Patience and Proactivity Pay Off for Packers GM Ted Thompson

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Ted Thompson manages the Packers roster by balancing patience and proactivity.
Ted Thompson manages the Packers roster by balancing patience and proactivity.

General manager Ted Thompson runs the Green Bay Packers football operations his way.

The Thompson way is characterized by accumulating draft picks, developing drafted players, re-signing young Packers players on the rise, and largely avoiding bidding wars with players leaving other teams during the opening of free agency.

Depending on the fans prospective, this is usually a love or hate relationship. Fans either love the draft and develop approach or long for big name signings in free agency.

However, Ted Thompson has utilized a combination of patience and proactivity to bring his vision of building a franchise to life.

Thompson isn’t afraid of free agency. Rather, he waits until the initial frenzy is over to avoid overpaying players. Doing this has yielded quality players in the past, including Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett, who were both signed in 2006.

Both Pickett and Woodson were integral players in the 2010 Super Bowl run, and when looking back at their contracts, they appeared to be relative bargains when compared to their contributions to the team.

When free agency opened in 2014, Thompson appeared to be quiet. While teams like the Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints were throwing money around like they printed it, Thompson waited.

By waiting until the overpaying binge subsided, he was able to sign defensive end Julius Peppers at a very competitive contract (3 years, $30 million) and bolster the interior defensive line with Letroy Guion (1 year, $1 million).

Will Peppers have the same impact as either Woodson or Pickett? We certainly hope so, but only time will tell.

Rather than panicking and overpaying impeding offensive free agents running back James Starks and tight end Andrew Quarless, Thompson was able to bring them back for a modest investment (2 years, $3.17 million and 2 years, $3 million, respectively).

Not only is Thompson patient, he’s also proactive.

He’s great at extending players before they ever hit free agency. Similarly, he has knack for re-signing his own players in that small window between when their contracts expire and when they’re able to test the market.

A great example of this is the new contract for cornerback Sam Shields (4 years, $39 million). When Shields first signed this deal, many initially thought Thompson overpaid him. However, by preventing Shields from effectively hitting the open market, Thompson was able to sign an ascending player for less than the gaudy contracts of Aqib Talib (6 years, $57 million) and Darrelle Revis (1 year, $12 million), who did hit the open market.

Thompson is also reaping rewards for his patience and proactivity when carefully managing the balance between free agency and the draft.

During the 2013 free agency period, Thompson let wide receiver Greg Jennings and linebacker Erik Walden walk free. Jennings got a lucrative deal from the Minnesota Vikings and Walden did very well for himself by signing with the Indianapolis Colts.

Thompson didn’t engage in a bidding war or panic when he lost them. He sat back and bided his time, all while looking forward to the future.

Well, now that future is here. This week, the NFL released the compensatory draft picks for the 2014 player selection.

The Packers received a 3rd round (98th overall) and 5th round (176th overall) picks for losing Jennings and Walden, respectively.

Not a bad reward for avoiding bidding wars, which can now be argued that both Jennings and Walden underplayed their large contracts with their new teams.

We all know how much Thompson loves draft picks, and this reward helps build the future without sacrificing the present.

 

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Jay Hodgson is an independent sports blogger writing for AllGreenBayPackers.com and WISports.com.

Follow Jay on twitter at @jys_h.

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37 thoughts on “Patience and Proactivity Pay Off for Packers GM Ted Thompson

    1. Katysue,

      Let me try and frame this quandary you find yourself in as a supposed fan and supporter of this team in terms you can relate to.

      See, Ted is like that dude that shows up at all the garage sales after 2:00 on Saturday afternoon. He knows EXACTLY what he’s looking for, but he doesn’t know where he’ll find it. He’s willing to put in the industry to look at a lot of places to find it and when he does, he buys. His sheer patience allows him to do it at such a value that he can even pick up a couple more things that he knows someday, someone will want to overpay for.

      You, on the other hand would be like the OCD stalker that shows up at 6:30, even though the sign and ad said ‘no sales until 8’, waiting to pounce on every shiny bauble that catches your fancy, all at opening bell prices. And your home would probably look like something out of Hoarders, because you bought everything in sight just in case, and just couldn’t bear to think about letting go of something that clearly has no more value.

      Is the difference clearer now?

      1. Lmao! I’m a little disappointed in the people who post on this forum, because it was obviously a joke. Only an idiot would want to trade away one of the best GM’s in the NFL, if that is even possible. I have supported TT his entire tenure in GB. Even when fans were calling for his head in 2008, after the whole favre trade, I was one of the rare few that supported his decision to move on with Rodgers.

  1. Ted is making a lot of good moves all without selling out the future. I do like the 3rd and 5th round compensatory draft picks. Icing on the cake.

    1. Yep, and the departure of James Jones and EDS may net them two 6th Rounders for next year.

    2. The only negative with the compensatory picks is that the 49ers also picked up a third. They now have one first – two seconds and three thirds(do I see a trend here?). They have eleven in all and six of the top 100.

      The Pack are ahead of them in the draft order however. They need to start hitting on more of these picks to close the gap between them, Seattle and SF.

  2. I have followed and enjoyed the articles posted here for many years. This article is the dumbest analysis I have ever read. TT absence in the free agent market is a disgrace. Peppers is an old man. Compared to Allen who went to Bears. TT, MM & DC need to go soon.

    1. TT’s “absence” in FA is about as much of a disgrace as are the 4 division titles, 2 conference championship appearances and 1 Super Bowl title during his time in Green Bay. If you’re basing this “disgrace” on the mere fact that Allen is a Bear and Peppers is with Green Bay, that’s the true disgrace. Peppers WAS a play in free agency. That one move along removes the “absentee” label from Ted and the Packers this year.

      Some fans will never be happy until the Packers become the New York Yankees of football and sign everyone. Won’t happen on Ted’s watch. Get used to it.

      1. You people that complain about not playing free agency, WHAT ARE THE PACKER PLAYERS THAT HAPPEN TO BE FREE AGENTS CALLED!!!
        Thompson plays the free agency game well

      2. With TT you either love him (sheeple) or you want to kick him in the ballsack. A different personality would help him a lot. He is not the worst GM out there but he acts like it.

  3. I have followed and enjoyed the articles posted here for many years. This article is the dumbest analysis I have ever read. TT absence in the free agent market is a disgrace. Peppers is an old man. Compared to Allen who went to Bears. TT, MM & DC need to go soon.

    1. Fire a coach who has a +60% win record in the regular season and has one SB ring. Sounds like a dumb idea to me. Lots of teams would kill to have his record, and who exactly would you get to replace him.

      Peppers might be getting up there as far as football players go, but I bet he does a great job for us next year.

      Time will tell.

      1. One could argue that Ron Wolf had them on autopilot and any GM out there could have had the same results or better…
        Just sayin…

  4. Jay – thank you for providing this point of view about TT. It is both realistic and refreshing. Many of the bloggers here, (e.g.,Katsuya, maxaz1, Archie and a few others)do not appreciate how good a job TT has done at 1. Fielding a playoff team with an SB win for 6 of the last 7 years, 2. Building a management team which other teams in the league pilfer from every year because of their success and 3. Managing the cap, drafting and bringing in FAs. They seem to have forgotten that TT and Murphy are actually the current custodians of the Packers great and enduring tradition. TT is not the owner of the team, nor is Murphy. They both have a fiduciary responsibility to the team and the team’s board to keep the team viable financially and simultaneously to win consistently. An owner on the other hand can spend money as freely as he or she likes (Jerry Jones for one) and put their team into cap hell and lose for several seasons or decades and no one can stop them. But Murphy and TT cannot and fortunately will not do that or sacrifice the team’s financial future. Why? Because someday they will turn the Packer organization to someone else just as Bob Harlan and Ron Wolf did and when they do they need to have a left a viable organization behind. Not only that but which team which has won an SB recently spent a ton of money on FA’s. Seattle, not really. Baltimore, no. NYG not really. 2010 Packers no. Did spending a ton of money on free agents win the SB for SF or Denver this year? NO. Will Denver be in cap hell in about 2 years? Yes. Is Dallas, Oakland and a few other teams there now? Yes TT didn’t sign Jared Allen because he does not fit in the Packers defense and the price was too high. Peppers gives the Packers options. he can play inside, outside and drop into pass coverage. he can blitz from inside or outside. Allen doesn’t provide that flexibility. Would you really want to be the Bears, or Vikings right now. I don’t think so. Let’s see how TT does with the draft this May. Then hopefully we have a relatively injury free season in 2014. Then we can evaluate TT fairly. For now he is doing a fine job as the current custodian of the Packers proud tradition. We should be grateful in this era of free agency that we have had Harlan, Murphy, Wolf and TT who have made us proud to be Packer fans and who take pride in maintaining the Packer tradition. Go Pack Go! Thanks, Since ’61

  5. This article rewrote recent history. It is not accurate to say that Thompson participates in FA. He has very sparingly and for many years, not at all. The totally unprofessional defense he put on the field last year is indefensible. I hope the Peppers signing this year works out and portends and change in Thompson’s abilities as GM.

    1. i’d say you are rewriting history. TT participates in Free Agency EVERY year. Does it matter that they were Packers the year before? No.

  6. He sure has been patient…10 years, two significant signings. The rest have been a joke. Time will tell what Peppers at 34 can bring to the non existent pass rush. He sure can’t hurt! The complete indifference to all the other gaping holes (C, OLB, ILB,S,kick returner (can’t use Hyde or Cobb now) is an absolute joke. Starks?? Raji?? Quarless?? All these guys and more are easily replaced. Flynn is next. Then have to get Nelson & Cobb extended. Basically the same sorry team that floundered without AR. TT is not patient. He’s stubborn, incompetent and blind to what the talent level on this team actually is. There is such a thing as responsible FA spending At the right price to address glaring needs……look around, aside from Denver & a few others, it’s happening everywhere. Except Titletown! Most frustrating time of the year and every year bar none!! Yes this article will be some love & some hate. It’s not hate, it’s exhaustion.

    1. You are exactly right – “it’s happening everywhere.” EVERYWHERE. Over 20 teams won the Super Bowl last year and where were the Packers? On the outside looking in! That’s right. Teams EVERYWHERE were cashing in on their free agent acquisitions and bringing home the Lombardi trophy. But in Green Bay? Nothing! How could we be so blind?

    2. If you dislike the way this team is being run so much, Go ahead and change you devotion to another team that spends and spends. I will wave to you when we go to the playoffs every year and you sit at home spending more and more. We true Packer fans get tired of your senseless complaining.

  7. Why is it that Houston and Atlanta didn’t make the playoffs this past year? Their fans will tell you. Injuries.

    This past season the Packers had 13 players on IR. And that’s not counting Cobb with his designation to return. Doesn’t include Matthews or Rodgers or Perry or Neal or the first and second round draft picks who were playing through ankle injuries.

    The Texans had 8 on IR which derailed everyone’s superbowl pick to 2-14. The Falcons, another favorite of the oddsmakers dropped to 5th worst because of 7 players on IR. That vaunted Bears defense? Crumbled because they put a whopping 6 people there.

    Why don’t we judge Teddy keeping everything into perspective. Even with 20% of his preffered players on IR, and another 10% including his two best players injured for most of the season, he still made a team that won the North, carried over 9 mil in cap space, and was a hair’s breath away from beating San Francisco even though Mulumba couldnt run and two starters headed to the bench in the first few minutes.

    Why on earth would you hate TT because he doesn’t sign DeMarcus Ware for 100 mil over 10 years? Are you so willing to become Oakland and donate 50 mil of dead money to other teams?

    You spoiled little brats who dont think that football is great because of the salary cap that makes everyone competitive as long as they don’t mortgage their future don’t belong loving the game of football. As the article says, go watch the Yankees. Football is great just because you can’t do what the Broncos are doing and have a future.

    If you can’t tell, I have a profound ammount of respect for the way TT uses business sense over mindless pleasure and a lot of respect to a Packers team that battled through injury that had Bears fans griping to me every week about how much better they would be if not for those pesky few.

    Take Away the first and second round picks of the last 3 years for any team, see if they can still make the playoffs.

    1. There’s only one shameful thing about your comment. Whenever I see everyone talking about TT, his performance, and what the team’s chances are from making it to the SB because of his managing style, almost no one brings up the injury issue anymore.

      You can say what you want about TT, but far more often than not, people forget that very key injuries are what greatly derailed this season.

      For example, if Casey Hayward had just stayed healthy, I believe that would have given MM the go-ahead to experiment Micah Hyde at Safety. If Hyde was even half decent at that position, supposedly we could have won that playoff game.

      TT, like any other Gm, deserves criticism. But I think you could make a very powerful argument that injuries are the No. 1 reason the Pack has dwindled so much. And nobody seems to think about that as much as they should, IMO.

  8. I, for one, applaud those who senselessly bash TT. Someone’s gotta do it, and it ain’t gonna be me. But what fun would the offseason be without a healthy and repeated dose of ignorance and righteous indignation?

  9. I support TT and think he is a top 5 GM. Those who dislike TT generally fall into maybe 4 categories:
    1) FA – TT doesn’t do enough in FA, and/or let some popular players walk;
    2) Draft – disparages TT’s draft decisions;
    3) Contracts – think TT consistently overpays his own draft picks;
    4) Haters – those who hate everything TT does, including draft, FA, trade possibilities that come up, and the coaching staff.

    I think TT could have picked up some mid-tier FAs over the years but he certainly doesn’t put us in Cap hell and on his big money signings so far (Woodson & Pickett), he has been right. He had some misses, but mostly guys with smaller contracts. Overall above average. I think his drafting overall has been above average. He has overpaid on some extensions (Hawk, B. Jones), most have been reasonable or even team friendly (see Nelson, J. Jones). I am not a fan of some of the position coaches (Perry and Slocum), but they are really the responsibility of MM. Maybe TT should have traded for Lynch, but he picked up Ryan Grant for a future 6th round pick. Since I rate TT as at least above average in every category, and the success on the field is a plain fact, I give TT high marks.

  10. I have one other consideration, not a criticism of TT, since I think it reflects one’s own temperament. Some might argue that in a parity driven, salary cap NFL, at some point a GM should go all in by signing some big $ FAs to try to win a couple of super bowls in a row. Others might argue that managing the cap and getting to the playoffs every year (hoping your team gets hot and/or just has a year w/o many injuries) is the way to win super bowls. My guess is that one’s view of TT can be explained by which philosophy one holds.

    Of course, TT might go all in maybe a year from now if he sees next year that he has an elite QB, OLB, and RB under contract, enough talent in the secondary, a good enough OL, talented WRs, if say Datone, Perry, Neal, Boyd, Sherrod, or some rookie(s) turn into play makers. That is, if TT really feels that GB is 1 or 2 players from being elite. It has not been TT’s MO to date, but I don’t claim to know the man’s mind.

    1. The issue with going ‘all in’ is that it is always followed by a rebuilding phase that lasts longer. If you go all in this year or next, you get a pretty good shot for two years and then need to spend 4 years rebuilding.

      Rodgers will be 31 next year. He has 7 to 8 years remaining at an elite level.

      Why does anyone want to spend half of those years rebuilding?

      And that is entirely in addition to the point that ‘going all in’ doesn’t guarantee you a Super bowl or even a winning record — ask Philadelphia and Dallas how well ‘going all in’ worked for them.

  11. I find the attitude of either you LOVE what is happening in the front office or you can GET THE HELL OUT is the kind of attitude Bears or Vikings fans have not the GREAT Packer Backers. I’ve been a fan since Lombardi. Been through the Wilderness Years. Been through the Great Rebound and the now we are in the Maintain. So LOVE it or GET OUT by some so-called fans hurts me. We’ve always been a big tent, but now we can’t express worry or disappointment without being told to GET THE HELL OUT of town. Sad day for Packer Backers of every stripe. I’d add maybe its time for you who hate others who don’t agree with you to GET THE HELL OUT and become Bears fans, which are the most ugly and intolerant “fans” anywhere. Your attitude fits their type of fandome to a “T”.

    1. screw these super-homers..say what you want, youv paid your dues as have i…i don’t like a lot of things super Ted does and i’ll state that sentiment when i feel like it….ive spent more money and time going to various packer functions and games than most of these kids…they don’t even remember the “gory years”….theyll all jump off the bandwagon as soon as the Pack goes on a losing streak, as will happen in the NFL and then watch them turn on Ted..it will be funny…

  12. like this blogger said..the tundra vision disclaimer
    I am not an NFL GM. I have never been an NFL GM. I have no serviceable experience that would qualify me to become an NFL GM. Therefore, my opinions and observations are based on the same information the rest of us have. However, if you’re going to play the “You’re not an NFL GM, so what do you know?” card, let me remind you that all present NFL GMs aren’t exactly forthcoming on all of their strategies and secrets, and even former GMs are pretty close to the vest. It’s hard to talk about moves the Packers make if no one is allowed to speak unless they are or have been a GM. So, I’m going to express my opinions, and you can take it or leave it. I don’t hate Ted Thompson, want him fired, or think he’s a terrible GM. He made a move I question, and I’m going take 1,000 words or so to clearly explain why.
    And, if you have also never been an NFL GM, you also have no idea what you’re talking about and have no idea if I’m right or wrong. Lead by example…Unknown to many here, Ted HAS MADE mistakes!!

  13. How can these so called “fans” be critical of TT. It seems most of the “haters” forgot to read the article. Letting Greg Jennings go has now yielded a 3rd round pick in a deep draft. I bet he doesn’t get near another 1000 yard receiving again in his waning career. GREAT MOVE TT! Erik who? Letting him go nets us a 5th rounder. TT’s “bad” moves are netting us extra young players. For anyone to bash him is sheer ignorance.
    GO PACK!

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