Greg C.
13 years ago
Now that Ted Thompson is at the pinnacle of his profession, it would be a fun time to look back at the worst moves he’s made during his tenure as Packers’ GM. Every GM makes mistakes. Thompson makes fewer than most, but he’s not perfect. This is my own list, and everyone has their own opinion, of course. In putting the list together, I've included only those decisions that were highly questionable at the time, rather than those that were reasonable but did not work out. It is notable that all of these bad moves were made during Thompson’s first four seasons with the Packers. He seems to learn from his mistakes. Having said that, please join me now for this trip down memory lane!

1. Drafting Justin Harrell (2007)—Many people thought Thompson reached to pick Harrell at #16 overall. They were right. Harrell was recovering from a major injury at the time, and his career with the Packers consisted of one major injury after another. He was a bust. (Remarkably, though, he was the only bad first round pick Thompson has made to this point.)

2. Cutting Jon Ryan and bringing in Derrick Frost (2008)—Jon Ryan was a decent punter whose career was on its way up, but apparently not fast enough for Thompson. At the end of training camp, Ryan was surprisingly cut, and Derrick Frost, who had failed with the Washington Redskins, was brought in to take his place. Frost wasted no time proving to be one of the worst punters in the league—exactly what he was with the Redskins—and he did not finish the season. Ryan, meanwhile, enjoyed the best season of his career punting for the Seattle Seahawks.

3. Signing Marquand Manuel (2006)—Remember this guy? He had been a member of the Seahawks when Thompson was there, and Thompson thought highly enough of him to sign him to a five-year, $10 million contract so he could start at safety for the Packers. He was a hard hitter, but unfortunately he was slower than molasses and was exploited regularly in coverage by opposing offenses. Manuel was one of the worst starting players of the Thompson era. He was released at the end of training camp the following year.

4. Lowballing Bubba Franks (2005)—When Bubba Franks’ contract expired, Thompson retained him with the transition tag, but Franks refused to sign the contract. When the preseason began, it became painfully obvious that there was no other TE on the roster who had anything approaching Franks’ rather modest talents, so eventually Thompson gave him what he wanted. It was a rare example of Thompson trying to bargain from a position of weakness.

5. Lowballing Ryan Grant (2008)—Did I say that Ted Thompson learns from his mistakes? Well, this is the exception because the situation was very similar to the Bubba Franks scenario from a few years before, and Thompson played it the same way and once again lost. Like Franks, Grant was a solid though not spectacular player who was not in a position to command a huge salary. Also like Franks, Grant was not under contract and could simply refuse to play, which is exactly what he did. The Packers had no other viable option at running back, and with the Brett Favre controversy near its high point, Grant was quietly signed, with Thompson pretty much giving him the contract he wanted in the first place. The layoff from training camp may have had something to do with Grant pulling a hamstring, which never fully healed that year, leading to a subpar season.

6. Drafting Brian Brohm (2008)—With Aaron Rodgers ready to take over as the starting QB, it was a surprise when Ted Thompson drafted Brohm in the second round. Although Brohm had fallen farther than many expected him to, the Packers were not considered to be in the running for him. Perhaps Ted Thompson was trying a little TOO hard to bury Brett Favre, who had retired a few weeks before. Brohm, like Justin Harrell, was a total bust. In his first training camp, he was quickly beaten out for the backup QB spot by seventh round pick Matt Flynn. At the end of his second training camp, he was waived and placed on the practice squad. He was later acquired by the Buffalo Bills, for whom he played sparingly and disastrously for two seasons. He now plays for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League.

7. Signing Adrian Klemm and Matt O’Dwyer (2005)—It was clearly a move for the future when Thompson let guards Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera walk away in free agency. Unfortunately, Thompson was not able to find competent replacements. O’Dwyer was an old, injury-prone player who didn’t even make it through training camp. Klemm was a young, injury-prone player who at least made it through the season, but he was a big disappointment. Thankfully, once Thompson had been with the team a few years, he was able to build some depth into the roster so he no longer had to make embarrassing mistakes on veterans like Klemm and O’Dwyer.
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DakotaT
13 years ago
Now make one for Angelo and Spielman.

Good list Greg. O-line has definitely been his weakness and if he wouldn't have hit on Raji and Matthews so quickly - we might not be calling him a genius.
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tromadz
13 years ago
I think Harrell is his only real 'big' mistake. When you're doing a "top mistakes by a GM" list and #2 on the list is about a PUNTER...not bad, GM. Not bad.


nerdmann
13 years ago
Harrell wasn't a mistake. Taking him was a risk/reward scenario.
As for the offensive kinsmen, that was MM requesting the "smaller, quicker" guys for the zbs. Since he's been able to go for the "bigger, stronger" guys, he's had much more success.
Brian Brohm, yeah. Carlos Rogers too. Dude was supposed to be our return guy.
As far as Jon Ryan, he took off running on a fake punt that wasn't called. It cost us our long snapped one week before the season started.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
Greg C.
13 years ago

As far as Jon Ryan, he took off running on a fake punt that wasn't called. It cost us our long snapped one week before the season started.

Originally Posted by: nerdmann 

Do you think that's why they waived him? That's hard to believe. It was just a miscommunication, and it seems like just a coincidence to me that the long snapper got hurt on the play.

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Zero2Cool
13 years ago
Giving Bubba Franks a big contract would have been a mistake.

Ryan Grant was handled just fine. You start low, work your way up, that's how you negotiate.

Jon Ryan should have been cut because he was very inconsistent. It should be clear that Jon Ryan was inconsistent because the special teams coach wanted to change how he punted.

Signing Derrick Frost, mistake.

According to the Packers cap guru at the time, the Packers could have made several position cuts to retain Mike Wahle. Marco Rivera was too old and there's no way they should have even tried to match the ransom the Cowboys paid.


Brohm, Manuel, Harrell and the OL replacements, mistakes.

I'll add another huge mistake. Letting future hall of famer, Daryn Colledge go to the Arizona Cardinals. That's top dog mistake there. Factoid!

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millertime
13 years ago
Thanks for this Greg. Very insightful.

Hopefully, not resigning Cullen Jenkins to a reasonable contract (like the one he got in Philly) won't end up on this list next year. I vouched for him hard this offseason and he's been solid for Philly this year (5 sacks, started all 6 games). Our D just hasn't looked the same this year and Mike Neal should not have been trusted to stay healthy.

I hope I'm wrong about Jenkins, but I don't think I am. Anyways, it's hard to complain when you 7-0. . . :-"
Greg C.
13 years ago

Giving Bubba Franks a big contract would have been a mistake.

Ryan Grant was handled just fine. You start low, work your way up, that's how you negotiate.

Jon Ryan should have been cut because he was very inconsistent. It should be clear that Jon Ryan was inconsistent because the special teams coach wanted to change how he punted.

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 



But he DID give Bubba Franks a big contract because Franks refused to play for less. Ted was over a barrel because there were no other decent TEs on the roster. It would've been easier just to pay Franks right away.

As for Grant, I think the original offer was too low, which led to Grant's refusal to attend training camp initially, which may very well have contributed to his injury.

You can't separate the cutting of Ryan with the signing of Frost. They cut Ryan at the end of training camp, when no good punters were available, and they immediately brought in Frost. It was a planned move. I think it was because the special teams coach, MIke Stock, had coached Frost in the past. Stock was forced into retirement at the end of that season. His decision to mess with Ryan's mechanics did not appear to be a good one. Also, I've always suspected that he lobbied to get Frost, since he had coached him before, so when Frost failed, his fate was sealed.

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wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
13 years ago
good list. I understand his desire to take a chance on players. It has worked out more often than not.

I hate taking a risk in the first round.
The Ryan move was a shocker. I think he was going for a punter who would pen the return team into the corner. Understandable.
I love a hard hitting safety. It is unfortunate that he was slow.
I didn't mind the Franks or Grant deals. He did use the transition tag. Common for teams to do so and work it out later. It did not bother me. Grant had not played a lot. He only had 1 above avg season. You don't break the bank for a player who starts 1 and 1/2 years.
Brohm had to have some anti Favre to it. The move puzzled me.
Letting Wahle and Rivera walk was the right move. Neither earned their new contracts. Klemm and O’Dwyer were not the answer but they were relatively inexpensive flyers.
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Greg C.
13 years ago

Thanks for this Greg. Very insightful.

Hopefully, not resigning Cullen Jenkins to a reasonable contract (like the one he got in Philly) won't end up on this list next year. I vouched for him hard this offseason and he's been solid for Philly this year (5 sacks, started all 6 games). Our D just hasn't looked the same this year and Mike Neal should not have been trusted to stay healthy.

I hope I'm wrong about Jenkins, but I don't think I am. Anyways, it's hard to complain when you 7-0. . . :-"

Originally Posted by: millertime 

Yeah, that one is not looking good at all right now. On the other hand, if Neal comes back and plays well and Jenkins gets hurt, it could look like another genius move. Even if Jenkins has a solid year and Neal doesn't play, it could still pay off in the long run. But it sure would be nice to have Jenkins right now. I think Thompson burned his bridges with Jenkins because he assumed that Jenkins would command a monster contract. He probably did not anticipate that the market for him would be so soft.
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wpr (23-Jul) : The site is much more better.
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