2013 - Free agency season

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Originally posted by mr21mr21:

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Originally posted by Packy:
Heard some rumors about Steven Jackson ending up in Green Bay.

I think he will replace Turner in ATL

A broken clock is right twice a day...

Anyway, I would be OK with a healthy Benson, Harris, and Green. I wonder how cheap Hillis could be had for if Benson isn't in their plans?

Also are there any remaining OL free agents that might be a good fit?

I know he's not Steven Jackson, but is Chris "Beanie" Wells still on the street or did someone pick him up after the Cardinals released him?

He's not a bad guy to take a look at. Had a 1000 yard season in 2011 and is only 25 years old. That said, his injury history is a long one and would scare most teams away.

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Henry:
Then why do they continually finish ahead of them?

His argument was Aaron Rodgers is the reason.

I don't study this stuff enough, but my gut says the quality of the Packers at offensive line, defensive front seven, and RB supports that thesis.

Having the best player in the game at the QB position...it's plausible.

quote:

Originally posted by fightphoe93:
I know he's not Steven Jackson, but is Chris "Beanie" Wells still on the street or did someone pick him up after the Cardinals released him?

He's not a bad guy to take a look at. Had a 1000 yard season in 2011 and is only 25 years old. That said, his injury history is a long one and would scare most teams away.

The guy is a freakin' wreck.

quote:

Originally posted by phaedrus:

quote:

Henry:
Then why do they continually finish ahead of them?

His argument was Aaron Rodgers is the reason.

I don't study this stuff enough, but my gut says the quality of the Packers at offensive line, defensive front seven, and RB supports that thesis.

Having the best player in the game at the QB position...it's plausible.

So besides Rodgers the whole team is a "enormous hole" of talent? Do tell. I'm waiting.

Echoing Henry here. Examinations led to him being cut/not getting offers. Unless there's something showing he's going to be perfectly healthy, not worth it.

More noteworthy, Jennings won't formally meet with the Queens until Friday, and not to expect a deal today per Pelissero.

Meanwhile in the 'stupid money being thrown around' category, per Tania Ganguli the Eagles signed former Texan OLB Connor Barwin to a 6 yr/$36m contract. For a OLB without explosive edge-rush ability, that's really crazy. Then again, this is the Eagles. Also seems likely it'll be the end of Trent Cole in Philly; dude's only been a 4-3 player, and they're changing to 3-4 defense.

WELL HERE'S THE PROBLEM.

Jennings demanded $11m/yr at opening of free agency.

I think Matt Cassel has a good chance of winning starting job in Minny and that may tip the scales in their favor on the Greg Jennings sweepstakes.

....and black smoke continues to float over Lambeau field.

These days I am a Peyton Hillis fan first

It's going to come down to Jones or Jennings. If GJ resigns there is little chance they can afford jones again after next season.

Truth is Ted also has to sign two young Cali kids to huge deals in the coming months. Rodgers is a lock to come back. But if you think matthews hits any sort of free agency and doesn't get blown out of the water by another team, you're kidding yourself. Can you imagine the season tickets, corporate sponsorships and jersey sales he would generate for San Diego or LA? Who knows where that franchise will be a year from now.

Point being Ted may have to pay extra to keep matthews from testing free agency. Big reason he won't overspend on a question mark from other teams.

Dude 69 is at dinner with Jennings. Gross.

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Originally posted by Iowacheese:
These days I am a Peyton Hillis fan first

Only because the Packers missed the chance to sign Shonn Greene.

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Originally posted by Orlando Wolf:
Dude 69 is at dinner with Jennings. Gross.

I picture that slob making a huge mess of the table. Greg should be ashamed of himself. Funny they didn't invite the QB.

I about died laughing when I saw that.

They want to make a good impression on Jennings, so they bring the professional hillbilly? Really?

Anybody know which Applebee's they are at?

I want a sexy free agent signing NOW Ted!

I would not be shocked if they asked brint to be there telling Jennings how sweet it would be to stick it to Ted. Go draft your own players blowhards.

If it's a choice between Jones and Jennings, I want Jones.

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Originally posted by YATittle:
If it's a choice between Jones and Jennings, I want Jones.

I think a lot of people forget that Jones will be 29 in a few weeks. He's not much younger than Jennings, who when healthy, is a much better player.

Packers talent level has seriously declined in multiple key areas (safety, RB, dl, ol, lb). I don't think ar alone can carry team against top competition (sf, ny for example). Team really has too many holes and typically doesn't get much contribution from rookies - see last year. In a strange way, this seems like a rebuilding year.

Last rookies with truly impactful contributions have been shields and Hayward. Too bad. We are not in 49ers class. Injuries have decimated thompson's roster, and somehow training staff seems to stay the same.

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Originally posted by YATittle:
If it's a choice between Jones and Jennings, I want Jones.

I agree. Led the league in TDs last year and the guy seems to catch everything nowadays. Pretty amazing considering nobody seemed to want him a few years ago mainly because of his untimely drops.

He's also played at least 16 games in five out of six seasons.

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Originally posted by noiropus:
Packers talent level has seriously declined in multiple key areas (safety, RB, dl, ol, lb).

True, except for maybe RB where the Packers have been downright mediocre for awhile.

quote:

Originally posted by Orlando Wolf:
I would not be shocked if they asked brint to be there telling Jennings how sweet it would be to stick it to Ted. Go draft your own players blowhards.

Yeah, that worked out well for Brint, now didn't it?

After much thought I'm prepared to lose Jennings to the Queens, although I certainly wouldn't mind him staying. For much of the season he was preparing and spouting off he was leaving anyway. If the reports are true that he asked for $11 million and we offered $10 million and that's now close enough to stay with a great organization and a great QB, or at least split the difference, then don't let the door hit you on the way out.

After Welker and then Amendola signed for what they did, I think Jennings is now just trying to save face and squeeze as much out of the market wherever he can. If it's Queensland, then so be it. Let's see how well he does with no other receiver to take the pressure off and Ponder/Cassel throwing him the ball.

quote:

Originally posted by noiropus:
Packers talent level has seriously declined in multiple key areas (safety, RB, dl, ol, lb). I don't think ar alone can carry team against top competition (sf, ny for example). Team really has too many holes and typically doesn't get much contribution from rookies - see last year. In a strange way, this seems like a rebuilding year.

Last rookies with truly impactful contributions have been shields and Hayward. Too bad. We are not in 49ers class. Injuries have decimated thompson's roster, and somehow training staff seems to stay the same.

Hayward was a rookie this year, you know that right? Injuries, still made the playoffs. Anything ring a bell?

Glad to see you could work in all the whiner memes though.

Thoughts?

I enjoyed the Steven Jackson to Green Bay talk, and on some level, I was excited at the prospect of having a great running back for Aaron Rodgers to hand off to. But ultimately, signing Jackson would have been the wrong decision. $12 million for a 30 year old running back that's carried the ball 2,400 times in his career wouldn't be the smartest allocation of our funds.

At the end of the day, Ted's doing it the right way. Draft and develop. Keep the studs we've developed, and stay in contention every year. If we can just stay healthy for a change, we'll be in the thick of it once again.

The thing about "Free Agency is the price paid for drafting poorly" bit and Steven Jackson is that Thompson has drafted poorly at RB. He seems to find wide receivers, corners, etc. that can play all over the place but his track record of drafting RBs has been his biggest downfall. He had to trade for Ryan Grant just to get a passable one.

Three years/$12 Million is not big money, especially if structured properly.

A good OL will make most RBs look good, the Packers OL will make most RBs look mediocre at best. I think a healthy Benson/ or Hillis with Harris can provide a "good enough" run game if the OL can perform at even an average level.

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Originally posted by Herschel:
Three years/$12 Million is not big money, especially if structured properly.

Within the context of the 2013 Packers, yes, it is. Rodgers, Matthews and Raji are going to get a huge chunk of change. Offensive line, safety and linebacker need to be addressed yet. Running back isn't the priority.

It's a lot of money for a guy that may be the next Jeff Saturday.

He could be very good also. He'd have been a calculated risk at a position that's been TT's worst at acquiring. Maybe they'll grab a decent one this year in the draft but again, RB has been TT's black eye in drafting.

I'll admit Starks hasn't been anything in 2011-12 but in 2010, we don't win the Super Bowl without him

TT hasn't been great at drafting RB but "black eye" isn't accurate. Plus it's an easy position to hide in this offense.

They still score points without a rushing attack in this offense, but Rodgers gets killed. I don't really think that's "hiding" it too well.

27 pages and the Packers haven't signed anyone... how many pages will we get when they sign Huff?

Too funny. Just spent the past 20 minutes watching Huff video and checking out his stats.

He would be a very nice addition to GB.

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Originally posted by Hungry5:
27 pages and the Packers haven't signed anyone... how many pages will we get when they don't sign Huff?

Fixed that for you.

Starks was Samkon Gado: He had one nice little stretch but luckily for the Packers it was during their Super Bowl run. I suppose that's at least better than Brandon Jackson or anything we've seen from Alex Greene. None of them have even decent vision or can read blocks worth a crap. The line hasn't been opening huge holes either but the backs leave a lot of yards out there running up the linemen's backs.

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So besides Rodgers the whole team is a "enormous hole" of talent? Do tell. I'm waiting.

Well, Henry, there's a lot of distance between "enormous hole of talent" and:

1. Offensive line
2. Defensive front 7
3. RB

The above is not exactly a tiny piece of the entire team personnel pie. We may have kicker as well.

So the assertion is that there are a number of teams overall better save the QB position. I think the above amount of team makeup is such that an argument might be made that this is enough of a dearth of good talent such that GM is included in the process - and one that was not perfect.

Tyler Dunne ‏@TyDunne

Ha, there's some research. RT @RickBerg74: Vikings trainer @EricSugarATC is now following @GregJennings on #Twiiter. #hmmmmm....”

Well, there's the proof...