It's easy for us to be impatient because we go about our daily lives expecting something to happen. The thing is, what is going on behind closed doors isn't known to us. A lot of people (myself including at times) forget that the Packers are surely focused primarily on the draft and potential draftee's. I'm willing to bet both Jennings and Collins get new deals sometime in or after May and before the start of the season.

Right now, the Packers have to be focusing on the draft this next month. No one should hold it against them that they are not talking contracts. In my opinion.

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Great points Zero!
Thats what i've been saying all along. Just because we as fans don't SEE anything, that does not mean nothing is happening behind closed doors at 1265 Lambeau Drive.
I bet they are working their butts off every day, for the draft AND for the guys that want their contracts taken care of. They are NOT just sitting there sitting on their collective thumbs.

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I haven't forgotten it. I have said for weeks now that Ted Thompson has a lot on his plate to deal with internally. People want to look at the $30+ mil and wonder why he hasn't gone after some of these higher priced FA's.

He needs to make sure he has enough cash available to make attractive offers to players BEFORE they hit FA and the pain felt by signing a high dollar player that may not end up worth it doubles when he also ends up losing guys who we wanted to hold onto.

I look at the Canty non-signing as a blessing. Here is guy getting Kampman like dollars and has never come close to that type quality player. I can definately see why Ted Thompson is very cautious in making any kind of move like that. We have several guys coming up to deal with that they know they don't want to lose so how do you justify a big deal before knowing what the sticker price of what you want to keep is going to cost?

TT's almost compelled to hold back some because of guys like Kampman who could turn out phenominal and then again maybe not. If he DOES turn out to be super in this "D" the last thing you would want is to not have set back what's needed to hold onto him.

This situation is a lot trickier than just labeling the guy a dumbass because he won't strike big in FA.

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Not signing Canty is one thing, but not signing a guy like Vonnie Holiday whom comes cheap and is a huge upgrade is another. Vonnie Holiday starts from day one in this defense. He's better than Jolly and Harrell whom are potentially the starters at the five with Jenkins as the other.

I'm tired of people saying it'll hurt the youth. I've been watching a lot of Packer games from the 90's and I saw Sean Jones and Reggie White in their late 30's anchor the Packer defense.

Signing a guy like Holiday would give the Packers more flexibility along the defensive line. Holiday alone allows the Packers to move Johnny Jolly to probably nose tackle behind Ryan Pickett and Justin Harrell to play behind Holiday as a backup rather than potentially forcing him in as a starter when he's just not healthy nor reliable enough to do so.

It's those types of guys that Thompson should be showing interest in and from all accounts, he hasn't. Perhaps he's eying up Tyson Jackson or Peria Jerry.

As far as missing out on Chris Canty. Chris Canty has the potential to be one of the best five techniques in the game today. He'll be a good DT for the Giants, but he could have played very well for the Packers. They knew that, but he was just to expensive. Canty will probably prove his worth down the road to the Giants.

It's not different than taking a guy like A.J. Hawk No. 5 and paying him boat loads of money. Hawk isn't worth what he's making in his rookie contract, but the Packers took him due to potential. The Giants signed Canty because of potential and paid him the money he could be worth down the road.

Another thing that is just a misconception is signing one free agent such as Chris Canty means that GB is going to have to part ways with either Nick Collins, Greg Jennings, or Aaron Kampman. That arguement is just plain wrong.

The Packers have more than enough money to keep their core guys intact.

Thompson isn't signing guys because he's worried about losing Jennings, Collins, or Kampman. He's not signing guys because free agency isn't apart of his philosophy unless he's backed into a corner. 4-12 being an example of that and why he may of went out and got Woodson and Pickett.

The writing is on the wall. I think he overates this football team quite a bit. I hope I'm wrong, but I can't see how Daryn Colledge at right tackle makes the team better.

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I'd prefer Colledge at LT than RT.

I'm also thinking that the Packers Staff (not just Ted because more than he goes into the decision making process-he has final say) has over valued their current roster. Also too it should be thought of they surely don't want to release someone who might be good in the 3 - 4 defense. I think a lot of this sign this person sign that person is over the top. We don't even know what we have on our roster yet in this scheme. We have a staff that can predict what they think they have. Truly though, how can they know until they see them in action, any action?

It would be extremely foolish to go out an sign a bunch of guys that haven't played in the 3 - 4. Which is why I wanted us to sign Canty. He had proven he could play in the system, or one similar anyhow.

I'd like for us to be more active, but I'm glad were not because we need to see what we have before we make changes. Making lots of changes would be foolish before we see what we really have on our team.

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I wholeheartedly agree. It's one thing to freak out because they didn't throw huge money out for the flavor of the month FA guys - the people that do that are just knee-jerking. It's another thing entirely to say that faced with the opportunity of getting a proven 3-4 DE who would come cheaply, was once a valued member of the team, and WANTS to come back, we should take that opportunity.

I also think Ted overrates the current team - even w/out the scheme switch, we were obviously in trouble w/ our DL rotation last year, a fact that contributed greatly to the defensive collapse we all had to witness.

To repeat: I'm not screaming about how 'stupid Ted Thompson is ruining the team and he should be fired because he didn't sign Peppers!' - I'm just saying that I don't understand why you wouldn't sign a guy or two like Holiday, even if you were looking to draft that DE this year. Something tells me that having a veteran in the scheme would be even more beneficial in that case.

I do hope I'm wrong, or that the Holiday-level deals are still yet to come. But I'm concerned, and it's the offseason, so that's what we're talking about.

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Its because people play Madden on their video games now and they think the negotiation is a click of the "A" button away. :thumbright:

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