MintBaconDrivel
12 years ago

There has been a flurry of NFL activity during the past week, with more than 100 unrestricted free agents signing with new teams. In Green Bay, meanwhile, there has been dead silence, which means all is right in Ted Thompson's world.

“I don’t think fans are unruly or harmful or mad at me,” said Thompson earlier this week at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. “I think they want the Packers to do good. It means so much to the state of Wisconsin and Packers fans everywhere for the organization to do well, and I think they want us to do right by the organization and right by the players and we try to do that. I don’t think you can get too worked up about being criticized.”

PackersNews  wrote:


nerdmann
12 years ago
"We like our guys."
“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.”
PackerTraxx
12 years ago
TT's not perfect but he does an outstanding job. I hope he's around for a long time.
Why is Jerry Kramer not in the Hall of Fame?
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
12 years ago
The frustrating part of these kinds of stories is they look at is as either/or.

"Either you spend $100 million on an old player who is so lousy his current team released him or you do nothing at all other than dig thru the scrapheap and look for a third line backup that you can pay the min salary."

There are more options that that.


But the NFL is littered with examples of teams that spent wildly in March and flopped miserably in the fall.



It's Uncle Teddy smarter than that? Can't he find a quality player who is not over priced who will fill one of the holes? I think so. Apparently he doesn't.


Thompson’s approach is working, based on the Packers’ NFC-best 47-17 regular-season record since 2009. They are the only NFC team to qualify for the postseason the past four years.

The anti-Thompson faction will argue that the Packers didn’t advance past the divisional round of the playoffs the last two years because they didn’t sign any impact free agents.



I guess it depends on what your goal is. Is it to be over .500? It is merely to qualify for the playoffs? Or is it to win championships? If the goal is the later then the team has not been extremely successful. They have won a championship but this team has the makings of winning a few. But they are trying to do so shorthanded.


Former Packers vice president of player finance Andrew Brandt, now an ESPN analyst, described Thompson’s philosophy on Twitter last week: “Strategy in (Green Bay) was to hope for as much ‘stupid money’ spent in early days of free agency, then sift through rest of group.”



I do not object to this philosophy. I used a similar tactic in fantasy baseball for years. (an auction league.) During the first few years the other owners frequently overspent for the highest priced talent and I was able to acquire the second level talent pretty reasonably. (in other words I had 3-4 maybe 5 All Stars instead of one or two Hall of Famers.)

I won one year and finished 2nd 4 years in a row and 6 out of 7 years. Then something happened. Over time the other owners learned and slowly brought their spending per player down. Because I had been use to sitting and waiting for the marquee players to go on by I got caught short the last 2-3 years. By waiting I ended up with holes in my roster. As an example I didn't have a quality 2nd baseman or was short good players in the OF and had to scramble just to fill the position.

The point is there is always going to be some owner or GM who overpays for FAs. But not every quality FA is someone that has to be acquired by paying him more than he is worth. The argument is always that they need to save the money to pay AR and CM3. That is just hogwash. Are these guys so petty they will only stick with GB if they can soak every single nickle out of the organization? I don't think so. Put a championship caliber team on the field on both sides of the ball and get to the NFC CG year in and year out and these guys will stick even if they get paid a few million less than the max price.
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Porforis
12 years ago

It's Uncle Teddy smarter than that? Can't he find a quality player who is not over priced who will fill one of the holes? I think so. Apparently he doesn't.

Originally Posted by: wpr 



There's probably a few out there, but then ask yourself - if this person is a quality player who is willing to take a relatively low amount of money, why did they get released in the first place? Players are almost always released because they cost a lot of money and the team needs to make cap space, or because they're problematic in other areas (poor performance, locker room cancer, etc). Only real exceptions would be players that just lose out because of an extreme amount of depth. And really, how many teams have that many quality players at a single position (relative to the number of players on said position that need to be on the roster)?

I guess it depends on what your goal is. Is it to be over .500? It is merely to qualify for the playoffs? Or is it to win championships? If the goal is the later then the team has not been extremely successful.

Originally Posted by: wpr 



Then that would make zero teams in the NFL extremely successful over the last 5 years, and 3 over the last 10 years. The league is built to be a roughly even playing field and for the most part, it has been with few teams (Patriots, Cowboys, Broncos, Niners) winning it all two out of three years since 1980, for christsake. While it's disappointing that we haven't made it to the super bowl again, keep in mind that we've been absolutely crushed by injuries lately, specifically 2012 and to a lesser extent 2010. Signing top-caliber free agents for bottom dollar doesn't do you much good when they're sitting on the sidelines.

Put a championship caliber team on the field on both sides of the ball and get to the NFC CG year in and year out and these guys will stick even if they get paid a few million less than the max price.

Originally Posted by: wpr 



Again, easier said than done. How many teams have both an offense and defense that's good enough to carry them to a super bowl title?
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
12 years ago

There's probably a few out there, but then ask yourself - if this person is a quality player who is willing to take a relatively low amount of money, why did they get released in the first place? Players are almost always released because they cost a lot of money and the team needs to make cap space, or because they're problematic in other areas (poor performance, locker room cancer, etc). Only real exceptions would be players that just lose out because of an extreme amount of depth. And really, how many teams have that many quality players at a single position (relative to the number of players on said position that need to be on the roster)?

Originally Posted by: Porforis 



What we have here is a failure to communicate.

I am not saying Ted needs to find and sign a quality player for less than market price. I am not advocating scooping up a player that was released by his team because he was so expensive and did not merit his pay or was a cancer to the team. Although I will say Woodson was considered to be cancerous in some circles.

Ted can in deed find a player or two who get paid market price maybe even a little above and help fill holes on the team if he looked for them. I am not saying there are 30 or 40 players every year but over the course of 5 years there are one or two that fill the bill. He chooses not to do it. He consistently looks in the bargain bin because if they pan out "Ted is a genius".


Then that would make zero teams in the NFL extremely successful over the last 5 years, and 3 over the last 10 years. The league is built to be a roughly even playing field and for the most part, it has been with few teams (Patriots, Cowboys, Broncos, Niners) winning it all two out of three years since 1980, for christsake. While it's disappointing that we haven't made it to the super bowl again, keep in mind that we've been absolutely crushed by injuries lately, specifically 2012 and to a lesser extent 2010. Signing top-caliber free agents for bottom dollar doesn't do you much good when they're sitting on the sidelines.

Originally Posted by: Porforis 



Did Mike not say the goal for the organization is to win championships? Should they then not be judged according to that goal? Just because other teams can not do it does not mean the GBP should not be held to such lofty standards.


Again, easier said than done. How many teams have both an offense and defense that's good enough to carry them to a super bowl title?

Originally Posted by: Porforis 



Once again a communication failure. I do not expect them to have a #1 offense and defense. They CAN consistently have a top 10 O & D. That is not out of the question or realm of possibility. Probably even a top 5.

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Wade
  • Wade
  • Veteran Member
12 years ago
Actually, Ted, we want you to do well.

Pedantically yours,
Wade


And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
12 years ago

Actually, Ted, we want you to do well.

Pedantically yours,
Wade

Originally Posted by: Wade 



Wow. Who are you and how did you hack into the Wade's username?

That is one of the shortest Wade-isms EVER.
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nerdmann
12 years ago
If something catastrophic happened, and Lord forbid that it ever might, Ted would KNOW what to do, and who to get.

Say (again, Lord forbid) Aaron went down in the preseason. I GUARANTEE Ted would would have a QB in town THE NEXT DAY who could get it done. Might not be an all pro like Aaron, but he would know who to call and he'd have research on his desk as to who is out there and what they would cost. And it would likely be someone we never heard of before.

Remember Ryan Grant? Pickett was the same type deal when he first came here.

Ted's strength is in VALUE. He not only has a higher %age of successful draft picks (Harrell notwithstanding) but he finds free agents off the street who come in and perform at a high level.

Sam Shields. DuJuan Harris. Don Barclay. Eric Walden. These are just guys off the top of my head from this past season. They may not all be pro bowlers, but they represent VALUE.
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