NFL: Packers' profit slides more than $10 million

The Green Bay Packers remain profitable, just not as much as they have been in recent years.

The Packers are the only NFL team that opens its books to the public, and this year's financial report is certain to come up in the league's labor negotiations.

Packers officials said Wednesday that the team posted an operating profit of $9.8 million in the fiscal year that ended March 31, down from $20.1 million the previous year. The team has been in a slide since posting an operating profit of $34 million four years ago.

As a publicly owned team, the Packers must report financial information to shareholders. The Packers took in a total of $258 million in the last fiscal year, $10 million more than the previous year. But player costs increased sharply to $161 million, up from $139 million the previous year.

The Packers finished 11-5 last season, earning a wild-card playoff berth.

Woodson escapes fire. Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said he was lucky to escape a burning house in Bar Harbor, Mich., early Saturday. Woodson said he and other overnight guests were still awake when the fire started about 4 a.m. No one was injured.

Favre watch. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre told Men's Journal magazine that playing another year "probably isn't going to make a difference" when it comes to his long-term health. Favre said enough damage already has been done to his body.

The Vikings are still waiting to learn whether Favre will return for a 20th NFL season.

Noteworthy. The Jacksonville Jaguars signed rookie defensive end Austen Lane, a fifth-round draft pick out of Murray State, to a four-year contract. . . . A codefendant who took a plea deal in the robbery of former Oakland wide receiver Javon Walker was sentenced to three to eight years in Nevada state prison. Arfat Abdo Fadel, 32, has already served more than two years behind bars since his arrest several days after the June 2008 attack. Walker, 31, is now an unsigned free agent. . . . Browns nose tackle Shaun Rogers reached an agreement with prosecutors that could dismiss charges that he tried to carry a gun past Cleveland airport security in April.