bears51/40
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With all of the Packers injuries this is a game we could steal.......if only we had a competent QB. Here's hoping for Mich in the second half.
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When you have an extra chromosome and they keep it in the family. They're quite "friendly"
jbunch14
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Not sure if suurious????
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YEEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!! These ******* just straight fouled and hacked us for years, its nice with guys like Long/Sitton/Massie/Shaheen/Sims/
Hicks-Unrein-Young-McPhee-Amos that can be bullies and pay some of this back.
Justice would be breaking Rodgers knee in one of their window years. The beginning of justice, then do that 3 of the next 5 years until he is out of the league without another superbowl.
dabears70
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My favorite teams
I think Pace's plan is to build through the draft and when he has good young pieces at a good amount of positions especially QB then he can hit free agency to fill out the open spots or the spots that need a true vet the most and i think we're very close to being at that point. If he doesn't hit free agency hard this off season and add at least 2 tier 1 players and fill out the rest of the team with tier 2 and 3 players then it will be the following off season for sure. I know you guys are talking about T.Thompson and the Packers but i figured i'd add this here anyway.
dabears70
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Unfortunately i'm hearing a lot of their starters that were out for their game against Cincy got in a limited practice yesterday so i'm hoping these guys don't get in any full practices today or tomorrow, but with the Bears luck it wouldn't surprise me if they got a couple of them back for our game.
Jester
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With our run game and the Oline performing as it did Sunday I would actually be very confident if for not one thing, Mike Glennon. Mike Glennon sucks and does not add value to this team. As typical, the Bears are fine with a guy that "Manages", whatever that means. I am sure Trubs can "Manage" as well if needed.
Please please let the Trubs era start soon !
Please please let the Trubs era start soon !
Teddy KGB
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You cannot possibly be that dense. You've never heard of someone with the right idea but the wrong execution? Ozzie Newsome is considered one of the best general managers in the league and he follows the same plan Ted Thompson does. Ozzie just drafts better.
Seriously, are you one of those meatballs who wants to fire coach every year until one gets to the Super Bowl? Because that's how inane you sound.
Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
Washington
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Rodgers knows TT has screwed the pooch in GB. He keeps them competitive but does not put them over the hump to win it all.
http://www.espn.com/blog/green-bay-packers/post/_/id/37660/packers-gm-didnt-take-aaron-rodgers-all-in-remark-as-a-plea-for-free-agents
Most of the NFL world took Aaron Rodgers' "all-in" comment after the Green Bay Packers' NFC Championship Game loss as a plea for Ted Thompson to take a more active approach to free agency this year.
"I didn't," Thompson, the Packers' general manager, said Wednesday at the NFL combine.
Rodgers hasn't been available to expand on his postgame comment since that season-ending loss at Atlanta, but Thompson indicated that it will be business as usual for perhaps the most free-agent averse general manager in the NFL.
"It doesn't matter how old we are, we're going to try to do the exact same thing every year," Thompson, 64, said. "We're going to try to get to the Super Bowl and win it. And that's what we're going to try to do again this year."
Rodgers, 33, said he believes his window to get back to the Super Bowl hasn't begun to close.
"I still feel pretty young," Rodgers said in Atlanta. "I think I have a number of years left in me [where] I can play at a high level. "We've just got to make sure we're going all-in every year to win, and I think we can take a big step this offseason."
Based on Thompson's comments Wednesday, the Packers would appear to be bit players -- at best -- when it comes to other team's free agents. Last year, he signed one impact veteran: tight end Jared Cook to a one-year, $2.75 million deal. And like Julius Peppers when he signed with the Packers three years earlier, Cook had been cut by his old team and wasn't a true unrestricted free agent but rather a street free agent.
The focus instead will be on trying to retain as many of the Packers' own free agents -- a list that includes Eddie Lacy, T.J. Lang, Nick Perry, Micah Hyde, Peppers (although Thompson said he didn't know if Peppers planned to keep playing) and Cook.
"That's our intention, and it's our intention every year," Thompson said. "I stand on this podium, I think, every year and say the same thing. Our best intention will be to sign as many of our own players as we can, and keep it together."
The window during which free agents can begin negotiating with other teams opens Tuesday and the Packers have yet to strike a single deal, but Thompson said he wasn't concerned.
"It's an artificial deadline," he said. "Not that free agency's not going to start at a certain time, it's just once you get to this particular point, there's very little risk of the player getting injured, so there's not a push on the side of the player to hurry up to get a deal done. But at the same time, sometimes they'd prefer to stay and deals get done earlier than we think. It's worked both ways, as you guys know. Over the years, we've signed several right at the start of free agency and my guess is that's what's going to happen this year."
http://www.espn.com/blog/green-bay-packers/post/_/id/37660/packers-gm-didnt-take-aaron-rodgers-all-in-remark-as-a-plea-for-free-agents
Most of the NFL world took Aaron Rodgers' "all-in" comment after the Green Bay Packers' NFC Championship Game loss as a plea for Ted Thompson to take a more active approach to free agency this year.
"I didn't," Thompson, the Packers' general manager, said Wednesday at the NFL combine.
Rodgers hasn't been available to expand on his postgame comment since that season-ending loss at Atlanta, but Thompson indicated that it will be business as usual for perhaps the most free-agent averse general manager in the NFL.
"It doesn't matter how old we are, we're going to try to do the exact same thing every year," Thompson, 64, said. "We're going to try to get to the Super Bowl and win it. And that's what we're going to try to do again this year."
Rodgers, 33, said he believes his window to get back to the Super Bowl hasn't begun to close.
"I still feel pretty young," Rodgers said in Atlanta. "I think I have a number of years left in me [where] I can play at a high level. "We've just got to make sure we're going all-in every year to win, and I think we can take a big step this offseason."
Based on Thompson's comments Wednesday, the Packers would appear to be bit players -- at best -- when it comes to other team's free agents. Last year, he signed one impact veteran: tight end Jared Cook to a one-year, $2.75 million deal. And like Julius Peppers when he signed with the Packers three years earlier, Cook had been cut by his old team and wasn't a true unrestricted free agent but rather a street free agent.
The focus instead will be on trying to retain as many of the Packers' own free agents -- a list that includes Eddie Lacy, T.J. Lang, Nick Perry, Micah Hyde, Peppers (although Thompson said he didn't know if Peppers planned to keep playing) and Cook.
"That's our intention, and it's our intention every year," Thompson said. "I stand on this podium, I think, every year and say the same thing. Our best intention will be to sign as many of our own players as we can, and keep it together."
The window during which free agents can begin negotiating with other teams opens Tuesday and the Packers have yet to strike a single deal, but Thompson said he wasn't concerned.
"It's an artificial deadline," he said. "Not that free agency's not going to start at a certain time, it's just once you get to this particular point, there's very little risk of the player getting injured, so there's not a push on the side of the player to hurry up to get a deal done. But at the same time, sometimes they'd prefer to stay and deals get done earlier than we think. It's worked both ways, as you guys know. Over the years, we've signed several right at the start of free agency and my guess is that's what's going to happen this year."
Washington
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McCarthy not a fan of the conservative approach either.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000628115/article/mccarthy-fed-up-with-packers-freeagency-approach
Green Bay Packers fans have long lamented Ted Thompson's close-to-the-vest, take-few-chances approach to team building.
Perhaps coach Mike McCarthy is joining the chorus.
Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, one of the most plugged-in NFL reporters in the country, reported that McCarthy is "fed up" with Thompson's conservative approach to free agency.
Every game, all season
"According to several sources, McCarthy is fed up with his boss' unwillingness to take a chance and reinforce the roster with veteran players that might be unknown to the Packers but have the talent to contribute," McGinn wrote in a column that lambasted both the GM and coach for a lost season.
It's not groundbreaking that McCarthy or anyone else in the Packers' organization is frustrated with how 2015 unfolded. Yet, it likely won't change a dadgum thing when it comes to the team's approach.
Thompson has been lauded as a draft-and-develop general manager who takes few risks in free agency. Signing Julius Peppers two years ago was viewed as an anomaly -- one that worked out exceedingly well.
Watching other teams flounder with overpriced free agents, which happens on a yearly basis, Thompson isn't going to alter his approach because of one exceedingly frustrating season that was punctuated by injuries.
The GM could very well point to frustration with the coaching staff for not milking more production out of the reserve talent it was given.
At the end of the day, the 2015 season was a disappointment for everyone in Green Bay. That doesn't mean the philosophy that has brought decades of stability and seven straight playoff appearances should be scrapped.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000628115/article/mccarthy-fed-up-with-packers-freeagency-approach
Green Bay Packers fans have long lamented Ted Thompson's close-to-the-vest, take-few-chances approach to team building.
Perhaps coach Mike McCarthy is joining the chorus.
Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, one of the most plugged-in NFL reporters in the country, reported that McCarthy is "fed up" with Thompson's conservative approach to free agency.
Every game, all season
"According to several sources, McCarthy is fed up with his boss' unwillingness to take a chance and reinforce the roster with veteran players that might be unknown to the Packers but have the talent to contribute," McGinn wrote in a column that lambasted both the GM and coach for a lost season.
It's not groundbreaking that McCarthy or anyone else in the Packers' organization is frustrated with how 2015 unfolded. Yet, it likely won't change a dadgum thing when it comes to the team's approach.
Thompson has been lauded as a draft-and-develop general manager who takes few risks in free agency. Signing Julius Peppers two years ago was viewed as an anomaly -- one that worked out exceedingly well.
Watching other teams flounder with overpriced free agents, which happens on a yearly basis, Thompson isn't going to alter his approach because of one exceedingly frustrating season that was punctuated by injuries.
The GM could very well point to frustration with the coaching staff for not milking more production out of the reserve talent it was given.
At the end of the day, the 2015 season was a disappointment for everyone in Green Bay. That doesn't mean the philosophy that has brought decades of stability and seven straight playoff appearances should be scrapped.
Washington
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Packers fans not happy with TT too. This one is laughable being a petition but the message is accurate and represents what most GB fans feel.
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/948/079/198/
Green Bay Packers fans are deeply bothered with Ted Thompson's waste of talent with the careers of players such as Jordy Nelson, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Clay Matthews, and especially Aaron Rodgers, who is easily one of the best players to step foot on the field! We as fans are irritated with the fact that Thompson has not even attempted to seek players through free agency. While we know we are not all experts, it is clear as to what the problem is. We see teams like New England signing eight free agent starters this year, continue every year to give their quarterback the necessary tools, and provide a good defense to win multiple titles. It is completely unacceptable to sit back and watch this team be 4th or 5th best every year due to the fact Ted Thompson simply does not want to change his approach and seems hell bent on proving his way works, even if it means preventing hall of fame players from winning championships. While the argument could be made that his approach has gotten many division championships and playoff appearances, the fact is that the incredible play of our quarterback has carried this team for a LONG time! It seems Ted Thompson is just content with only making the playoffs. These defects have been ignored for too long and fans want a change, now. We as fans feel cheated year after year as a direct result to Ted Thompson's conservative ways. The last time Aaron Rodgers had a top ten defense, we won the Super Bowl. We as fans feel like we have missed out on many opportunities for success, are in danger of missing out on future championships, and fear the waste of a hall of fame quarterback so long as Ted Thompson remains general manger of our beloved Green Bay Packers. If you are in agreeance, I welcome you to sign this petition for the removal of Ted Thompson.
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/948/079/198/
Green Bay Packers fans are deeply bothered with Ted Thompson's waste of talent with the careers of players such as Jordy Nelson, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Clay Matthews, and especially Aaron Rodgers, who is easily one of the best players to step foot on the field! We as fans are irritated with the fact that Thompson has not even attempted to seek players through free agency. While we know we are not all experts, it is clear as to what the problem is. We see teams like New England signing eight free agent starters this year, continue every year to give their quarterback the necessary tools, and provide a good defense to win multiple titles. It is completely unacceptable to sit back and watch this team be 4th or 5th best every year due to the fact Ted Thompson simply does not want to change his approach and seems hell bent on proving his way works, even if it means preventing hall of fame players from winning championships. While the argument could be made that his approach has gotten many division championships and playoff appearances, the fact is that the incredible play of our quarterback has carried this team for a LONG time! It seems Ted Thompson is just content with only making the playoffs. These defects have been ignored for too long and fans want a change, now. We as fans feel cheated year after year as a direct result to Ted Thompson's conservative ways. The last time Aaron Rodgers had a top ten defense, we won the Super Bowl. We as fans feel like we have missed out on many opportunities for success, are in danger of missing out on future championships, and fear the waste of a hall of fame quarterback so long as Ted Thompson remains general manger of our beloved Green Bay Packers. If you are in agreeance, I welcome you to sign this petition for the removal of Ted Thompson.
Washington
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Best read on the topic.
http://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/mcginn/2017/01/28/mcginn-ted-thompsons-formula-success-fizzles/97136720/
GREEN BAY – It wouldn’t have taken much.
Add one player here, another player there. Win home-field advantage and it’s easy to picture an NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field turning out much differently than the one played last Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
Only the Green Bay Packers under general manager Ted Thompson would rather sit on their hands than procure players … at least veteran players. Now they’ll be sitting home once again as another more aggressive franchise, this time the upstart Atlanta Falcons, represents the NFC in the Super Bowl.
Of course, Thompson is correct when he says the way to win in the National Football League is through the draft. Ron Wolf said the same thing.
No team, however, can win it all without significant player acquisition outside of the draft.
The Packers don’t win the 31st Super Bowl if Wolf doesn’t trade for Brett Favre and sign Reggie White, among many others.
They also don’t win the 45th Super Bowl if Thompson doesn’t sign Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett.
This is brought up because the Packers have squandered still another realistic chance in the era of Aaron Rodgers to capture their 14th NFL championship. They’ve had enough talent to win the Super Bowl nine times in 11 seasons under Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy, and just once have they claimed the Lombardi Trophy.
Thompson’s aversion to signing players that have been with other teams is holding hostage McCarthy and his coaches, Rodgers and his teammates and members of his own personnel department. None of them like it but they can’t do one thing about it.
Packers President Mark Murphy, the one man who can do something, goes about praising Thompson whenever the opportunity presents itself for the wonderful job he has done and the wonderful job he is doing.
Thompson is a good general manager with a long list of admirable qualities. If he were a great general manager, the Packers would have been in the Super Bowl more than once in his 12-year tenure, especially considering his quarterbacks have been Favre and Rodgers.
How could Thompson, after watching the defense get ripped apart by the Falcons, even look McCarthy, his coaches and his players in the eye?
The Packers had six cornerbacks on the 53-man roster at the end of the season. Only two, LaDarius Gunter and Josh Hawkins, have a long history at the position.
Damarious Randall played safety in his two years at Arizona State. Until late September, Micah Hyde had been a safety since 2014.
Quinten Rollins was a basketball player at Miami (Ohio) before giving football a shot in 2014. Herb Waters, a collegiate wide receiver, was converted to cornerback in September as a practice-squad player.
On injured reserve were Demetri Goodson, another basketball player for the majority of his college days, and Sam Shields, who played two seasons at wide receiver for Miami.
“Hats off to the coaching staff,” one general manager said last week. “For keeping it together playing with that crap for the last seven or eight weeks.”
Losing Shields to a season-ending concussion in the first game turned out to be a killer because a depth chart laden with young players wasn’t nearly good enough. Not only did Thompson draft Randall in the first round and Rollins in the second round, he did next to nothing to alleviate the mess at cornerback.
On Sept. 7, a few days after the final roster reduction, the New England Patriots probably were no better or worse than the Packers at cornerback. New England’s depth chart showed Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan as starters followed by rookie Cyrus Jones, a second-round draft choice, and free agents Justin Coleman and Jonathan Jones.
The Patriots were interested in Eric Rowe, a cornerback that the Eagles had traded up to draft in the second round of the 2015 draft. The two teams agreed on a trade in which Rowe went to New England for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018 that could improve to a third based on performance/playing time clauses.
Rowe, 6 feet ½ inch and 205 pounds, had been the 47th overall selection. At No. 30, the Packers’ pick had come down to Randall or Rowe.
For some reason, new Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz didn’t like Rowe. Maybe Bill Belichick knew that; he was the one who gave Schwartz his first NFL job 25 years earlier in Cleveland.
As the rest of the league slept, Belichick stole a first- or second-round talent for possibly a fourth-round pick.
Rowe, who has 4.41-second speed and a 39-inch vertical jump, turned out to be a valuable addition. Used primarily as a nickel back in his 452 snaps, his size and speed have helped produce the league’s No. 1 scoring defense.
No team ever can have enough corners, especially one like Green Bay with a No. 1 (Shields) that had four concussions, a No. 2 (Randall) who had gone straight downhill late in his rookie season, a No. 3 (Rollins) who looked raw but somewhat promising as a rookie and a No. 5 (Goodson) who was starting a four-game suspension.
Even though the Packers really liked Rowe before that draft it was Belichick, not Thompson, who made the trade.
By the time Chicago’s Matt Barkley got done passing the Packers silly (362 yards) on Dec. 18, it should have been apparent to the personnel people in Green Bay that a Super Bowl probably wasn’t going to happen with those cornerbacks.
Two weeks earlier, the Packers shifted cornerback Makinton Dorleant from injured reserve to the 53. On Dec. 17, they promoted No. 3 quarterback Joe Callahan from the practice squad.
Dorleant, a slender rookie from Northern Iowa, appeared to be on about the same level as Hawkins in training camp. Hawkins was so bad early in the season that McCarthy was afraid to play him again. Callahan filled a third roster berth that should have been utilized for immediate defensive help.
In a cornerback room filled with so many shell-shocked young faces, why in the world wouldn’t Thompson sign a veteran or two who in the not-too-distant past had played well?
Antonio Cromartie, a four-time Pro Bowl player, was cut Oct. 4 by the Colts. At 32, Cromartie wasn’t playing well, but at least he had started the first four games. In 2015, he played 86% of the snaps for the Jets, performing best in a press-man scheme much like the Packers employ.
Perrish Cox, 29, started nine of 11 games for the Titans before being released Nov. 29. He struggled against the Packers on Nov. 13. His résumé included 45 starts and a checkered off-the-field record.
Dorleant, Hawkins and Callahan are dime-a-dozen free agents that might never be heard from again. They’re replaceable.
Give defensive coordinator Dom Capers and Joe Whitt, the veteran cornerbacks coach, a week with both Cromartie and Cox in a fresh environment for a Super Bowl-contending team and there’s a reasonable chance Matt Ryan wouldn’t have thrown for 371 yards in the first three quarters.
Thompson’s response was to promote from within, get even younger and, in effect, tell McCarthy to go win it all with Gunter, Randall, Hyde, Rollins, Hawkins and Waters.
“We all make mistakes,” said one former GM. “Maybe you can’t get better. Maybe the guy you want you can’t get, but at least you’re trying. I always felt obligation to the head coach to try.
But that’s their (the Packers’) philosophy, and it’s worked for them because they’ve had 25 fricking years of great quarterbacks. Of course it works. Try it without a special quarterback.”
Every 12 months there are thousands of transactions in the NFL, and each one has a story. Here are six in which the player certainly could have helped the Packers. Odds are, Thompson never seriously considered any of them.
Running back Matt Forte went from the Bears to the Jets on March 9 for $9 million guaranteed. He gained 1,076 yards from scrimmage before his season ended in December with knee cartilage damage.
Tight end Vernon Davis went from the Broncos to the Redskins on April 1 for $1.1 million guaranteed. He caught 44 passes for 583 yards (13.3) and two touchdowns.
Running back LeGarrette Blount re-signed with the Patriots on April 12 for $100,000 guaranteed. He carried 299 times for 1,161 yards (3.9) and 18 TDs.
Pass rusher Dwight Freeney signed with Atlanta on Aug. 4 for $500,000 guaranteed. He might be the Falcons’ second-best rusher with 20-plus pressures.
Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel was awarded to the Falcons off waivers from the Browns on Sept. 4. He has 41 catches for 674 yards (16.4) and six TDs.
Versatile linebacker Jamie Collins was acquired by the Browns in a trade with the Patriots on Oct. 31 for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018. In eight games, he had 69 tackles and two sacks. Last week, he signed a four-year extension with $26.4 million guaranteed.
Those are just a few of many possibilities, and don’t tell me it’s second-guessing.
Thompson has incredible financial and analytical resources, a large staff at his beck and call and dossiers on all players both on and off the field. It’s his job to make fewer mistakes than the competition and build a better team than the rest.
It should be remembered, too, that cash wasn’t always so plentiful in Green Bay. When Wolf, coach Mike Holmgren and Packers President Bob Harlan won their Super Bowl, Lambeau Field wasn’t the cash cow that it is today.
The Packers were far down in profit margin back then. For fiscal 1995, their bottom line of $5.4 million was chump change compared to the $48.9 million it was last year.
“Wisconsin has some big business here,” Wolf said in a July 1996 interview. “We could use some assistance from these people to enable us to keep our good players. Maybe name the practice field for a certain amount. We keep a Bryce Paup. Little things like that.”
Those Packers persevered through Wolf’s pragmatic approach and ever-bold roster-building practices, Holmgren’s keen intelligence and cutting-edge offensive mind and Harlan’s courage to break from the Lombardi organizational structure and rare gifts in public relations.
When’s the last time cash flow limitations ever crossed the lips of a Packers executive? It’s an issue in some cities but not Green Bay.
The men in charge today, in effect caretakers of a franchise that was reborn before their arrival, should never forget how good they have it and the built-in advantages of working in Green Bay.
McCarthy, presumably Murphy and probably Thompson can bury their heads in the sand and label a 12-7 record and annihilation in the NFC title game as success for a team that opened the season as the Super Bowl co-favorite and had Rodgers play nearly every snap.
That’s just noise from a podium from people hoping their loyal fan base forever and always keeps the faith and doesn’t judge 2016 for the missed opportunity that it was.
It wouldn’t have taken much to put the Packers over the top this season. It won’t take much for them to get over the top next season.
So the ball rests squarely in Thompson’s court. For Packers fans, it must be depressing to know it’s likely little or nothing will change in the way he puts the team together.
http://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/mcginn/2017/01/28/mcginn-ted-thompsons-formula-success-fizzles/97136720/
GREEN BAY – It wouldn’t have taken much.
Add one player here, another player there. Win home-field advantage and it’s easy to picture an NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field turning out much differently than the one played last Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
Only the Green Bay Packers under general manager Ted Thompson would rather sit on their hands than procure players … at least veteran players. Now they’ll be sitting home once again as another more aggressive franchise, this time the upstart Atlanta Falcons, represents the NFC in the Super Bowl.
Of course, Thompson is correct when he says the way to win in the National Football League is through the draft. Ron Wolf said the same thing.
No team, however, can win it all without significant player acquisition outside of the draft.
The Packers don’t win the 31st Super Bowl if Wolf doesn’t trade for Brett Favre and sign Reggie White, among many others.
They also don’t win the 45th Super Bowl if Thompson doesn’t sign Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett.
This is brought up because the Packers have squandered still another realistic chance in the era of Aaron Rodgers to capture their 14th NFL championship. They’ve had enough talent to win the Super Bowl nine times in 11 seasons under Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy, and just once have they claimed the Lombardi Trophy.
Thompson’s aversion to signing players that have been with other teams is holding hostage McCarthy and his coaches, Rodgers and his teammates and members of his own personnel department. None of them like it but they can’t do one thing about it.
Packers President Mark Murphy, the one man who can do something, goes about praising Thompson whenever the opportunity presents itself for the wonderful job he has done and the wonderful job he is doing.
Thompson is a good general manager with a long list of admirable qualities. If he were a great general manager, the Packers would have been in the Super Bowl more than once in his 12-year tenure, especially considering his quarterbacks have been Favre and Rodgers.
How could Thompson, after watching the defense get ripped apart by the Falcons, even look McCarthy, his coaches and his players in the eye?
The Packers had six cornerbacks on the 53-man roster at the end of the season. Only two, LaDarius Gunter and Josh Hawkins, have a long history at the position.
Damarious Randall played safety in his two years at Arizona State. Until late September, Micah Hyde had been a safety since 2014.
Quinten Rollins was a basketball player at Miami (Ohio) before giving football a shot in 2014. Herb Waters, a collegiate wide receiver, was converted to cornerback in September as a practice-squad player.
On injured reserve were Demetri Goodson, another basketball player for the majority of his college days, and Sam Shields, who played two seasons at wide receiver for Miami.
“Hats off to the coaching staff,” one general manager said last week. “For keeping it together playing with that crap for the last seven or eight weeks.”
Losing Shields to a season-ending concussion in the first game turned out to be a killer because a depth chart laden with young players wasn’t nearly good enough. Not only did Thompson draft Randall in the first round and Rollins in the second round, he did next to nothing to alleviate the mess at cornerback.
On Sept. 7, a few days after the final roster reduction, the New England Patriots probably were no better or worse than the Packers at cornerback. New England’s depth chart showed Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan as starters followed by rookie Cyrus Jones, a second-round draft choice, and free agents Justin Coleman and Jonathan Jones.
The Patriots were interested in Eric Rowe, a cornerback that the Eagles had traded up to draft in the second round of the 2015 draft. The two teams agreed on a trade in which Rowe went to New England for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018 that could improve to a third based on performance/playing time clauses.
Rowe, 6 feet ½ inch and 205 pounds, had been the 47th overall selection. At No. 30, the Packers’ pick had come down to Randall or Rowe.
For some reason, new Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz didn’t like Rowe. Maybe Bill Belichick knew that; he was the one who gave Schwartz his first NFL job 25 years earlier in Cleveland.
As the rest of the league slept, Belichick stole a first- or second-round talent for possibly a fourth-round pick.
Rowe, who has 4.41-second speed and a 39-inch vertical jump, turned out to be a valuable addition. Used primarily as a nickel back in his 452 snaps, his size and speed have helped produce the league’s No. 1 scoring defense.
No team ever can have enough corners, especially one like Green Bay with a No. 1 (Shields) that had four concussions, a No. 2 (Randall) who had gone straight downhill late in his rookie season, a No. 3 (Rollins) who looked raw but somewhat promising as a rookie and a No. 5 (Goodson) who was starting a four-game suspension.
Even though the Packers really liked Rowe before that draft it was Belichick, not Thompson, who made the trade.
By the time Chicago’s Matt Barkley got done passing the Packers silly (362 yards) on Dec. 18, it should have been apparent to the personnel people in Green Bay that a Super Bowl probably wasn’t going to happen with those cornerbacks.
Two weeks earlier, the Packers shifted cornerback Makinton Dorleant from injured reserve to the 53. On Dec. 17, they promoted No. 3 quarterback Joe Callahan from the practice squad.
Dorleant, a slender rookie from Northern Iowa, appeared to be on about the same level as Hawkins in training camp. Hawkins was so bad early in the season that McCarthy was afraid to play him again. Callahan filled a third roster berth that should have been utilized for immediate defensive help.
In a cornerback room filled with so many shell-shocked young faces, why in the world wouldn’t Thompson sign a veteran or two who in the not-too-distant past had played well?
Antonio Cromartie, a four-time Pro Bowl player, was cut Oct. 4 by the Colts. At 32, Cromartie wasn’t playing well, but at least he had started the first four games. In 2015, he played 86% of the snaps for the Jets, performing best in a press-man scheme much like the Packers employ.
Perrish Cox, 29, started nine of 11 games for the Titans before being released Nov. 29. He struggled against the Packers on Nov. 13. His résumé included 45 starts and a checkered off-the-field record.
Dorleant, Hawkins and Callahan are dime-a-dozen free agents that might never be heard from again. They’re replaceable.
Give defensive coordinator Dom Capers and Joe Whitt, the veteran cornerbacks coach, a week with both Cromartie and Cox in a fresh environment for a Super Bowl-contending team and there’s a reasonable chance Matt Ryan wouldn’t have thrown for 371 yards in the first three quarters.
Thompson’s response was to promote from within, get even younger and, in effect, tell McCarthy to go win it all with Gunter, Randall, Hyde, Rollins, Hawkins and Waters.
“We all make mistakes,” said one former GM. “Maybe you can’t get better. Maybe the guy you want you can’t get, but at least you’re trying. I always felt obligation to the head coach to try.
But that’s their (the Packers’) philosophy, and it’s worked for them because they’ve had 25 fricking years of great quarterbacks. Of course it works. Try it without a special quarterback.”
Every 12 months there are thousands of transactions in the NFL, and each one has a story. Here are six in which the player certainly could have helped the Packers. Odds are, Thompson never seriously considered any of them.
Running back Matt Forte went from the Bears to the Jets on March 9 for $9 million guaranteed. He gained 1,076 yards from scrimmage before his season ended in December with knee cartilage damage.
Tight end Vernon Davis went from the Broncos to the Redskins on April 1 for $1.1 million guaranteed. He caught 44 passes for 583 yards (13.3) and two touchdowns.
Running back LeGarrette Blount re-signed with the Patriots on April 12 for $100,000 guaranteed. He carried 299 times for 1,161 yards (3.9) and 18 TDs.
Pass rusher Dwight Freeney signed with Atlanta on Aug. 4 for $500,000 guaranteed. He might be the Falcons’ second-best rusher with 20-plus pressures.
Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel was awarded to the Falcons off waivers from the Browns on Sept. 4. He has 41 catches for 674 yards (16.4) and six TDs.
Versatile linebacker Jamie Collins was acquired by the Browns in a trade with the Patriots on Oct. 31 for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018. In eight games, he had 69 tackles and two sacks. Last week, he signed a four-year extension with $26.4 million guaranteed.
Those are just a few of many possibilities, and don’t tell me it’s second-guessing.
Thompson has incredible financial and analytical resources, a large staff at his beck and call and dossiers on all players both on and off the field. It’s his job to make fewer mistakes than the competition and build a better team than the rest.
It should be remembered, too, that cash wasn’t always so plentiful in Green Bay. When Wolf, coach Mike Holmgren and Packers President Bob Harlan won their Super Bowl, Lambeau Field wasn’t the cash cow that it is today.
The Packers were far down in profit margin back then. For fiscal 1995, their bottom line of $5.4 million was chump change compared to the $48.9 million it was last year.
“Wisconsin has some big business here,” Wolf said in a July 1996 interview. “We could use some assistance from these people to enable us to keep our good players. Maybe name the practice field for a certain amount. We keep a Bryce Paup. Little things like that.”
Those Packers persevered through Wolf’s pragmatic approach and ever-bold roster-building practices, Holmgren’s keen intelligence and cutting-edge offensive mind and Harlan’s courage to break from the Lombardi organizational structure and rare gifts in public relations.
When’s the last time cash flow limitations ever crossed the lips of a Packers executive? It’s an issue in some cities but not Green Bay.
The men in charge today, in effect caretakers of a franchise that was reborn before their arrival, should never forget how good they have it and the built-in advantages of working in Green Bay.
McCarthy, presumably Murphy and probably Thompson can bury their heads in the sand and label a 12-7 record and annihilation in the NFC title game as success for a team that opened the season as the Super Bowl co-favorite and had Rodgers play nearly every snap.
That’s just noise from a podium from people hoping their loyal fan base forever and always keeps the faith and doesn’t judge 2016 for the missed opportunity that it was.
It wouldn’t have taken much to put the Packers over the top this season. It won’t take much for them to get over the top next season.
So the ball rests squarely in Thompson’s court. For Packers fans, it must be depressing to know it’s likely little or nothing will change in the way he puts the team together.
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My favorite teams
Actually I've only ever wanted to fire Lovie Smith after years of ineptitude. I didn't even want Trestman fired as soon as he was because I knew it signaled the move right back to the meatball defensive teams of yesteryear. I want Fox the fuck out of town because I don't believe he deserves any upside Trubisky is going to offer the team. For him to piggyback on any of that success and hang around would be a travesty because it would maintain the status quo and I am dead set on finally getting and keeping an offensive minded head coach in town.
Back to the actual topic, yes you're still an idiot for your opinion and yes you are talking out of both ends on that one. Rodgers has been 100% wasted by Ted Thompson. Period. Frankly I love the fact the Packers have retained and are still retaining Ted Thompson as long as he wants to remain GB's GM. If I can't see my Bears have any success I at least gain some satisfaction in seeing so much opportunity go to waste up north.
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Hard to have our cake and eat it too. I'll take a big W and wait another week for Trubs.
satchice
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My favorite teams
I have heard this a lot before, but I am not sure I agree with it. Why do you believe it is true? It is not like the Ravens have been that successful. They are maybe the 2nd or 3rd best team in their division. So, what make you like Ozzie so much? I know this is a little off subject, but I have always been curious about this. His last 5 drafts have been pretty below average
Also, if you don't think GB has wasted Arron Rodgers because of not embracing FA then you might be the dense one.