Obviously the fact remains that a team has to either win their division or secure a wild card spot to have a chance at winning a Super Bowl. Therefore, it's not silly to have winning the division and securing home field advantage throughout the playoffs as the first main reasonable goal for a season. Although my main goal for a season is the Packers staying healthy. But still, win the division over the putrid Bears and Vikings, and then everything resets in the playoffs. The goals reset, and the "season" begins anew. Goal number two is to win the Super Bowl.

I'm not sure why that's so hard for some to understand. The two aren't mutually exclusive. I'm sure that very few Packers fans are completely content with only winning division championships. It's just part of a sequential progress, and a perfectly reasonable goal for the season.

Originally Posted by: DoddPower 

Go for broke. Don't go for long term competitiveness...can't serve both masters. Do everything you can every year to win it all. That is why each season is it's own. You have one shot don't miss your chance to blow opportunity comes once in a lifetime.

Originally Posted by: uffda udfa 

This is where there's a big disconnect and where I feel you incorrectly conclude most of us are just content plodding along as relevant or as you put it "wasting AR12".

If you sell out for today that absolutely does impact tomorrow. If you go big on a free agent now, you may well not have the money to keep your young guys coming up for new contracts. If I trade a player away today for a boat load of draft picks I've shifted resources from today into future seasons. What increased your odds to win in one season, hurt your odds in another.

This isn't to say every decision should be made weighting tomorrow over today or vice versa. It should be made on the basis that if this decision impacts my team for 5 years, which option gives me the best chance to win the most championships over that 5 year period. If the decision impacts you for 2 years, you consider 2 years. If it impacts you for 10, you consider 10. If it impacts 1, you consider 1.

If I have a choice of a two scenarios, the first in which I have a 5% chance to win a title this year and a 5% chance to win next year, the second I have a 4% chance this year and a 7% next; you take the second scenario because it maximizes your chances of winning a title, even though you aren't selling out for today.

A real example of this was drafting Rodgers. We had other needs. We could have thrown all our eggs into the last few years with Favre basket. Instead we took the pick we believed would sustain success in the long hall. This is diametrically opposed to your constant strive to win today rhetoric, yet it's a decision you dismiss as obvious. It's not obvious if you religiously stick to this go for broke mantra.

The decisions a GM makes are inherently difficult to quantify. What is this free agents value relative to this prospect or this draft pick? How long will this decision impact my team? We all come up with different answers. You can freely debate the pros and cons of this free agent signing, or that draft pick, or this trade, and you may even convince some people that on that decision we should've favored the option with the more immediate benefit. Everything else--the "strive to dominate", the "you're all just content", the "opportunity only comes once in a lifetime", the "go for broke"--it's all empty rhetoric and straw men.

Originally Posted by: mi_keys 

...but...each season is self-contained. It's own entity. Do you really want Ted Thompson focused on next year and beyond to cheapen the upcoming season? I feel he is too much about the future and not enough about now. I do believe you have to have a vision for the future, but to err on the side of that over your current season seems wrong to me. Your very best should be an every day thing not a pulled back approach to life. I've made several analogies regarding this dynamic over the year I've been here. Here's another... Ever see the movie, UP? It's a cartoon but there is a principle to glean. If you always think about the future, now never gets it's proper due. Ol' Carl was going to take his wife to Paradise Falls "one day". Well, she died and one day never came. Rodgers could suffer a career ending injury at any point and all this playing for the future is going to be futile. We won't have the superstar QB to carry us any longer. What will you think if Aaron's career ends this season? Will it be...A) Boy, I'm happy Ted Thompson has a plan for future stability or 😎 Man, that sucks Ted Thompson didn't do more to enjoy Aaron while he was with us? I don't believe anyone is seriously going to answer...A. Why? We all know when Rodgers goes our odds, since you like them, go wayyyyyyy down of competing for a SB. We barely compete for one now with him. So, when he's gone it sure is going to be great to strive for 8-8 because Ted Thompson wanted to avoid 4-12. Rodgers is the pearl of great price that you sell and forsake all others for. A rare unique period in franchise history and we have a man worried about waiting for a 4th round comp pick to develop so we might hit 8-8 when Aaron is gone. Yes, that makes sense. Playing it safe is NOT always the prudent move. How many guys wouldn't be with their wives if they just played it safe and didn't have the balls to go for it? Yup, and some of them may live to regret going for it as she turned out to be a nightmare, but at least you had the balls to go for it in the first place like Wade would say. The mindset is what is important. WIN IT ALL should be the ONLY mindset in Green Bay while Aaron is here and it isn't. That's sad. What's sadder is the legions of Packers fans mostly support this idea. Typical masses...they never get it right.

Originally Posted by: uffda udfa 

Everything you said about Rodgers could've been and was said about Favre. It doesn't address how your mantra would dictate passing on Rodgers in the draft.

Originally Posted by: mi_keys