Each of the Big Four has played in at least 64 of those games.

Including playoffs, here are each player's statistics in the last four seasons (snap counts are for regular season only):

Jennings: 324 receptions for 5,092 yards (15.7), 37 touchdowns, 26 drops in 531 targeted passes (4.9%) and 3,187 snaps.

Driver: 253 for 3,340 (13.2), 22 TDs, 30 drops in 392 attempts (7.7%) and 2,835 snaps.

Nelson: 193 for 2,867 (14.9), 24 TDs, 19 drops in 275 attempts (6.9%) and 1,864 snaps.

Jones: 155 for 2,238 (14.4) and 21 TDs, 28 drops in 254 attempts (11%) and 1,802 snaps.

The five wide receivers that were on the roster for all 17 games last year did drop 23 passes, a total Clements deemed too high.

Other than Rodgers, Jennings and Nelson probably played their positions in 2011 as well if not better than anyone else on the roster.

The master of the double-move, Jennings is all about precision and fluidity. A power player with deceptive speed, Nelson emerged to give Green Bay what some scouts said was a second No. 1 receiver.

"Jordy has a lot of the same qualities as Greg," Clements said. "He's faster than people think he is, he catches the ball well and he's smart. It's kind of hard to duplicate the outstanding year that Jordy had, but we're hoping he can.

"Greg is a great route runner. He was very smooth from the beginning. He's always thinking about ways to get open."

Jones played the most snaps of his career (670) as a rookie in 2007 as a full-fledged No. 3 ahead of journeymen Koren Robinson and Ruvell Martin. Once strictly an outside receiver, he's now capable of playing anywhere in the formation.

"He and Jordy are the strongest players, with James maybe the stronger of the two," said Clements. "He's gotten better at run after the catch. He catches the ball generally well. He's big. . . and can catch in a crowd."

Even though this depth chart might be the hardest to crack in the league, neither Borel nor Gurley lacks confidence. In December, Borel declined an offer to join Tampa Bay's 53 just as Gurley turned down the same overture from Minnesota.

Both players were released at the end of camp after promising showings and immediately signed to the practice squad.

Borel, a quarterback at Utah State, is similar to Cobb in size and quickness.

"For never having played the position he improved tremendously during the year and he had a good spring," Clements said. "He has a chance."

Gurley isn't much further along, having given up his final two years at South Carolina. Last August, he carried 215 pounds on a 6-foot-4 frame. Today, he almost looks like a tight end at 232.

"I don't think he's too big," said Clements. "You like big receivers. He catches the ball well. He still needs to work on his route-running."