Free Agent season, Wabbit season, Free Agent season....

As we know, the Eagles and Redskins are some of the recent teams that have spent heavily in free agency and won Super Bowls  (can anybody say "dream team"....

The issue with that is the list is only two deep this year vs. four.

Not only that, but they let Veldheer go and are replacing him with Roger Injured Enough to Be a Packer and Still Just Mediocre Saffold.

Let the dust settle.....

Which works great, if you draft anyone worth a **** and they develop. The defensive front seven has been TT's Achilles Heal sans Matthews and he hasn't gotten a really good safety since Collins. Technically he hasn't drafted a starting CB yet either and Whitt's turned lead in to gold. 

I almost wouldn't mind seeing Denver win the SB one of these next two seasons solely as an experiment in sports business. Can getting one Lombardi be worth enough to offset the 4-5 years of absolute garbage that await that franchise?

I would imagine a lot people and pundits saying YES!  SB =  5-10 years of garbage/mediocrity.  For some franchises that is the goal (OAK, MIN, JAX, CLT, WAS, SD, etc), for other franchises (GB, PIT, NEP) stability and the potential to be a dynasty is the goal.  

At what point does the GM get credit for finding the player in the first place? Rodgers was a steal and McCarthy actually turned him elite. Edgard Bennett and Aaron Rodgers are responsible for the receivers playing well. Kevin Greene and Matthews bloodlines are the reason he's succeeding. Joe Whitt turned Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, and Casey Hayward into stars. Blah blah blah. 

Star?  Already?

Until Hayward shows a good second season he's still in Marques Anderson territory. I fully suspect he will, but he's not a star yet.

TT knows receivers, nobody questions that. He also seems to recognize raw potential at corner as well as anyone. I do find it somewhat ironic that he seems best at finding guys further away from the position he played than closer.

Star is premature I agree, but another season like his rookie season and I would label him as that. 

Not a surprise to me. Shields is a better DB no matter what Peter King or anyone else happens to think

Roger Saffold  five-year, $42.5 million deal with $21 million guaranteed from the Oakland Raiders.

That's what is so FRUSTRATING to me!  Just because we've got a bunch of cap money, I don't see a need to spend it, BUT there were QUALITY free agents available yesterday AT POSITIONS WHERE WE NEED HELP, and per usual TED DID NOTHING!  Draft and develop is fine for our primary approach to building our team, but a one-trick-pony never wins the horse show.

Yes Stevie. Per usual you're right & the GM that has been named 2-time Executive of the year & won a Super Bowl is Rong.

CONGRATS!  That's definitely the leader in the clubhouse for Meltdown of the Day.  We may just have to close the books on this one, folks.  Tough to top that unless someone calls for Ted to be fired.

One trick pony.

Unfortunately, as has been the case with far too many of Ted's top draft choices, the "develop" part hasn't happened.  We might as well trade all of our draft choices for cash and then run out ans sign every undrafted free agent we can find.  I think Ted would be perfectly happy doing that.

Yup, I "never" judge a player based on their rookie seasons. Have to do it over 2 or 3 seasons first.

St. Patty's Day is next week.  Are you ready?

Unfortunately, with the way our d and d players have been turning out, we're going to be right there with Denver.  But on the bright side of things, we'll have a much higher spot in the drafting order in a couple of years - and our top-tier QB will be starting on the downside of his career.  What really upsets me is that Ted is wasting the opportunity that fell into his lap with Rodgers.  All he needed to do was to surround him with talent to complement AR's brilliance; and instead, Ted forgot that there is also a defensive side of the game.  Shame on him.  A quarterback is a terrible thing to waste.

Let it all out. Don't hold back.... let it all out!

Glad you recognized that,Boris!

Guess they gotta replace Chump Bailey somehow.

Talk about overpaying. I'd much rather have Shields than Talib.

The injury to Rodgers should have shown Ted and company something. That one of the youngest teams in the league year in and year out can't win without a superstar at QB. Every thing is Rosy as long as Rodgers is behind center. But if he is out, the team is as pathetic as the Jaguars, Raiders, and every also ran team in the league.

Ted is at his best in the draft department but his aversion to free agency does not benefit the Packers. Teams that are cap strapped have been making moves and helping themselves while the Packers having 27 million in cap space available with players available to help the team sits by and watches. Ward was available and the terms were not outrageous. I would have been satisfied just hearing that Ted was involved in the bidding but we know that did not happen. Teds free agency philosophy is to tell the player to call him if nobody else makes an offer.

I have no doubt that if Ted was in charge while Reggie White was available that Ted would have never gotten involved. It would require him to pay silly money as he calls it and he has proved he doesn't go there. Silly money got Reggie to Green Bay. That and the phone call for God but at least the team was in there going to head to head with the 49ers, Cowboys, Detroit and every other team that was after him.

Hopefully Rodgers stays upright this year but if something happens, the youngest team in the league will spend another year learning the ropes.

what was it Pablo used to say about our long offseason of discontent...?

oh ye of little faith

I've really been enjoying (in a comedic way) all the talk here and from the dundits (might as well combine dunce and pundit) that GB has no DL and the sky is falling and oh my please follow the SB winning strategies of Danny Boy Snyder because spending huge on FA works perfectly all the time every time.

Keep it going folks, I need the laughs.

Our D&D group is pretty good, but would be better if JAPF didn't always insist on playing a damn Elf.

Dundits.  

The only thing less than hilarious is that this is the same exact stupidity that's spewed every single year during the first 24 hours of free agency.  I do appreciate folks trying to come up with new ways to crap in their pants, though.  

If you want a reminder why TT is reluctant to break the bank on other teams' free agents:

Bad Free Agent Signings

I just think Thompson doesn't see the roster as having as many holes as some of us fans might think. He's always favored developing roster talent, and he probably doesn't see a sinking ship, therefore, no reason to start finding high-priced free agents even if they would help the team. 

TT cares about us...he really does:

“I think the people I work with understand how I go about my business and why we're doing certain things,” Thompson said then. “Yeah, from an organizational standpoint, I would like for the Packer fans to think the Packers are in good hands, quite frankly. Not necessarily everybody patting you on the back, but to kind of there be a little trust with the Packer fans (in) me.

“But at the same time, this is a big boy place, and if I get criticized, I'm OK with it. Personally, I can take it from an ego standpoint, but I would prefer it if it was more of a positive message, just because of the people out there who are getting up and reading that at the breakfast table or watching it on the nightly news at night. It might make them have a bad day thinking, 'Oh my gosh,' that sort of thing. I'm not immune to that. But I'm fairly thick-skinned about other things.”

They have brought back the only real FA of theirs worth keeping, so all in all not too bad

seriously though, no Hawk/Jones at ILB again please. Can I get that at least?

THIS!

the email I got from Ted last night had lots of all caps,

so I'm pretty sure he cares.

the Packers won a Super Bowl using the draft and develop philosophy. so that one-trick-pony rocked the goddamn horse show. 

you people should relax, stop taking life so seriously. it's just a game. trust Ted. he's pretty good at his job.

Thank goodness they have a superstar at QB, huh?!

Shields got less guaranteed money. Contract may be bigger, but Verner takes home more money as of now. 

Yeah, with all the money being thrown around Raji hasn't gotten a sniff.

I don't have an issue with the draft and develop philosophy. Having that be the backbone of your team building philosophy makes a ton of sense.

But I think there's a difference between having that philosophy and relying exclusively on that approach.

The reality is the Packers had several key contributors on that Super Bowl team that came via free agency. Woodson was the star player, Pickett the second tier guy in FA, and then a guy like Howard Green the mid-season veteran pick-up.

Green Bay has enough flexibilty to bid on a guy like Ward AND maintain their draft and develop philosophy. Why they refuse to do it is a bit puzzling...there isn't a great logical explanation for why TT basically only spends on his own players. I mean, if Sam Shields had an identical career but with the San Diego Chargers rather than the Packers, does TT even bid on him?

I'd have to imagine he can still find one year at $4M somewhere if he's so inclined, but there's a very real possibility he has lowered his own price twice in the past 6 months turning down GB's offers.