Ted is going to be Ted.

Every year there is hope Ted will make a big splash in free agency, pretty much every year he sits on the sidelines and watches other teams spend all their money on over-priced guys.

Then just maybe he goes after a 2nd or 3rd tier guy to help fill a whole.

Ted almost always let's guys explore FA, and if he wants them back, he will offer them a fair contract.

Scott Wells this year, let's see what happens, see if there is a team out there willing to overspend for him, if not, I have a feeling The Packers will get their starting center back at around 5-6 mil a year for 3 yrs.

Jarret Bush.....Cmon Jarret you really don't want to go anywhere, someone has to be THE MOST HATED PACKER on the roster, and you have carried that title well.

Jarret...Ted believes in you, why else do you think he matched The titans offer acouple of years ago to keep you, go ahead and see wht other teams offer, but in the end, you know where you belong.

Matt Flynn....thanks for playing, either The Browns or Miami are going to offer you big money and hopefully you live up to all the hype and perform well.
Aaron and mike both say you are ready, thanks for being a Packer.

---

Pat Lee can take Bush's place. Bush was a little healthier, but Lee's clearly got superior skills. He's probably not as much of a dumbass either.

---

Jarrett Bush is clearly more talented than Pat Lee.

---

Put them both together and you have half an NFL cornerback.

---

Jarrett Bush was better than any of the other players in our secondary last year. Your statement leads me to conclude our secondary is pretty messed up.

---

Lets be honest.. We might sign one upper tier FA this season, and even that really depends on two things happening.

1) Clifton's salary is reworked or eliminated via a cut.

2) Well's finding a home on the free agent trail other than GB. While I highly doubt he finds his 8mil/year dream on the open market, realistically we are talking 4 to 6 mil a year depending on term of contract, etc. If the Packers sign him, with the current commitments, that leaves little room under the cap for Rookies and any other extensions.


The Packers will continue to do what they do.. build through the draft and sprinkle in a player or two with experience. Sometimes it hits.. sometimes it misses the mark of the Superbowl.

But looking at the current state of the franchise, it seems to be working successfully.

Patience.. the draft is around the corner and then we can fill in around that properly.

Ted's days of having a ton of cap room is probably a thing of the past as he can no longer cut someone else's players. And that is not a criticism.. the hard part is just starting for a long tenured GM, making decisions on players you drafted, built relationships with and more importantly have won with.

The balancing act has begun for force.. being able to cut ties with "your" players. I have little doubt that Ted has "it" to do what needs to be done.

---

The problem with "do it through the draft" strategy is that there are multiple holes right now.

Aaron Rodgers and the passing game spoil us. And the team has enough pieces that under the right conditions they could become that dynasty of the decade that zombieslayer, I, and others believe possible with AR in his prime.

Unfortunately, however, last year exposed the fact that we have more holes, especially on defense, than can be filled by one year's draft. And if we add Wells moving, that adds yet another hole. If Collins can't return, that's another one. By my count GB will likely need a minimum of four quality starters (DE, OLB, S, C). And there is also a substantial question at LT, plus it would be nice to upgrade ILB.

Being seriously in the running for a championship needs more than getting a quality draft. And this year it means more even than getting starters from the draft. (Daryn Colledge and Jason Spitz and Tony Moll started games in their first year; and, contrary to Mr. Mrs.Colledge (ie Kevin), Daryn was never a quality starter.

Best case scenario from a given draft (especially drafting at #28!) might be two quality starters. More realistic would be one immediate starter and 2-3 quality starters "down the line". But "down the line" has a way of eating up contending years as more and more players begin to decline/depart.

"Draft only" is better than the Dan Snyder/Jerry Jones approach. I don't think anyone here would dispute that. But it still is a risky approach for a team near the top to take. Draft means relying on potential. And a team near the top shouldn't be content with potential (see, e.g., Mike Neal v. Cullen Jenkins). A team near the top but with serious issues on one side of the ball should not rely on a draft to fill in several holes immediately. Any more than a baseball contender should rely on even a career .300 hitter to hit for the cycle with regularity.

---

I agree with the majority of your post, but here is the rub, developing, resigning and keeping quality depth costs money. Having a top 5 QB costs a ton, albeit currently we have him on a bargain type deal allowing us flexibility.

Currently, as it stands we have roughly 6 million in cap space, cutting Clifton more than doubles that. In a way, I wish the Collins issue was more definitive, that way we would know more about the holes we have to fill and the cash available.

But lets be honest.. all teams, even the Champs have holes to fill, every year.

But hitting the FA market early, more often than not, is overpaying the talent available. Even the blue chip of this class, Mario Williams, has some issues and risks to him.

So I am not saying we will not be a player in the FA market, but expecting us to make a big splash just isn't prudent either.

Let the market play out a bit, if Wells moves on, then we know we have 4 to 6 million to play with for a replacement or filling other holes. IMO, Wells is a nice player, solid as a rock, but not a dominate point of attack player. If he is after 8 million a year.. so be it and good luck.

The other element of this is whom can come in and fill one of the holes upon the team, and we agree on the open spots that need filling. Here are some of the top guys that may come off the market early..

Centers available

Chris Myers
Samson Satele
Jason Brown
Scott Wells


Defensive Line

defensive end Mario Williams
defensive tackle Jason Jones
defensive end John Abraham
defensive tackle Paul Soliai
defensive end Mark Anderson
defensive end Kendall Langford
defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley
defensive end Andre Carter
defensive end Matt Roth
defensive tackle Aubrayo Franklin
defensive end Luis Castillo
defensive tackle Trevor Laws
defensive end Jarvis Moss
defensive tackle Pat Sims
defensive end Trevor Scott
defensive end Israel Idonije
defensive tackle Amobi Okoye

Safety

LaRon Landry
Reggie Nelson
Reggie Smith
Jim Leonhard
Brandon Meriweather


Linebacker

Curtis Lofton
Stephen Tulloch
Dan Connor
David Hawthorne
London Fletcher
Manny Lawson
Erin Henderson

I don't know about you.. but outside the expensive Mario Williams, there just isn't anyone really to go nuts over. Maybe Myers if Wells moves on.

Landry would be a good fit prior to his injuries, now IMO, he is going to be overpaid for a player that lacks range.

Manny Lawson would be an interesting fit at the right price.. long kid with some leverage.. but not worth overpaying early.

Within the next week or two, with the draft approaching around the corner, the market will come back to the teams so to speak. Not to mention that post draft there will be some other players that become available. Trade is always an option as well..

My point of this all.. patience. Let the market establish itself as the Receivers are dominating the first couple of days.. then start to look to add pieces as the costs start to level off and players start to get a bit anxious.

Sprinkle players in.. but we don't have a ton of room to just open the checkbook and sign away. Either that or create more holes by cutting some of the players currently upon the roster.

All part of the balancing act.

---

The problem with all of your "holes" on the team is that you are assuming none of the young players are going to improve and possibly fill those holes. The whole point of the way this team drafts is so they can get guys that eventually can become quality players even if they don't look so hot starting out. Teams like the Packers, Steelers and Giants don't typically make big moves in FA because they expect their homegrown talent to step up and fill in the holes. It doesn't always work no but nothing always works. I wouldn't say you could really argue with the track record of success those 3 teams have had though.

---

James Harrison took several years to catch on. Almost not making the team. Tramon Willimas took a while to catch on.

The next guy to step up could already be on the team. Vic So'oto could be the next break through player.

---