2013 - Free agency season

Wilde indicated that Francois was told he'd have an opportunity to compete for a starting job and Jones probably got a similar message. How the depth chart ultimately shakes out will indeed be very interesting.

Please stop trying to derail threads.

god forbid they should improve over the course of a year..

Bishop and (Hawk/Manning/Jones/Smith/Fancois) is an immediate upgrade over Hawk and (Jones/Smith/Manning/Francois). So yeah, the ILB play has already improved.

Damn Hawk. Why doesn't he just quit.

Time for the young DB's drafted last year to step up and contribute as well.

quote:

Originally posted by GBFanForLife:
Damn Hawk. Why doesn't he just quit.

I really hope Manning has spent the offseason preparing himself to go to camp and simply take Hawks job away from him.

yeah i bet you'd like that...

quote:

Originally posted by Satori:


He was a Packer previously, so it probably doesn't count for some

No sh1t. Like kissing your sister...The least she could do is over some tongue like 's sister does for him.

@WesHod
The #Packers have re-signed linebacker Brad Jones. The team returns all seven of its prospective inside backers for next season


Doubt they draft ILB.

quote:

Originally posted by Goalline:

Like kissing your sister...

I guess that makes Thompson a serial sister-kisser. (ROTTTSSK)

quote:

Originally posted by Goalline:... like 's sister does for him.

Rong. I don't have a sister.

No, but your brother's do.

Rong, I only have one brother.

‏@TomSilverstein1h
I'm betting #Packers LB Brad Jones held out for same average per year as AJ Hawk's new salary ($3.6M).

Meaning the spot next to Bishop is finally best man wins. Well played TT, well played.

wait...I thought ROTTT never signed free agents

Re-signing doesn't count.

So says the galactically stupid.

I saw where Jones was listed as the best MLB available at the start of FA.

Several years ago that would have looked fantastic.

YUP! Now...not so much.

quote:

Originally posted by Hungry5:
@PriscoCBS
One thing I felt at owners meetings: The teams know they got the best of the union in that CBA.


I think this is more of the reason for the current financial landscape league wide than GMs emulating Thompson. They are working this way because they can.

It's just a different and deeper labor pool than the NBA or MLB. Average system players can be made to appear great. They dislodge veteran players who, understandably, want to be paid in part for what they've done. Teams (most anyway) have become smarter about identifying system players.

Sean Jensen ‏@seankjensen 8m Packers re-signed LB Brad Jones to 3-year deal worth $11.75 million, including $3 million to sign with possible Pro Bowl escalators.

quote:

Originally posted by Iowacheese:

Hey, if Bruce Willis can tackle, I say sign him.

I'm surprised teh Vikings didn't go after Jones. They're almost as thin at LB as they are at receiver. That would have probably made more sense than Jennings at twice the price.

Trade Rodgers, he's done.

I like bringing back Jones at that price. He'd look much better with Bishop next to him instead of Hawk. I am a little surprised at them bringing back both Hawk and Jones though, b/c now you're going into next year with the same ILB corp as last year, ie: the same corp that was absolutely burned by AP and Kaepernick. Guess we can just hope that getting Bishop and Perry back will fix those problems, b/c i dont see any help coming in at ILB.

Quantity begets quality through competition, let the best man win

And with all of the different packages Capers likes to use, they may have the ability to mix and match . If you can't find one ILB that does it all, you can try to cover it with several ILBs and play to their strengths

No quantity of manure is going to beget gold though. (ftr: I like Jones well enough as a situational guy or with a thumper beside him, but Hawk is junk) It does make me wonder if the Packers aren't as sold on their d-linemen, including (especially?) Raji.

Agree Herschel. I still think we need another ILB with a higher level of talent than what we have there, unless Manning is that guy....

quote:

Originally posted by CUPackFan:
I am a little surprised at them bringing back both Hawk and Jones though, b/c now you're going into next year with the same ILB corp as last year, ie: the same corp that was absolutely burned by AP and Kaepernick.

I think it's a little bit of admission of how unprepared they were for the pistol too. Jones is the best of the three in coverage so should get the majority of nickel and dime snaps and I believe is a core ST guy as well. Should have enough work not to be upset about playing time and AJ and Bishop can take the snaps against the big sets against the maulers.


I'm pretty surprised they haven't even kicked the tires on Dumervil. If the Steelers and Ravens are looking at him it's a pretty good sign that there's value there. Those two teams are excel at evaluating personnel and I'm real shaky on Perry. He still needs a good measure of development and the defense needs all the help it can get. Get the feeling that Perry is getting handed the starting job next year and think if anything the competition with a vet would be good for him.

Draft hasn't happened yet. They can still get cut in camp.

With a full stable going into the draft, the BPA plan has more options on draft day
That's what they aim for, trying not to be so needy in late April that they are forced to jump the board. If a solid ILB presents himself, nothing they've done so far will preclude GB from adding more competition at that spot as noted by Maynard

GB is still a quite light at OLB, so we may see a journeyman /role player brought in there before the draft. I think there are only 3 on the roster right now

quote:

I'm pretty surprised they haven't even kicked the tires on Dumervil. If the Steelers and Ravens are looking at him it's a pretty good sign that there's value there

Silverstein was asked that very question by a fan. He tweeted back "and then do what with Perry?"

Neither the Ravens or Steelers invested a 1st round pick in an OLB in the previous draft and neither have someone named Clay Matthews on their team.

GB has both. GB's bread and butter is to draft and develop. Perry's wrist from what I've read has healed fine and he's rarin' to go. And prior to getting hurt, you could see improvement against the run and he was getting more and more consistent push.

Sign Dumervil and that development stops. Because GB isn't going to sign him to be Perry's back up.

There's also a real possibility part of their interest is to screw a fellow AFC rival and SB hopeful's salary cap. Because if the Bronco's can't get him back IIRC they get a fairly large accelerated cap hit. That alone could generate plenty of interest from both teams.

quote:

Originally posted by titmfatied:

I'm pretty surprised they haven't even kicked the tires on Dumervil.

I wondered about him too. I didn't realize he's only 5'11" and with a defense looking for more length, perhaps he doesn't fit the bill at Lambeau in Dec / Jan

quote:

Originally posted by Satori:
GB is still a quite light at OLB, so we may see a journeyman /role player brought in there before the draft. I think there are only 3 on the roster right now

Having been converted from there, Jones gives them options and that may have played some into his $11.75mm deal.

from PFT:

quote:

According to Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune, the Bears have agreed to a one-year deal with former Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams.

The Broncos parted ways with Williams after a troubled season which featured a pair of suspensions, but the 30-year-old was still playing at a solid level before the trouble.

The former first-rounder could earn up to $1.75 million if he hits a number of playing time incentives and workout bonuses, but there is no guaranteed money in the deal.

Maybe signing Jones allows TT to trade Hawk with his newly restructured contract. For LT Joe Thomas and a bunch of draft picks.

I'm probably in the minority, but I am not completely sold on Jones as a starter. I think he is great to have as a backup, but I think a driving force for his re-signing is TT's weakness for try-hard linebackers with limited athletic ability. I hope I'm wrong, but I think Jones is going to go the way of Brady Poppinga and Brandon Chillar.