JSOnline wrote:
As a result of general manager Ted Thompson's long-standing draft-and-develop philosophy, the Green Bay Packers enter the off-season in a different fraternity from the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.
The Packers' roommates are teams like the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins.
Those are not exactly the teams you want to be grouped with during the regular season, but in the off-season being housemates with such a conspicuous bunch of also-rans is what you might consider a feather in your cap.
It is especially so if you have one of the best quarterbacks in the game signed to a long-term deal, a ton of offensive talent and three consecutive division titles in the bank because it means you didn't earn the salary cap room by being one of the worst teams in the NFL.
What the Packers have in common with those bottom dwellers is that they are among the leaders in salary cap space heading into the 2014 season.
WHY are we not as bad as those "roommates"? One reason: Aaron Rodgers. When he was out, we were exposed for being just that bad.
Nobody is saying we should have signed Haynesworth or Steven Jackson, etc. - I sure as hell wasn't saying it at the time. Thompson is correct not to go hog wild in free agency, but he is wrong to be as hyper-cautious as he has been. The Packers are NEAR the top of the NFL - mainly because of Aaron Rodgers. However, they could be a LOT better team with just a few strategic free agent signings - Safety this year being prime among those - Jarius Byrd or T.J. Ward. Another alternative would be to sign Alterraun Verner and convert Hayward or Tramon Williams to Safety. I'm not even sure we should go after a LB - particularly not Orakpo, who would be the most expensive and has had injury problems. The Steeler guy is younger and probably a lot cheaper, and maybe better. For that matter, we probably could handle LB through the draft.
It doesn't take much; Thompson just needs to get off his ass and make it happen.
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