GREEN BAY — Greg Jennings has the long-term deal he wants, but the Green Bay Packers emerging star receiver will get something else from the three-year, $27 million contract extension he signed Wednesday: Another bite at the free-agency apple after the 2012 season.

Jennings will be 29 when his new deal expires, meaning a continued ascension among the NFL’s top wideouts would set him up for another large payday.

“That’s the beauty of it,” Jennings said after the team formally announced the deal following Wednesday morning’s final practice of its mandatory three-day minicamp. “That was pretty much our game plan, if there is to be career after this contract. Again, I can’t tell the future, but that was definitely the game plan, to make it a situation where I would have another opportunity to go to the table and redo a deal.”

The Packers announced the contract as a “multi-year” deal, but a league source confirmed it adds three years onto his existing contract, which was set to pay him $535,000 in 2009, the final year of the deal he signed as a second-round pick from Western Michigan in 2006.

The extension reportedly could be worth as much as $30 million if Jennings plays at a Pro Bowl level. He’ll also get more than $16 million in guaranteed money.

“We’re excited for Greg Jennings’ future here; there is no doubt,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “I think Greg is a young man that has developed here in Green Bay and I can’t say enough about him personally. I like the way he goes about his business, and he is definitely well deserving of this contract. I’m excited for Greg.”

Jennings, who caught a career-best 80 passes for 1,292 yards and nine touchdowns last year, was a Pro Bowl first alternate behind Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona’s Anquan Boldin, Carolina’s Steve Smith and Atlanta’s Roddy White. He broke out in 2007, during his second season, when he caught 53 passes for 920 yards and a team-best 12 touchdowns.

Fitzgerald, who signed a four-year, $40 million deal in March 2008 that reportedly included a whopping $30 million in guaranteed money and a $15 million up-front signing bonus, is the league’s top-paid wideout.

“My expectations are higher than anybody else’s, I guarantee you that,” Jennings said. “Money is not going to change the player that I am. It probably will change the outlook of fans, thinking that I should produce more, but I should produce more anyway. So that’s not a concern of mine.

“I’m going to come out here and be the same guy, and if not the same, I want to be better. And that’s me. I like to improve on anything there is that I do from year to year.”

Jennings said he never considered holding out if a deal did not get done before training camp starts July 31.

“We wanted to keep it low profile, we didn’t want to become a distraction to the team at all in any way. We didn’t feel like there was any need for me to sit out and choose not to participate. That was not the route I wanted to go,” Jennings said. “I went about it the way that I felt I needed to go about it. Each situation is different. To each his own. Guys get different advice. I felt I needed to be a part of what was going on this offseason. Some guys feel they have to make a stand and not participate. I’m not opposed to (holding out). You have to go to some lengths to get what you need sometimes. For me, that wasn’t the route I chose to take.”

With Jennings’ deal done, the Packers can now turn their attention to any number of their other impending unrestricted free agents, a group that includes eight other starters: Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins, outside linebacker Aaron Kampman, nose tackle Ryan Pickett, left tackle Chad Clifton, left guard Daryn Colledge, center/guard Jason Spitz, safety Atari Bigby and defensive end Johnny Jolly. Tackle Tony Moll and return man Will Blackmon are also scheduled to become unrestricted free agents after the season.

“It’s about time. Somebody deserves something,” said Collins, who skipped virtually all of the offseason program and organized team activity practices but did report for the mandatory minicamp.

“There’s was a lot of talk about me, Greg and the other guys. There’s a lot of guys coming up on free agency next year. I’m just glad somebody got it. Greg, he’s a great guy and he deserves it. Hopefully things will work out for me.”

Collins hinted that he won’t hold out of training camp, although he wouldn’t say definitively.

“I’m not saying I’m not (coming to training camp), put it that way. I’m here now, and I plan to be here for the rest of the offseason,” Collins said. “I’m not going anywhere. My family’s here. I’m here now.

“I’m not worried about my contract. I can’t control that. If things work out, they work out. If they don’t, I’m still here.”

McCarthy said Jennings’ extension is in line with general manager Ted Thompson’s build-through-the-draft philosophy — while all but ignoring free agency — but Collins wasn’t sure whether that approach would put him next in line for a new deal. A league source said the Packers and Collins’ agent, David Butz, have yet to engage in any serious negotiations.

“I don’t know how the organization is thinking,” Collins said. “I know that’s what Ted focuses on, taking care of his guys — ones he brought in. They do a pretty good job of that. But at the same time, who knows? You can’t depend on them to make a move.”