GREEN BAY, Wis. — From all indications, the contract stalemate between the Green Bay Packers and first-round pick B.J. Raji is very real and serious.

Raji, whose holdout is at 11 days and counting, left Green Bay on a flight bound for points unknown on Tuesday night, according to witnesses at Austin Straubel International Airport.
An employee confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that a “Busari Raji” — Raji’s given name — checked in for a flight to Chicago.
Raji, the ninth overall pick, is believed to be headed to Boston to workout at Boston College, where he played from 2004-’08.
While talks have continued between Packers’ contract negotiator Russ Ball and Raji’s representatives at Athletes First, apparently the sides are nowhere close to a deal.
Taking Raji out of Green Bay, where he had been working out a local high school and gym, is an obvious attempt by David Dunn, the head agent at Athletes First, to put pressure on the Packers to reach a deal.
How they will react is not known. General manager Ted Thompson had a reputation for holding firm in negotiations. But running back Ryan Grant was able to push through a generous contract after he held out for seven days of training camp last year during the Brett Favre situation.
The major stumbling block appears to be the contract negotiations of offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, who went one spot ahead of Raji at No. 8 by the Jacksonville Jaguars. And there appears to be no end in sight in those talks.
The Jaguars were the last team to sign their first-round pick last year. Derrick Harvey held out for 33 days before finally getting his deal done.
Who’s stalling? Raji’s agent or the Packers? It’s impossible to know for sure. Both sides have refused to talk about the negotiations.
According to newspaper accounts, Raji is just the third of Dunn’s 14 first-round picks (21.4 percent) since 2001 to miss any training camp time.
Safety Brandon Meriweather broke a string of six-straight non-holdouts when he missed one day of camp with the New England Patriots in ’07.
Linebacker Keith Rivers held out for 10 days last year before becoming the next-to-last player to sign, leaving Harvey the last. But that was with the Cincinnati Bengals, who are notoriously cheap. With sixth overall pick Andre Smith in the midst of his own holdout, the Bengals have allowed 10 of 15 first-round picks since 1995 to miss camp.
Athletes First had five first-round picks this season and Raji is the only holdout. New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, the fifth overall pick, became the first first-rounder to sign his deal after first overall pick Matthew Stafford, who agreed to his deal before the draft, on June 11. It took over a month for the next first-round pick to get under contract.
Since coming on board after Thompson let much-heralded contract negotiator Andrew Brandt go because of a conflict of personalities, Ball has endured holdouts each of the past two years (Grant and Raji). The Packers did not have a first-round pick last year.
Ball was the chief contract negotiator with the New Orleans Saints from ’02-’07 before joining the Packers. During that time, four of the six first-round picks (66.7 percent) were holdouts. But none lasted longer than six days (Johnathan Sullivan, ’03). The other three were for two days each.
Ball was praised by Saints general manager Mickey Loomis for getting contracts done when Ball was hired by Thompson.
If any day looked ripe for a deal to be struck, it was Tuesday after former first-round pick Justin Harrell (back spasms) joined fellow left defensive end Johnny Jolly (sprained ankle) on the injured list.
Before Raji’s holdout, he was slated to start at the position. He is now listed as a backup to Ryan Pickett at nose tackle.
Earlier Tuesday, Thompson said the negotiations were plodding along.
“Frustrating for everybody I’m sure. Certainly for us and I’m sure for B.J. and his representatives,” said Thompson. “It’s continual dialogue, and it’s ongoing.
“I think any kind of discussion is progress and we’re working at it. I don’t know how to predict in terms of when something might get done or anything like that. But both sides are working very hard, and it’s a difficult thing for both sides.”
Probably made more difficult, or at least more stressful, after Raji’s trip out of town.