Green Bay — Linebackers Nick Perry and Julius Peppers are connected in a way neither would prefer to admit, but it's hard to dismiss the logical association.
It goes like this: the better Perry plays, the less Peppers has to play and the better off the Green Bay Packers will be this season.
Try as they might to avoid placing so much pressure on one guy, that proportionality was established in March when the Packers rewarded Perry with a $5 million contract largely on the basis of playing two of the best games of his career in the playoffs.