All of these contracts tend to take until the last possible moment. Both sides are vying for leverage to make or save a few hundred thousand dollars. Make no mistake, these are HIGH stakes and both sides are very adept using every facet of negotiation to their own advantage.
The market value of cobb will be set by the highest bidder once free agency starts. Technically teams are not allowed to tell cobb what they would potentially pay him until free-agency starts on Tuesday. Therefore it is a bit of an unknown quantity. The Packers would like to convince Cobb that his value is $6 and that their offer of $8 is more than fair. Cobb (through his agent) is trying to convince the Packers that his value is $11-12, and they need to stop low-balling him.
This is where the waiting game comes in. Its a game of chicken to some extent. In reality the agent has probably talked to other teams and has a good idea of the numbers he can expect for his client. The closer to Free-agency we get, the more pressure is on Ted Thompson to "just pay the man." But like poker, if you fold you don't get to see the other player's hand.
This is why it is always difficult to trust reports throughout this part of the offseason. Recently it "leaked" that the Raiders might be willing to pay cobb in the neighborhood of $11-12 million per year. This could be a valid source (though the raiders could be seen as guilty of tampering if true) or someone in the Raider's organization who might have a relationship with Cobb's agent doing a favor to inflate Cobb's value.
This is where the strength of Ted Thompson comes into play. He set ALL emotions aside. Before this offseason, Thompson assessed the value that Cobb has for the Green Bay Packers. This value he assigned a number value. I'm sure that he started off lower than he would be willing to go, but you will never find TT pay MORE than he values that player due to external pressures.
I will be very sad if Cobb goes. But I know that our team will be better off with him on the Raiders, than having to pay him MORE than what Ted Thompson assessed his value to be.