Ted Thompson has a philosophy of building through the draft and holding onto his core players. Both components are key in the building process.
He did lose Kampman but he was a fish out of water in this defense and an unfortunate casualty of the switch to the 3-4 and his injury status didn't help him.
You saw him pick up Clifton, tag Pickett, and now it seems they are closer with Collins.
With so many players affected by the extension in the RFA class and all the moving parts on the current roster what he is doing, especially considering the strength of the upcoming draft, is staying disciplined.
Ted is very close to putting together a roster that will be among the best in the league for the next four or five years. He need not blow it by fiscally shooting himself in the foot. It's not just about having the money now but how much will it cost next year and years after to hold onto guys that are key components to the team that will be gone if we can't compete for them.
Ted realizes there are teams in a more desperate mode willing to pay players to save their skins. He doesn't have to and shouldn't play their game. I don't see teams signing guys that will "put them over the top" but see teams with coaches and GM's who will be out of work if they don't get something going making the moves so far.
Relax. Our day to shine will come in April.
"ILikeThePackers39" wrote:
Just a question, with no animosity or anything behind it: Do we, overall, seem terribly not relaxed? Granted, there are a couple clamoring about every FA that hits the newswires, but overall I think the fan base is just biding its time and discussing what's out there. I only ask because there's always a post in any of these threads telling everyone to relax, and I don't see a lot of people freaking out - talking about it, sure - but as stated earlier, there's not a hell of a lot more to talk about at the moment.
As to Collins, my contention is that there's fiscal responsibility (and Thompson has shown he has this in spades) and then there's doing right by your player. When Collins makes a good faith move like signing his tender (and thereby dropping any leverage he might have to wield in terms of getting his long-term deal), I would like to see the team do right by him in return. I know it's silly and old-fashioned, but I guess I'm just fool enough to think the Packers should always be a little bit that way. Dude's played pro-bowl level for two seasons at a minimum and has been a good soldier throughout - I just think he's earned his paycheck.
"warhawk" wrote: