[img_r]http://cmsimg.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20081017&Category=PKR07&ArtNo=310170055&Ref=AR&Profile=1058&MaxW=318&Border=0[/img_r]How good would the Green Bay Packers be with Randy Moss, Tony Gonzalez and Michael Turner on their roster?
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Packers General Manager Ted Thompson had opportunities to trade for those star players over the past 18 months, but ultimately determined the price was too high.
Gonzalez, a Pro Bowl tight end with the Kansas City Chiefs, was being shopped around earlier this week before the NFL trade deadline. In the end, the Chiefs' demand for a second-round draft choice slammed the door on a possible deal.
Chiefs General Manager Carl Peterson said no team came close to meeting his asking price. The most the Packers reportedly were willing to give up for Gonzalez was a third-round pick.
It's good to covet draft picks like Thompson does. In light of the three-year reign of error by previous GM Mike Sherman, who tossed away draft choices like used chewing gum, the Packers needed someone in charge of the football operation that didn't forget the big-picture view of the roster.
But the knock against Thompson is he sometimes clings to draft picks too tightly.
Former Packers GM Ron Wolf wasn't afraid to peddle high picks if he thought the timing was right. He gave up a first-rounder in 1992 for an unknown quarterback named Brett Favre. Three years later, he traded a second-rounder for Pro Bowl tight end Keith Jackson. Both moves contributed to the Packers' Super Bowl XXXI title.
"The bottom line was, if you really wanted a guy, go get the guy," Wolf told me last year in a discussion on his trade philosophy. "So what if you gave too much? You would try to make that up some other way. The key was, make sure you got the guy you wanted to get."
Is Thompson's unwillingness to gamble high draft picks on star players holding the Packers back?
In the case of Gonzalez, the answer is a resounding no. The tight end is near the top of his game, but at 32, is going to hit the wall fairly soon. If Gonzalez were the only piece that separates the Packers from completing their Super Bowl puzzle, he would have been worth a second-rounder. That no doubt was part of Wolf's thinking when he acquired Jackson, who was 29 at the time.
Although Gonzalez would have given the Packers' offense a short-term boost, the team remains some distance from fielding a championship-caliber defense, partly due to injuries. That second-rounder can be better used in next year's draft to either bolster the defense or shore up other needs.
Thompson faced a similar decision in the spring of 2007 when he needed a running back to replace the departed Ahman Green. Despite Turner's backup status, the Chargers reportedly were asking for a first-round draft choice.
There is no indication the Packers seriously considered acquiring Turner for such a steep price. Although Turner ranks second in the NFL in rushing with Atlanta this season, the Packers found their go-to back, Ryan Grant, for the clearance-rack price of a sixth-round pick and used their first-rounder on defensive tackle Justin Harrell.
Forget for a moment that Harrell has been largely unavailable and ineffective. The Packers have a desperate need at that position, and if Harrell comes off the injury list and plays to his potential, Thompson will look like a genius for passing on Turner.
Thompson doesn't come off looking nearly as good for his failure to acquire Moss last year. For the ridiculously low price of a fourth-round pick, Moss could have been a Packer. He went to New England instead and had a monster season with 98 catches, 1,493 yards and 23 touchdowns.
I'm convinced the Packers would have made it to the Super Bowl with Moss on the roster last season. Raiders owner Al Davis revealed recently that Thompson had doubts about Moss' ability to run, which helps explain why the Packers GM was reluctant to pull the trigger on that deal.
You win some and you lose some. That's life in the NFL.