If you're looking for a surprise, the Packers could be it. While the coaching staff may tinker after the season, including possibly OC Edgar Bennett likely getting head coach interviews, it is expected to have minimal changes. The front office, however, is a different story. GM Ted Thompson is under contract through 2018, but this could be the year he steps aside and becomes a senior scouting adviser. If Green Bay has success in the playoffs, that possibility increases. There are a few reasons why: First of all, Director of Football Operations Eliot Wolf is coveted and he'll have opportunities to interview as a GM elsewhere. The organization could risk losing him if he's not promoted. Second of all, CEO Mark Murphy still hasn't hired his own guy, and he's been around the organization much more this year as he studies things from the inside. There are plenty of talented people in the Packers front office -- VP Russ Ball, Director of Player Personnel Brian Gutekunst and Senior Personnel Executive Alonzo Highsmith among them. And this could be the year Thompson steps aside to make way for them.

Ian Rapport wrote: