Packers 2014 free agents - who leaves/stays? (Flynn Re-Signs)

Vic Tafur‏@VicTafur          <small class="time">Mar 12</small>          

Defense day: Besides Tuck and Woodley, #Raiders are also in on Henry Melton and BJ Raji, per sources. (But I think Melton goes to #Cowboys)

Sigh.

There are 23 players on the current roster that were acquired through Free Agency.  Not resigning own players.  Free Agents.  I think it's safe to say that Masthay, Williams, Pickett, EDS, Goode, Banjo, and others have improved this team.  There are also 3 players that were acquired through waivers that have helped this team including Kuhn and Bush.  

You can freely say that "Thompson doesn't typically spend big dollars on big name Free Agents"  I mean even there, Woodson, but sure, it's not a typical MO for him.  But, saying that he doesn't use Free Agency to improve the team is a load of crap.  

Well done, CA!  

Here's some more data.  

Looking at 2013 53 man rosters, how were all NFL teams constructed?

First - Let's look at all 32 teams ranked from highest to lowest by number of FA on their roster.

TT needs to be more like the Redskins and Bucs and Raiders.  Clearly.  

How about by Trades, since apparently, TT is grossly negligent because he isn't trading.  Well, at least outside of draft day, because trading picks to get Eddie Lacy doesn't count!

21 of 32 NFL teams have 2 or fewer players on their rosters by trades.  I mean, let's ignore the fact that their are very few players actually traded in the NFL, and this isn't the NBA or MLB.  TT IS GROSSLY NEGLIGENT BY NOT TRADING!

Signing guys from the car wash as cheap special teamers/projects is not the same as signing proven contributors. The point is to bring in BOTH.         

Because Chris Banjo and Jairus Byrd aren't the same quality.  

Disturbing video, and just another reason not to watch UFC...

Anyway, here's Farrar's take on the Neal signing: Mike Neal re-signs with GB . Neal says he grew up in the Midwest, is comfortable here, and really doesn't want to leave. Neal truly may be a hometown discount guy! Farrar grades the signing an A provided the money isn't huge, which we know it's not.

You're right Ca. Ted had a tremendous opportunity to get Gonzalez and Lynch for 3rd round draft choices and told the other GMs to pound sand. So yes, he was negligent. Yes, I know the Packers won the Super Bowl without Lynch but who is to say we would have not won it with him as well. Maybe McCarthy develops a running game prior to 2013 if he has Lynch. Do you think Wolf would have ignored either trade. hell he gave up a 2nd for Keith Jackson who did not want to come here. Still he did it. No way does Ted pull that off. No way does Ted get a Reggie White to come to Green Bay if he has to bid against other teams.  Silly money sometimes get pretty good players. Not all 3rd round picks become great players. Sometimes a veteran player can help a team improve. Especially when a team is ravaged by injury as the Packers are year in and year out.

Not even close on the Gonzalez deal. They had it worked out for a third and KC raised the price to a second at the last minute and killed it.

Jesus ****...you dip****s conveniently forget the epic fail in not getting Randy Moss.

JAPF says we should do things more the viking way

We need to hire someone like Emery to run the show.

Here's the thing I love about leg humpers

Mike Sherman would have won the Superbowl this year. 

We can do it anyway you want....as long as I get either a Red Rider BB gun or another Super Bowl win.

Maybe if he was coaching Seattle, Jax, not a chance......me point?  It's the players, all coaches need players and it matters not a whit how you get them, draft, trade, FA or ufa.

TT needs to get MM some help at multiple positions, Safety, lb, TE, a pass rusher and more quality depth overall. It seems that so far at least that this upgrade will not occur in free agency , trades are few and far between.  That leaves the draft and undrafted. 

It is a big order to get a couple of game changing starters in one draft much less 3 or 4 plus a couple of more guys to provide a little depth.

Percentage Distribution (all of the following are estimates)

A.) Totally upset and hateful towards TT and Packer organization for not signing any shiny new FA = 12.5%

B.) Happy with TT and the Packers...but just a little envious of the other teams that are getting shiny new FA = 37.5%

C.) Overjoyed with TT and the Packers and totally agree that none of the FA available were worth the cost = 37.5%

D.) Totally agree with TT and the Packers and totally dislike and want to eliminate the 12.5% of fans in section A = 12.5%

Other groups of note:

E.) Once, a long time ago, said something implying that it would be cool if the Packers signed some free agents and then pointed out how the Vikings roster was constructed though FA during a time when the Vikings were having a decent season. = 1 person

F.) People who will never let group E forget = 99%

I don't trust any form that doesn't know how to spell "Chiefs."

"Great googily moogily!"

Everything you wrote after this was RONG. If you are going to live in a make belive world make sure it is a happy one.

Thanks Obama?

It is nice that the Packers get to have a roster of 54 players while everyone else gets 53 though

If this isn't a x4comment I don't know what is.  

So yes he was negligent. Yes I know the Packers won the Super Bowl without Lynch but who is to say we would have not won it with him as well

— Times Four (@x4Comments) March 14, 2014

I'm guessing the Packers would've won the Sooper Dooper bowl with Lynch.

AWESOME!

Lynch would have only cost a third-round pick, Lacy cost TT a 2nd and a couple of years later of not having his services.  

And, Lynch has had a cap hit of 5.5M, 8.5M last two years, and 7M, 9M next 2 years. 

Which means we might not have Jones, or an extension with Jordy or CMIII, or Tramon...

But, we could have potentially gotten more style points in the Super Bowl win.  Or something.  

We would've had to do better than the pick they received. Which means either an extra pick or one a round higher.

Gotta love these history rewrites.

His job is probably on the line

Tongue-in-cheek (hence the smiley) but do you or anyone doubt that would have really been a problem?

Look at the stats (in a vacuum) above, Green Bay has the fewest free agents yet arguably more successful teams utilize the system more.

The Patriots are a team I think everyone agrees is successful, and a team people were pointing to as following the same blueprint TT does. Yet they have 60% more free agents and have worked a couple of trades. When Revis became available, they made the move to get him. If the best corner in football isn't "shiny" then no one is.

The Ravens were last year's Super Bowl winners and got raided for players. They still have 33% more free agents and worked a couple of trades, including getting their franchise LT, arguably their biggest need. And guys like Dumervil and Smith were quality starters, not Special teams scrubs who only saw emergency playing time due to injuries. I think everyone agrees Ozzie is a top-notch GM.

The Seahawks signed Bennett (akin to the Woodson signing in '06, IMO) and Cliff Avril. Again, quality starters/contributors from the get-go but not big money guys.

TT does a quality job managing the cap to be in a position where he could make reasonable moves like those.

I know, beating a dead horse and all, but really dude?  

Here's another bed wetter.....

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/...ency--141648137.html

I can't believe this guy is a writer?

Thompson could still find some pieces, and there are plenty of solid free agents left. And Thompson has the draft too.

So by writing/acknowledging "We all make fun of guys like Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, who year after year would dump huge money on every big-name free agent he could. Thompson takes the extreme opposite approach to free agency. That's a mistake, too." makes him a bed-wetter?

At a real high level, if the Packers do not acquire known commodities at S and ILB thru trade or FA, I sure as heck hope they have an extremely high degree of confidence that the draft/player development route (such as Hyde) accommodates those positions.

Who exactly are these "more successful teams" OVER THE LONG HAUL?

The Patriots have exactly ZERO Super Bowl wins in the past 10 years.  The Ravens didn't make the playoffs this year.  The Seahawks are pretty goddamn strong.  Let's see what happens when Sherman and Chancellor and Thomas and Lynch and Wilson all need more money...  SF is much the same position as Seattle, but again, 5 years ago they sucked balls.  

I don't understand the concern about how the team is built.  What matters is production and results.  Lots of teams go get lots of Free Agents.  Wins, Division titles, Conference Championships, or Super Bowl wins are not handed out based on who has the most Free Agents or Draftees or Traded players.  I don't get why Baltimore having 33% more Free Agents matters.  

Results matter.  And, frankly, there isn't a fan base I'd trade positions with over the past 5, 10, 20 years.  Maybe the Patriots.  Maybe.  Regardless this franchise is in amazingly great shape in many ways.  We had a disaster last year.  And still made the playoffs.  Getting to the playoffs consistently and having that shot in the tournament is all you can ask for.  To me, pulling a one time thing and then sucking for 8 years is less appealing.  But at the end of the day, I don't care HOW the GM of the Packers gets his job done.  I care if he does or doesn't get the job done.  

If you have issues with the results or the talent, awesome.  Let's discuss.  Hell, I absolutely believe that we need upgrades in the middle of this defense.  And, while I thought getting a Malcolm Jenkins would have allowed us to improve more areas in the draft, at the end of the day - it comes down to results.  If TT finds the next Erik Reid in the draft - awesome.  If he finds the next great ILB off of UDFA or waivers or a trade, great.  

The tactics to get the results doesn't concern me all that much.  Getting the results is the only thing that matters.  

Funny that the word "horse" was used in conjunction with that photo.

I just recently heard an executive from a different sport say that a lot of times general managers sign free agents to appease either the owner of their team or to sell tickets. 

Let's to be honest, in Cleveland and Oakland, it's both. 

@TomSilverstein: #Packers NT B.J. Raji has accepted a deal to return to Green Bay, according to a source. Expected to be a one-year deal.

The results do matter, and they've been lacking outside of 2010. Outside of the weirdly gifted run to the Super Bowl, the team makes the playoffs and faces early exits to superior teams just like the Sherman teams everyone disparages.

Yet TT is lauded as a "genius". The middle of the defense sucks. AJ Hawk is durable and by all accounts a good guy, but he's a waste of space as a linebacker in the NFL. Brad Jones was hoped to be the guy they wanted Brandon Chillar to be. He wasn't even that good. The safety spot opposite Burnett would have been better manned by Marquand Manuel. The spot opposite Matthews hasn't exactly been productive. The defensive line was manned by an over-the-hill Pickett, and underachieving Raji and a scrap heap prison reclamation Jolly.

The result was a failed defense and a failed team when the offense couldn't carry them.

Does anyone doubt a decent ILB, safety and another solid, rotational D-lineman and pass rusher wouldn't have made a heck of a difference?