GREEN BAY – Aaron Rodgers was in Phoenix when he got the news, playing flag football in the The Kurt Warner First Things First Foundation’s fundraising Ultimate Football Experience.

Unlike in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers quarterback was playing four-on-four, so he didn’t need to worry about pass protection.

And now that left tackle Chad Clifton is back in the fold after the official announcement Saturday of his three-year, $20 million contract, Rodgers can now worry a little less about pass protection when the real football season starts in September.

“I’m really happy that we re-signed Chad,” Rodgers said Saturday evening, before attending the Phoenix Suns game against the Indiana Pacers with the retired Warner’s former teammate, Arizona Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald. “He’s a great player and friend, and I look forward to him having my back in the future.”

Clifton, who joined the Packers as a second-round draft pick out of Tennessee in 2000 and signed a six-year, $33 million extension on the eve of free agency in 2004, has started 146 games (including playoffs) during his 10 seasons in Green Bay. Set to turn 34 in June, Clifton acknowledged that he’ll now finish his NFL career as a Packer.

Clifton reportedly visited the Washington Redskins on Friday after contract talks fell through with the Packers on Thursday night, but it sounds as if his heart was never in playing in the nation’s capital. In fact, one league source questioned whether Clifton ever actually visited the Redskins’ facility.

"Green Bay is the place I wanted to play all along," Clifton told Packers.com in comments distributed to reporters by the Packers public relations department. "There was never any question about that. This is a place I've spent 10 years, and it's a place where both my sons have been born.

"I'm very fortunate that my agent (Jimmy Sexton) and (Packers negotiator) Russ Ball and (general manager) Ted (Thompson) were able to work something out and I don't have to think about (playing somewhere else). I can finish my career here in Green Bay, and that's what I really wanted to do."

Re-signing Clifton was huge for the Packers, who desperately needed him back with no obvious replacement on the roster and the Chicago Bears having added five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers as a free agent earlier Friday.

That said, paying Clifton doesn’t come without risk. While he did not undergo any offseason surgeries this year, Clifton had four procedures (one on each shoulder and one on each knee) before last season, then missed four games and parts of two others with ankle injuries in 2009. He also missed six games in 2002 after his career-threatening hip injury and one game each in 2006 and 2008, but has been able to answer the bell for most games because of an adjusted practice schedule both during training camp and once the regular season begins.

"In the past two months, the ankle has healed up, and it's only going to feel better as we go along," Clifton said. "The knees and shoulders, they feel fine for right now. Normally with me it takes at least a month or month-and-a-half after the season to get the body feeling good and for the wear-and-tear of the season to dissipate.

"I feel like I definitely have another two or three years, so we'll see how that goes. As of today, I definitely don't see why I couldn't play another two or three years."

GREEN BAY – Figuring out where free agent Aaron Kampman was during the first day of free agency was essentially the NFL’s version of Where’s Waldo?

He was in Philadelphia. No, wait, he wasn’t. He was in Seattle. No, wait, he wasn’t.

Turns out the Green Bay Packers defensive end-turned-outside linebacker was on his way to Jacksonville to visit the Jaguars.

Kampman visited the club’s facilities on Saturday, according to sources, but it’s unclear whether he’ll leave having signed a contract. Kampman is thought to be seeking a contract similar to the four-year, $21 million deal he signed with the Packers in 2006, before going to back-to-back Pro Bowls.

Citing Jaguars sources, the Florida Times-Union’s Michael C. Wright reported that Kampman flew into Jacksonville on Friday night along with San Diego free agent receiver Kassim Osgood and both spent Saturday morning meeting with the Jaguars staff.

The 30-year-old Kampman struggled in the Packers’ new 3-4 defensive scheme last season before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Nov. 22 against the San Francisco 49ers. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said last week that Kampman was “way ahead” of schedule on his rehabilitation and reiterated that the Packers want him back despite his inconsistent productivity in the 3-4.

Playing defensive end in the old 4-3 scheme, Kampman tallied 37 sacks over the 2006, ’07 and ’08 seasons. But when he moved to left outside linebacker in new defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ attack, Kampman managed just 3.5 sacks in nine games before the knee injury.

“He’s a very good player as a 4-3 defensive end, but he’s also a very good player as a 3-4 (linebacker). The business part of it I can’t control,” McCarthy said. “We’re trying to keep Aaron Kampman – and all of our players. I can’t control what (scheme) other teams run on defense or what they come at him with from a business standpoint. I just focus on trying to get better, and I think we could make him better in our defense. No. 1, I think our defense will be better next year, and I think he’ll have an opportunity to be better.”

He'd also help the Jaguars, who run a 4-3 scheme and managed a league-low 14 sacks last season.

A league source said the Seattle Seahawks, with former Packers vice president of football operations John Schneider as their general manager, remain interested in Kampman but have yet to schedule a visit. The Seahawks are busy with another big free-agent visit – wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

The Philadelphia Eagles had initially appeared to be the frontrunner for Kampman, and while Kampman’s agent, Neil Cornrich, has reportedly had talks with the Eagles, it was unclear if and when Kampman might visit them.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had also been reportedly interested in Kampman, but a St. Petersburg Times report Friday evening claimed the Bucs are not in fact pursuing him.

GREEN BAY – Chad Clifton was a free agent for roughly 18 hours – just long enough for the Green Bay Packers veteran left tackle to wind up back in the only NFL home he’s known.

Clifton signed what ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported to be a three-year, $20 million deal that included $7.5 million in guaranteed money on Friday evening.

Clifton, who saw the six-year, $33 million deal he’d signed on the eve of free agency in 2004 expire on Thursday night at 11 p.m., was reportedly being wooed by the Washington Redskins.

Instead, he’ll return to the Packers, who desperately needed him back with no obvious replacement on the roster and the Chicago Bears having added five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers as a free agent earlier in the day.

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers really, really want to keep cornerback Tramon Williams and defensive end Johnny Jolly.

The team used remarkably high tenders on the restricted free agents: Williams, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent, received the highest qualifying offer of first- and third-round draft pick compensation, while Jolly, who entered the league as a sixth-round pick and has a felony drug possession charge pending in his hometown of Houston, was given the first-round tender.

Here’s the full list of the Packers’ restricted free-agent tenders, according to the official announcement by the league late Thursday night:

Safety Atari Bigby: Second-round tender ($1.759 million salary).

Safety Nick Collins: First- and third-round tender ($3.3 million salary, 110% of 2009 salary).

Guard Daryn Colledge: Second-round tender ($1.759 million salary).

Guard/center Jason Spitz: Second-round tender ($1.76 million salary, 110% of 2009 salary).

Cornerback Will Blackmon: Original-round (fourth-round) tender ($1.176 million salary).

Williams: First- and third-round tender ($3.043 million salary).

Jolly: First-round tender ($2.521 million salary).

Fullback John Kuhn: Original-round (right of first refusal only) tender ($1.176 million salary).

Meanwhile, Colledge disputed a report that he was upset with receiving the second-round tender. In Colledge’s case, because he entered the league as a second-round pick, the Packers had to tender him at the second-round level in order to ensure a second-round draft pick as compensation for losing him. Had they tendered him at the original-round level, his compensation value would have dropped to a third-round pick.

Colledge told WBAY-TV2 in Green Bay that he was fine with the Packers’ qualifying offer and that if he is upset with anyone, it’s himself for not playing better.

On his Facebook page, Colledge wrote, “Unlike popular belief and what is written in the papers, I am very happy with the Packers offer, and if I'm back this season, I look forward to another playoff run and a shot at the title."

GREEN BAY – On the eve of free agency in 2004, the Green Bay Packers struck an 11^th-hour deal with veteran left tackle Chad Clifton. Two years later, with the NFL equivalent of the Times Square ball about to drop on the new league year, they reached a last-minute accord with veteran defensive end Aaron Kampman.

On Thursday night, not only did the Packers fail to get a deal done with Clifton – despite their best efforts -- they also found themselves on the verge of losing Kampman, who appeared intent on saying goodbye to the Packers and their 3-4 defensive scheme and joining a team that runs a 4-3 defense.

The six-year, $33 million deal Clifton signed in 2004, as well as the four-year, $21 million deal Kampman signed in 2006, both expired at 11:01 p.m. Thursday, making both players full-fledged unrestricted free agents for the first time under the new free agency rules brought on by the 2010 uncapped year.

The news was considerably more encouraging on Clifton than Kampman.

An NFL source confirmed the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s report earlier in the day Thursday that the Packers and agent Jimmy Sexton had engaged in “serious” contract talks about an extension for Clifton, but the source said shortly before the 11:01 p.m. start of free agency that no deal was imminent. The Packers managed to keep Clifton off the open market in 2004 but had also placed the franchise tag on him.

Meanwhile, that same source said that at least four teams – all of which run the 4-3 scheme – were looking to woo Kampman: The Philadelphia Eagles, the Seattle Seahawks, the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. The Bears and Lions are familiar with Kampman’s work as a two-time Pro Bowl defensive end in the 4-3 scheme, and the Seahawks’ new general manager John Schneider is a former Packers vice president of football operations.

The Packers have three other unrestricted free agents: Right tackle Mark Tauscher, halfback Ahman Green and nose tackle Ryan Pickett, who received the team’s franchise tag on Feb. 24.

Despite a lengthy injury history, the Packers were trying hard to get a deal done with Clifton, in part because they have no real alternative at left tackle. At the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last week, coach Mike McCarthy acknowledged that T.J. Lang, despite a solid rookie season, might not be best suited for the left tackle spot.

At the same time, the market for Clifton, who turns 34 in June, was hard to read because he may only have one or two more years left after what his body has been through during his 10 NFL seasons. While he did not undergo any offseason surgeries this year, Clifton had four procedures (one on each shoulder and one on each knee) before last season, then missed four games and parts of two others with ankle injuries in 2009.

McCarthy said last week that the team wants both Clifton and Tauscher to return.

“We'd definitely like to have Chad and Mark back,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said essentially the same thing about the 30-year-old Kampman, despite Kampman’s struggles in the 3-4 scheme last season and the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee he suffered Nov. 22 against the San Francisco 49ers. McCarthy said last week that Kampman was “way ahead” of schedule on his rehabilitation.

Playing defensive end in the old 4-3 scheme, Kampman tallied 37 sacks over the 2006, ’07 and ’08 seasons. But when he moved to left outside linebacker in new defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ 3-4 attack, Kampman managed just 3.5 sacks in nine games before the knee injury.

“He’s a very good player as a 4-3 defensive end, but he’s also a very good player as a 3-4 (linebacker). The business part of it I can’t control,” McCarthy said. “We’re trying to keep Aaron Kampman – and all of our players. I can’t control what (scheme) other teams run on defense or what they come at him with from a business standpoint. I just focus on trying to get better, and I think we could make him better in our defense. No. 1, I think our defense will be better next year, and I think he’ll have an opportunity to be better.”

If you really thought Brett Favre was going to announce on “The Tonight Show” his intentions for 2010, well, you a) should’ve known better and b) will be disappointed when the show airs in about 75 minutes in the Central Time Zone.

According to quotes distributed by NBC, the former Green Bay Packers quarterback and current Minnesota Vikings quarterback doesn’t give much of a clue about whether he plans to return for a 20^th NFL season with the Vikings this fall.

“Well Jay, it’s only been a month and I know now that I’m just not going to say anything anytime soon,” Favre tells host Jay Leno on the show, which taped earlier this afternoon. “I’m just going to kind of sit back and enjoy the offseason.”

Which means Tractor Watch 2010 has a ways to go. (Enjoy, Judd Zulgad and the rest of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune NFL staff.)

A few other tidbits from the interview:

On this season: “I tell people I really believe my biggest accomplishment this year was winning over the majority of the Vikings Fans.  For so many years I was hated there.”

On the New Orleans Saints: “I give those guys a lot of credit.  Saints, it seemed like from the start of the year, everything was just going their way.  They played outstanding and they were three points better than us in that game.”

On playing in New York (for the Jets in 2008): “I did enjoy it.  I didn’t like the fact that I got hurt, but I really did enjoy it.  It was a great experience.  I wish it would have ended a little bit differently. We went nine and seven.  It started off great. You know, they talk all those things, but I really had a blast. Great group of guys I worked with.

On if he ever came close to missing a game: “When I broke my thumb (with the Packers) on my throwing hand, which you would think so, but people say ‘You’re tough.’  I said, ‘Probably pretty stupid, too.’  Because I was willing to go out and try it with a broken thumb.  But I played those nine games with a broken thumb probably the best I ever played. … It seems like I’ve always played better with an injury.  I don’t know if it’s blocking out as much as it is maybe refocusing or channeling all that energy into what you have remaining.  So the rest of your faculties.  So, knowing your limitations and like the end of the Saints game, both legs were killing me.  In hindsight, I wish I would’ve ran, but I don’t know if I could have.  I really don’t.”

On if he watched the Super Bowl: “I watched the 4th quarter, which was a great thing. …  I had a commercial in it, but I didn’t see it.  I got a lot of text messages from people saying great job and I was like, ‘I’m not in the game.’”