You know that feeling when all is well in your world and you’re about to visit someone who is upset? Say a close buddy after he’s had an argument with his girlfriend. You know that he’ll be peeved, but not at you. Your job will be to just sit there and listen. You may secretly praise yourself for being too sagacious for such drama. You’ll be just what your friend needs, and when he recognizes this, he’ll admire – perhaps even envy – your cool nature. You can’t wait.

A small part of me was feeling that way recently on my way to Daryn Colledge’s house in the Boise area. Granted, I wasn’t on my way to see a close buddy. And, as far as I knew, no one had been arguing that day. Our discussion would be focused football: For the past four years, Colledge has been the startling left guard for the Green Bay Packers.

Still, I knew drama wasn’t entirely out of the question. Colledge, in many ways, is a sportswriter’s dream: intelligent and blunt, cocky but real. This was the year he was to supposed to be an unrestricted free agent. But with no new collective bargaining agreement, and thus no 2010 salary cap, Colledge and many other fourth-and fifth-year pros find themselves confined to restricted free agency. The Packers gave him only a second-round tender, which was said to have made him “furious.”

With most of his teammates working out in Green Bay, Colledge has been in Idaho, training at his alma mater, Boise State. But, almost to the dismay of my righteous ego, he seemed far from furious when we sat down. “I have no idea where those reports came from,” he chuckled. “The only person I’ve talked with about the tender was my wife.”

Because of the tender, any team wanting to sign Colledge would have to surrender a second-round pick. Though Colledge himself was drafted in Round 2 and had started 60 of 64 games in his career, teams were not willing to sacrifice a second-rounder on top of a long-term contract. Of the league’s 200-plus restricted free agents this off-season, only running back Mike Bell has signed with a new club.

“I know that there’s a 95 percent chance I’ll be right back with the Packers again,” Colledge said. “I’m totally great with that. For me, it was never about holding out or anything like that. I’ve always just felt like it was in my best interest to exercise my right of free agency.”

In Colledge’s perfect world, the Packers would have offered him a long-term contract. Besides financial security, there’s the element of, as he describes it, “knowing that you’re wanted.” Who knows, maybe even a first-round tender could have done that. But on a team that has two other capable guards – Josh Sitton and Jason Spitz – the cold reality is that Colledge is expendable. Not that he’s worried.

“Everyone says, Well, you’re in competition for your job and you’re not even there,” he said, waving his hand in dismissal. “I’m not the smartest man in the world, but there are a few things I know: I’ve started more games on that offensive line the last four years than anybody. And I’ve played four positions the last four years. So for some reason I keep finding my way on the field. I believe in my own ability and I look forward to the competition. There’s competition for your job every year – they’re not just going to give you your job.”

Colledge’s situation is not uncommon. There are more than 200 restricted free agents this year, and well over half of them have yet to sign their tender. (Colledge’s teammates Johnny Jolly, Atari Bigby and Tramon Williams are also unsigned and not in Green Bay.) But at some point, something has to give. Restricted free agents have until April 15 to sign with a new team. After that, their only exit from their old team would be through a trade. And players who don’t sign their RFA tender by June 15 could see their 2010 salary reduced from their tendered amount to 110 percent of their ’09 salary. In Colledge’s case, that would be a drop from $1.759 million to $588,500.

In short, some messy situations could be unfolding across the league the next several weeks. And because restricted free agents have virtually no leverage, the disgruntlement factor is amplified. “I think because of all this, you’ll see a lot of deals being done in the 11th hour, especially with things like trades around draft time,” Colledge said. Sounds dramatic. My righteous ego can only hope.

Andy Benoit is the founder of NFLTouchdown.com