GREEN BAY – Mike Neal not only announced the news, but he put a little pressure on first-round pick Bryan Bulaga, too.

The Green Bay Packers’ second-round pick announced on his Twitter account (@mneal96) Monday afternoon that he had agreed to terms, meaning six of the team’s seven draft picks are under contract and will be ready for the training camp, which starts with players reporting on Friday and kicks off with a 2 p.m. practice on Saturday.

Neal’s signing is key because the team is looking for someone to step up in the defensive line rotation following the indefinite suspension of Johnny Jolly, who started all 16 games each of the last two years but will miss the season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.

Neal could serve as the fourth defensive lineman after starters Ryan Pickett, B.J. Raji and Cullen Jenkins.

In his Twitter post, Neal wrote: Agreed to terms! Let's go @BBulaga!

@BBulaga, of course is Bulaga, the Packers’ first-round pick and the only remaining unsigned draft pick. The Packers’ attempts to sign Bulaga should be slightly better following the Dallas Cowboys’ signing of wide receiver Dez Bryant earlier this week. Bryant was the 24^th overall pick, one after Bulaga.

According to Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News, Bryant signed a five-year deal worth $11.8 million that includes $8.3 million guaranteed. He will receive a $1.95 million signing bonus immediately and a $570,000 roster bonus in another week. His 2010 base salary will be $320,000, according to Archer.

GREEN BAY – Johnny Jolly won’t be playing for the Green Bay Packers in 2010. And maybe for awhile after that.

The NFL suspended the Packers defensive end “indefinitely without pay” on Friday for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, the league announced.

Jolly’s suspension begins immediately and will continue through at least the 2010 season.  He will be eligible to apply for reinstatement following Super Bowl XLV, the league said.

Packers general manager Ted Thompson said in a statement issued by the team that Jolly “is a good player that loves everything about the game of football. We appreciate the contributions he has made to the Packers the past four seasons. His focus and priorities now lie elsewhere – our thoughts are with him during this difficult personal time.”

Jolly was excused from the team’s mandatory minicamp last month by coach Mike McCarthy so he could prepare to stand trial for felony drug possession in Houston on July 30 – the same day the players are to report for the start of training camp – in connection with a July 2008 incident. Jolly had not attended any of the club’s voluntary organized team activity practices while he was an unsigned restricted free agent.

“We feel it's important for him to concentrate on his legal situation,” McCarthy said at the time.

Because of the suspension, Jolly won’t receive a dime of the one-year, $2.5 million salary he was set to receive for the 2010 season after signing his restricted free-agent tender last month.

On May 21, Harris County Judge Mike Anderson imposed harsh restrictions on Jolly’s bond, including submitting to a hair follicle test for drugs, a 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew and a drug/alcohol evaluation

The Packers have known that Jolly’s legal situation could lead to a suspension for quite some time, and that even if his oft-delayed trial ended in an acquittal, he still could be facing a suspension from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

To prepare for that possibility, the Packers shifted 2009 first-round pick B.J. Raji inside to nose tackle, moved nose tackle Ryan Pickett outside to end and also drafted two defensive ends (second-rounder Mike Neal and seventh-rounder C.J. Wilson) in April. 

Jolly, 27, was arrested after 1 a.m. on July 8, 2008, in the parking lot of a Houston club known for drug and gun use. A police gang unit pulled over Jolly's car because of excessive noise coming from amplified bass music. Jolly was arrested on a charge of possession of a controlled substance after police "smelled the strong odor of codeine" in cups in the vehicle, according to the police report. Lab tests subsequently confirmed the codeine.

The beverage, called “Purple Drank,” was recently a focus of an ESPN “Outside The Lines” report, in which Jolly was prominently featured.

The charges against Jolly were dropped in July 2009 so lab technicians could become proficient with a new piece of equipment that measures codeine. Jolly was re-indicted in December 2009. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

GREEN BAY -- The Green Bay Packers' profit from operations fell for the fourth straight year, to $9.8 million during the 2009-'10 fiscal year -- exactly the kind of continuing economic trend the NFL will use as Exhibit A in its labor negotiations with the NFL Players Association.

As the NFL's only publicly-owned franchise, the Packers' financial information will be the only numbers available during negotiations between owners and the NFLPA on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA expires in March, and a work stoppage looms as the two sides battle over how to share revenues of sports' most popular league.

The Packers' finances will be front-and-center in the debate because the owners have decided not to open their books to the NFLPA to show how rising player costs and dwindling profits are hurting team owners.

"Obviously there's a little more attention this year," said Packers president/CEO Mark Murphy, whose financial report was mailed to shareholders Wednesday in advance of the July 29 shareholders meeting.

And the Packers' numbers clearly illustrate the owners' argument, as expected.

The Packers' net operating profit of $9.8 million continued a downward trend that has seen the profit from operations fall from $34 million in 2006-'07 to $21 million in 2007-'08 to $20.1 million in 2008-'09.

Murphy, vice preident of administration Jason Wied, treasurer Larry Weyers and vice president of finance Paul Baniel unveiled the numbers to a handful of local reporters Wednesday morning, in advance of a national conference call with other NFL reporters.

Total operating revenues were $258 million last year, up from $248 million the year before. Operating expenses, meanwhile, rose from $228 million in 2008-'09 to $248 million in 2009-'10. The biggest increase was in player costs, which went from $139 million in 2008-'09 to $161 million in 2009-'10.

"The expenses we controlled have been either flat or down," Wied said. "The one expense line that has grown is the on we don't have direct control over, and that's player costs."

Murphy said the $22 million increase in player costs reflects a trend in which player salary costs have grown by 11.8 percent annually while revenues have grown at only a 5.5 percent annual rate.

"Player costs are growing at twice the rate of revenue," Murphy said. "That's the reason why we (the owners) opted out of the CBA."

The Packers did see an uptick in overall net income. After investment losses resulted in a $4 million net profit the previous year, last year's bottom line showed a net income of $5.2 million.

"The stabilization of the market helped us," Murphy said. "We basically lost less money (in the market)."

Local revenues have been flat or down slightly over the past three years, with pro shop sales and other local sales and marketing revenue falling from $43.7 million to $43.0 million last year.

Still, the focus from a team -- and league -- perspective is on rising player salaries. Murphy said of the $132 million in incremental revenue the team has taken in over the past four years, $123 million -- or 94 percent -- has gone to players.

"The Packers are financially strong, Weyers said. "But we do have some serious concerns about the system."

Murphy tried to walk the fine line of showing the disconcerting financial trend league-wide while reassuring fans of the league's smallest market team that the franchise remained on solid ground.

"There's obviously a lot of uncertainty," Murphy said. "But I feel from a financial standpoint we're well-positioned."   

GREEN BAY – Four down, three to go.

The Green Bay Packers have signed tight end Andrew Quarless, the first of their two fifth-round draft picks, the team announced Monday. The team had already signed fellow fifth-round pick Marshall Newhouse, sixth-round pick James Starks and seventh-round pick C.J. Wilson.

Quarless was a four-year letterman at Penn State. He appeared in 49 career games, including 29 starts, and finished his career as the Nittany Lions’ all-time leader in receptions by a tight end (87) and second in receiving yards by a tight end (1,146). 

The Packers have three picks left to sign before camp opens July 31: Safety Morgan Burnett, their third-round pick from Georgia Tech; defensive end Mike Neal, their second-round pick from Purdue; and left tackle Bryan Bulaga, their first-round pick from Iowa.

The Green Bay Packers signed their first three draft picks Wednesday – the last three they picked in April.

Fifth-round pick Marshall Newhouse, sixth-round pick James Starks and seventh-round pick C.J. Wilson have all signed contracts, the team announced.

Newhouse, an offensive lineman from TCU who was the second of the team's two fifth-round draft picks, was a three-year starter at left tackle for the Horned Frogs, appearing in 52 games, including 38 starts. He worked at guard during the Packers’ organized team activity practices and two-day mandatory minicamp, although at the end of the offseason program he was working with the third-string offensive line.

Starks, a running back from Buffalo, missed all of the 2009 season with a shoulder injury but still left the school as the program’s all-time leading rusher while also holding school records for rushing touchdowns (34) and points scored (222).

Wilson, a defensive lineman from East Carolina, played in 54 games for the Pirates, including 37 starts. He finished his career with 192 tackles, including 45.5 for loss, and 27 sacks.

The signings leave the team with four more draft picks to sign: tight end Andrew Quarless, a fifth-round pick from Penn State; safety Morgan Burnett, a third-round pick from Georgia Tech; defensive end Mike Neal, a second-round pick from Purdue, and left tackle Bryan Bulaga, the team’s first-round pick (No. 23 overall) from Iowa.

The Packers released four players last week, meaning they currently have room for one more draftee signing on their 80-man roster. Three more moves will have to be made to make room for the other draft picks.

The team wrapped up its offseason practices Tuesday, with Wednesday’s minicamp workout having been canceled by coach Mike McCarthy. The team reconvenes on July 30, when players report to training camp. The first practice of camp is July 31 at 2 p.m. at Ray Nitschke Field.

GREEN BAY – Coach Mike McCarthy is probably right, Al Harris admitted Monday. He probably won’t be ready when the Green Bay Packers open training camp on July 31.

But the two time Pro Bowler maintained Monday that he will be starting at right cornerback when the regular season begins Sept. 12 at Philadelphia – despite the catastrophic left knee injury the 35-year-old Harris suffered last November.

“There’s no doubt in my mind,” Harris said after the team’s first mandatory minicamp practice, which Harris spent inside the Don Hutson Center working out with the training staff. “There is no doubt in my mind. At all. That was my goal from Day One, and that’s still my goal today.”

When asked during his post-practice news conference if any of the players not practicing during the minicamp were in danger of not being ready for the start of training camp, McCarthy singled out Harris, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament and did other extensive damage to the knee, as the only one.

“The only (person) that we're concerned about would be Al Harris,” McCarthy said, referencing a conversation with team physician Pat McKenzie. “I think Al is going to be definitely challenged to make it at the beginning of training camp. I'm sure Al may tell you something differently, but that's kind of my assessment of the information I've been given”

McCarthy said McKenzie hasn’t given him a date when Harris could start practicing.

“I think we are a little too far out,” McCarthy said. “I know Al has been in here. I saw him in there Friday and Saturday, so he is putting everything he has into it. Everybody knows the type of pro that Al Harris is. It's a serious injury and we're going to be smart with him and give him the time that he needs.”

Harris said the biggest issue is regaining full range of motion in his knee. He said he’s “a couple degrees” shy of full range.

“I talked to (McKenzie) this morning, actually. He knows my plans,” Harris said. “I can only control what I can control, and that’s how hard I work and how much I can endure in rehab. So the more I can endure and the harder I work brings me closer.”