C’mon, folks. You didn’t REALLY think that the Packers and general manager Ted Thompson were going to make a splash on the first day of NFL free agency, did you?
No way Thompson was going to fork over $56 million ($28 million guaranteed) like the Saints did for safety Jarius Byrd.
Give defensive linemen Lamarr Houston (5 years, $35 million, $15 million guaranteed) and/or Arthur Jones (5 years, $30 million) deals like they got from the Bears and Colts, respectively? Not on Thompson’s watch.
What about safety T.J. Ward? The Packers desperately need a safety and Ward’s deal with the Broncos (4 years, $23 million, $14 million guaranteed) is much more reasonable that Byrd’s. Sure, Ward came at decent market value, but Thompson wasn’t going to pay that much for a box safety.
The list could go on and on. Aquib Talib (6 years, $57 million, $26 million guaranteed), Linval Joseph (5 years, $31 million), Paul Soliai (5 years, $33 million, $14 million guaranteed). The prices were outrageous and the potential return on investment far from guaranteed. Hell, the Jaguars gave Toby Gerhart 3 years and $10.5 million. Toby Gerhart!
You didn’t REALLY think Thompson was going to suddenly start gambling on the high-risk game known as Day 1 of NFL free agency, did you?
If you did, hopefully you learned your lesson (again) for next time. If you’re upset that Thompson didn’t deviate from his norm and dive into Tuesday’s madness, don’t be.
There is still a long way to go in free agency. I do think Thompson is going to step outside of his comfort zone and bring in some free agents, but it sure wasn’t going to happen on day 1.
Once the chaos of the opening of free agency calms down and the funny money goes away, Thompson’s real work begins. That’s when bargains can be found and holes on the Packers roster plugged with players who sign contracts more in line with their true value.
But isn’t now the time to take a risk and overpay for a major free agent or two? After all, Aaron Rodgers isn’t getting any younger and the Packers have a few obvious holes.
There is never a good time to pay airport restaurant prices for hot dog stand talent like most teams do on the first day of free agency.
Because Thompson refuses to get caught up in that rat race, he’s never had to cut a quality player because of salary cap issues or desperately re-negotiate existing contracts so he can retain his own guys.
Thanks to Thompson’s philosophy, Packers fans will likely never have to wave goodbye to players like Clay Matthews, Josh Sitton, Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson or Eddie Lacy because there wasn’t enough cap room to keep them after a recent free-agent spending spree gone wrong.
Despite the consternation over the lack of free agency moves, the Packers are in the playoffs every season and are perennial Super Bowl contenders. They have a ton of talent. The costs of retaining that talent add up in a hurry and you need to manage the cap in order to not back yourself in a corner.
Yes, I realize the comments section to this post will probably light up with all kinds of negativity toward Thompson and another early free-agency that went by without a whisper of anything happening at 1265 Lombardi Ave. That’s fine. Let it all out. Some of you may even have valid points.
But be patient. Just because Thompson didn’t sign that big name you had your eye on, it doesn’t mean he’s already thrown in the towel on free agency.
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Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .
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Everyone is raving about NWO signing Byrd..It’s not like Byrd is a hall of famer. In fact you watch he will have a garbage year cause now he is ‘PAID’. Same goes for Talib, Houston etc.. I think TT will/has to sign some FA but day 1 was not the right time to get sucked in. How did Asomugha and the all star cast work out in Philly? “the dream team”
Does anybody remember the “Dream Team” in Philadelphia? All the championships they won using free agency? Oh, that’s right, big ol’ zero. How many of those big name free agents panned out for them? The same. A big name does not mean big production, what matters is proper scheme fit, attitude, work ethic, etc. I believe Ted is better able to judge these requisites better from college players than GMs trying to dump lousy locker room guys.
The only thing that upsets me about FA so far this year is that TT seemed to overpay for Shields, given the contract that Verner signed with Tampa. Most folks have Verner rated as a superior player, and he was singed for significantly less than Shields. So, the argument can be made that TT really has made a splash in FA by overpaying for a player.
That being said, if TT’s plan is simply to plug the hole at FS through the draft, then I think that his strategy is pretty flawed. This is because it pretty much forces TT to take a FS in the first two rounds, thereby limiting the team’s ability to draft for value. IMO, he should be either plugging the hole by signing a serviceable FA FS, or finding one in the crowded backfield that they have already. If he is sure that Hyde is their guy, then great! If not, I think he should be pushing hard to sign Clemons from Miami.
Here’s hoping for the best!
Out of respect for my own blood pressure, I won’t respond to the above comments 🙂 However a few numbers for those who think Ted is useless:
Ted Thompson vs Ron Wolf after nine years:
Ron Wolf: 92-52 record
Ted Thompson: 86-57-1
Both have one ring
Ron Wolf: 9-5 in playoffs
Ted Thompson: 6-5 in playoffs
Ron Wolf: Three division titles.
Ted Thompson: Four division titles
Ron Wolf had one non losing season, Thompson had three (though 2005 was not necessarily his fault).
Numbers don’t lie
Its getting very difficult to understand where these writers heads are. He makes fun of the big money signings, yet the Shields 9.75 per year signing is the same price as the Byrd, Talib and Davis signings. Talib and Davis are much better quality Corners than Shields and were had for the same price. It looks to me like TT went crazy in free agency, just the opposite of the articles narrative.
The Shields contract is nothing at all like Byrd or Talib – not even remotely similar. If all you do is look at a simple yearly average, you will never understand any NFL contract.
What we all agree on is the fact that the Packers need to add a number of impact players to raise the level of play across the board.
This thread would lead us to believe that the ONLY way to do that is via FA. That’s just not the case. If anything, wouldn’t you rather sign your steady starters via FA at modest contracts and try to find your impact players via the draft, where you can get guys cheap for their rookie contract and then the opportunity to lock them up long term in a second contract?
We may have been a perennial playoff team, but (1) except for one lightning-in-a-bottle year, we haven’t gotten out of the first round, and (2) our most recent playoff appearance was purely by luck. We’re going to be looking up at the Bears and the Lions this year and for at least several years ahead
because TT is doing such a lousy job of acquiring talent on the defensive side of the ball. Wouldn’t it be nice if (just for one year) Rodgers didn’t NEED to perform miracles to win ball games?
Thompson is wasting Rodgers’ best years.
Thompson overspends alright, it’s just on his own underperforming talent. You say ward costs too much but you do understand Burnett had ZERO picks last year and is recieved a bigger pay day than that last year? So you’d rather have an underperforming Burnett over a better taken in ward? Just because you drafted him? Houston and brown got about 1 mill more a year on average than we gave the underperforming brad jones last year. So you’d rather have jones than a talent like Houston because what? You know how much he’ll underperform but Houston is unknown as to how much he would? Youd rather have shields than Byrd? At around the same yearly average? Because hes ” your own” talent? We could’ve had Verner at half the money shields recieved while being one year younger and rated higher. Just because you overspend on your own guys doesn’t make it the right thing to do. Overspending is what it is no matter how you flip. Name me two. Safety’s on the market now that would make a difference for us now. Do the same for nt or de. I doubt youll even come up with a name let alone two that could make an impact on us. We don’t need role player we need impact ones. We don’t have a single one on the roster when clays on the bench. Not one. This is a much different defense than what we had in 09 and 10. Every top team in the nfl dabbles in free agency and its worked for the pats, broncos, 49ers, and Seahawks. I dont know why Ted believes hes better than that. He’s got a very off ego hes an awkward man
I’m not afraid to admit it…I’m a sucker. I actually thought TT was going to make a splash in free agency. Just can’t help but get my hopes up this time of year.
And even more pathetic, I’m actually holding out hope that they may sign Revis. TT supposedly was trying to trade for him a couple seasons ago, so maybe if he can get him for the right price…
Again, I know it’s pathetic
The Bears just signed MD Jennings…… I wish our team was active in free agency… Fire TT. 🙂
LOL. Sorry, bro. I clicked ‘dislike’ … then I realized you were joking.
I WAS joking but on this blog, you can never truly know…. GoPack!
Happens every year. People talk like sensible people for 10 or 11 months. Come March, and 85% of them go stupid.
Like there’s no way to improve a defense except to sign Jairus Byrd to a ludicrous contract.
Oh well. Every year.
The Packers are like the alcoholic that hasn’t hit the bottom yet. They (MM and TT) think they have a group of under achievers just waiting to break out this coming season. I was thinking they wouldn’t make the playoffs last year, that would have sped the process up but the were given a gift which they blew but it showed their real abilities. Until they miss the playoffs one or two years in a row the desperation will not prevail. I think it’s coming unless they make major changes on defense both players and coaches.
if you have aaron rodgers you have to win no less then 3 SB. otherwise you failed.
TT is failing. how can you give raji 8 milion and let ware go for 10?????? that is bad very bad TT
Here we go again 2 or:3 day nothig new no safety no dl no lb love when the dust get seatle there is no goint to be anybody to sign.wake up ted free agency is on and all of the others team are signin.