Packers & Free Agency

Knighton had huge issues with weight in Denver.  Rumors were that he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for being overweight in 2014.  No idea if that's 100% accurate but makes sense.  Teams just don't commit guaranteed, long-term money to a DT that has weight issues.  

With the Patriots signing players like Scott Chandler, Brandon Gibson, Jabal Sheard, and Chimdi Chekwa already this offseason (and hosting Reggie Bush today), I don't see NE constructing its roster the way TT does in Green Bay.

 

In fact, the Pats are notorious for churning players, even good home-grown players like Mankins and Seymour, and picking up veterans from other teams whether through free agency or trades (Amendola, Welker, Moss, Talib, Blount, LaFell, T. Wright). Now, it has not always worked, but they simply do not go about their business the way TT does.

 

In fact, I don't know of another NFL team (good or bad) that is less apt to acquire veteran talent than the Packers.

SL, you're correct but let me expand on that.

 

The Patriots churn because they aren't as good at drafting and getting UDFA's to their roster as Green Bay is. No team in the league is. NE succeeds with it because they are confident their coaches can squeeze a couple of seasons out of that chum. They also do it because, like Green Bay, they are strong at managing their cap. They have no qualms about cutting the chum when it wants to get paid, and cycling in new bodies. And BB is ruthless at getting rid of highly accomplished vets before their price tag/age balance becomes prohibitive.

The Packers have been successful and have had legit shots at winning it all, in all but 1 year under TT and AR.

 

What does it matter how the roster is constructed as long as it's loaded with talent and productive?  All FAs, all guys TT found at a local gym, who cares?  The bottom line is all that matters.

 

And, if going and loading up on veteran talent is the right thing to do, then why are the Packers consistently one of the best teams with the most talent year in year out under TT?  Why isn't Washington and the Jets the leagues best teams year after year?

Right on cue. Reggie Bush visiting New England today. 

It matters if you want to bitch about something. 

There are any number of ways to build an NFL roster...

All we know for sure is that the Packers are doing it rong

Clearly. Playoff appearances year after year and only 1 Super Bowl to show for it. Pathetic.

I think part of the stress of watching "tightwad Ted" construct this team is that year in and year out it feels like this team is good but not good enough. It's even harder to swallow when you can pinpoint the individual plays and the individual players (or coaches) who cost the season and I think we all look back at last year and wonder if just a few upgrades would've made all the difference. I'm a huge fan of how this team is constucted for longterm success and how TT scouts and signs players, but I'm also a believer that FA is a tool to improve the obvious weaknesses in a lineup so that they don't drag down an otherwise Champioship caliber team. Looking over the FA market there arn't many players I feel like would've been worth bringing in, but that's because there arn't a lot of holes for the Packers to fill. Still, I wouldn't hate going into next season with a few talented veteran anchors in the D secondary that might, possibly, give Capers the confidence to rush more than 3 whenever faced with 3rd and long.

Or, you could be a Vikes, Bear, Lions, Browns, Jags, Texans, Raiders, Titans, yadda-yadda-yadda fan and pinpoint the individual plays that were really the only highlight of their season. Elite 8 and Final 4 in the NFL is hard to do, and to be on the door step year after year is something to enjoy.

H5 bringing it today.

 

It's the equivalent of genomic recombination to create the perfect beast.  What Vajeen fans end up with incontinent, retarded, three legged chihuahua with a hairlip instead of the tiger they imagine every offseason.  

 

Hard to take pride when taking their dog for a drag around the neighborhood.

The visual of that last line Henry is perfect!  

Oh, I know that Packers fans have NFL First World Problems...but c'mon, it's the first week of FA in Packerland, it's not like there's any real news to talk about.

I grew up watching terrible Packer teams from the mid 1970s until 1991. How many dozens of meaningless December games did we watch over those years? From about 1975-1991, you knew the Packers had no hope of competing for an NFL championship. There were a couple of flashes but their ceiling was 9-7.

 

Since 1992, they've only missed the playoffs 6 times (1992, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008). In 4 of those years they either missed making the playoffs on a tiebreaker or finished 1 game back of a playoff spot. The only years they didn't was Sherman's last year (2006) and Aaron Rodgers first year as a starter (2008). In other words, every single game was meaningful in December in 23 of the last 25 years. I've also felt in almost all of those years that they at least had a chance to advance deep into the playoffs.

Now, a lot of that has to do with having two Hall of Fame QBs over that time frame. But Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson set up rosters that provide a chance to win every year. You could argue that maybe TT should sell out one year and sign a bunch of free agents, but he's chosen an approach that gives them a chance to win a Super Bowl every year as long as the QB stays healthy. Of the two poor years in the last 25, one was due to having to pay the piper for Sherman's Joe Johnson-type personnel moves (2005) and reset the salary cap and the other was undoubtedly affected by the Favre retirement circus (2008).

 

Should we sell out the over the next two years to sign guys like Suh and Revis to increase our odds of winning immediately but know that we'll have some poor years when the salary cap bills come due? Or stay the course and have a slightly lower chance to win any particular year but always be in the mix? I'd say the latter is preferable. However, if we hadn't have won in 2010 I might think differently.  

It's pick and choose when it comes to FA.  I don't have a problem with the train of thought to find the FA that may fit a need to get them over the top but the problem is the evaluation.  Do they fit the system and the culture?  Will they have to overpay?  Are there realistic options in young guys coming up?  

 

The biggest thing that is overlooked in the NFL with the salary cap structure is you do have to endure some mediocre talent and shape it as best possible.  As I mentioned elsewhere, it takes a hell of a balancing act when it comes to scouting, drafting and FAs to keep the team competitive.   The FA element truly is a bigger risk simply due to contract and age concerns.  It's obvious TT is rooted in his scouting and drafting.  

 

It made me laugh a bit when Schneider made the comment about no value in the first and he's not wrong.  To juxtapose that idea, I imagine that is how TT views FA every year.  

 

Should TT look a little harder into FA from time to time?  Sure, I don't think it's unreasonable but I'll take a guy that is committed to his scouting roots.  It's a trade off.

I'm just saying if there was a textbook example of a team who was literally 1 or 2 players from a Superbowl Championship it was the '14-'15 Green Bay Packers.


'Course, I have more issues with playcalling and strategy coming from the sidelines fo the last several years than the talent on the field, but that's for another thread.

Disagree.  They had all the players, they just ****ed it up.  MM's realignment may mean more to the team this upcoming season than any player not currently on the roster.

Realignment? Like making an adjustment of some sort? Doesn't sound like coach to me.

TT doesn't just want to win.  He wants to win consistently.  Undisciplined GMs have teams that swing wildly from good to bad.  Or just bad.  What TT has done is raise the average season to a lofty height. 

So start one.

So you don't think McCarthy is apt to adjust?  Interesting.

 

Won't speak for Henry, but I would guess he's referring to the changes in the coaching structure.  The changes shouldn't be taken lightly, IMO.  They seem pretty substantial.

This is just an opinion. But I believe there is a super secret collection of ****ty owners known as the Pentavirate that meet every February after the Super Bowl and plot out which free agents each will sign that ensure maximum ticket sales over success and that the location is a country mansion known as, The Meadows. 

Oh, I hated the Colonel with is wee beady eyes! And that smug look on his face, "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!"

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof?

HEAD!

 

PANTS!

 

NOW!

Didn't the Colonel go tets up?

 

 

The other thing about all these trades and FA signings. The fans of those teams look at those moves as putting their team over the hump, which for them is 10 wins. As Packers fans we look at the [re]signing of our own as keeping us near the top, since we ended the previous year on the other side of the hump. There is only 1 champ each year and there are no trophies for 2nd place, but it is damn nice knowing, not hoping, but knowing that the Packers are contenders every year.

 

 

The fall will be hard one day.

 

 

 

Like Sputnik, spherical but quite pointy at parts.

 

Close, On the Water Front.

 

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y8UUVkP6DM

EPIC.

 

 

'nuff said!

@PackerUpdate: Of the 60 Packers currently under contract, only Julius Peppers has ever played a game for another team. Think about that for a minute.

Now I understand.  TT has severe OCD and doesn't like his players being contaminated by other teams.

That's sick. The guys on The Score are going to lose it. When they were only 5 guys on the roster, they were super jealous.

NFL version of home schooling?

Yes, but they arrange playdates so they can still socialize with other players.

I've read that it's an unsuccessful model, in terms of finishing.

When dealing with animals on a farm you would call this a closed herd. 

More evidence that Julius Peppers is an exceptional player.