Thompson talks, not many headlines out of it
By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel
Feb. 26, 2010 10:59 a.m.
Indianapolis - Packers general manager Ted Thompson talked a little while ago at the NFL combine but as usual kept his cards close to his vest. He spoke in generalities on most topics.
Here are the most meaningful parts:
On whether they have an exact plan for how to do deal with contracts beyond 2010
We've been in ongoing conversations about what strategies the organization might take. We haven't really firmed all that up yet though.
On Tim Tebow as a quarterback
I will say this about Tebow. There's been a lot of discussion and commenting about him and his release or his ability to play in the National Football League. Based on his history, I think that would be a little bit premature to start criticizing him and doubting his ability to play. He's been playing at a pretty high level for quite some time. Has to go down as one of the great college football players of all-time, so let's don't sell him short just yet.
On off-season priorities
I think the best and most dramatic improvements you can have is from within, and that's what our offseason program has always been focused on. Now, we also place a high value on the draft, because we feel that's the future of your core players, and free agency, our own as well as maybe guys from other teams. We'll do whatever we can to try to help our team, and that's what we try to do.
On NT Ryan Pickett
In our case, it was simply a matter of, we feel like Ryan's a good player. We feel like he's a good teammate, a good leader of that group. I personally like him quite a bit. This gives us an opportunity to keep having some conversations and try to get something done. We'd like to do a multi-year deal with him, but there are differences where we are in the negotiations, and this was an avenue that we had to at least retain some right to be able to do that in the future.
On Aaron Kampman and other unrestricted free agents
With all of our free agents, we've been having conversations. There's nothing to report on any of those things, so as opposed to speaking to Aaron directly, I'll just speak in general, and this may answer a few other questions you might have. We don't have anything to report. Historically speaking and it certainly applies this year, our policy has always been to try to retain as many of our own players as we could.
On whether or not he thinks Brett Favre will play next season
That's an interesting question.
Thompson extended Aaron Rodgers after 10 starts, Greg Jennings before getting voted to a Pro Bowl, Nick Collins is coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons, what does he have to do to get an extension?
We're working on it, and have been (for) some time....I'm always optimistic, but the cake is not done until it's done....He's a good player. A good guy, good teammate....He is a marvelous athlete. He's got range, he's got hands, he's got anticipation, he's a good tackler. He's a good player. He's one of the core guys that we want to have.
On what he looks for in outside linebackers?
I know I sound repetitive, but I look for good players. There are probably ideal heights and lengths and stuff like that in terms of a body makeup that you look for, but it doesn't necessarily translate into the best 3-4 outside linebacker. James Harrison of Pittsburgh does not fit those height/length requirements, but he's a marvelous player. He was the Defensive Player of the Year two years ago. So you probably trend toward that. In a 3-4 in the scouting business, there is more projecting of pass rushers to those 3-4 outside linebacker positions. It's a very difficult thing to do because if a guy has never stood up and played before, just because he can run fast or do drills, it doesn't necessarily mean he can stand on his feet and play the game, but it does work out sometimes. As much as we can, we try to stick with guys that have proven that they can play the game. Clay Matthews last year is a perfect example. There were times where he put his hand down on the ground and rushed the passer, but a large majority of the time he was standing up and playing linebacker.
On Aaron Kampman's development as a 3-4 linebacker
Oh, I think Aaron was doing very good. It's a shame he got hurt, but he was doing fine. He's physical, he's got the ability to get thick on people. Somebody told me that term the other day and I wanted to use it, so there it is. He can play the game. He sacks the quarterback, and that's unbelievably valuable in our league.
This section is from when Thompson spoke in the hallway to a smaller group of reporters.
On how he feels about his offensive tackles
I like them. We have a couple of them that are schedule to be unrestricted free agents. But I'm OK with our guys. I think our offensive line has taken a lot of heat and I know they all think they can play a little bit better so we're going to try to get better.
Are you having talks with Clifton and Tauscher?
I'm not going to get into any of the specific guys on that stuff, but we are having talks with players.
If the Bears or Vikings come after Kampman, would that change your approach?
No, no, no. With any of our players, if in fact we get to the start of the new league year and they become free agents, they become free agents. And we still continue to talk.
Could Kampman be your starting left outside linebacker?
Sure.
On importance of depth in secondary
Well, you can never have too many of them because things happen but that's part of the business, the durability of your group to get through a season. You look out and see who you're finishing with as opposed to who you started with, sometimes it's a different cast of characters.
Will you handle Kampman's injury the same way you did Tauscher -- waiting until he's healthy?
I'm not going to get into specifics of what we would do with Aaron.
Will you have your own salary cap?
There's been a lot of talk publicly about things like that. We will organizationally have a plan and we'll go about that plan. What those internal thoughts are that we would do or not do, I don't think that's for public consumption.
On whether there could be some good free agent values with some teams cutting costs
Well, we're always looking for value. Again, we're kind of in unchartered waters so it's hard to predict. But we're trying to be prepared for whatever circumstances might come out. And if we can help the Packers, we're going to try to try to help them.
On how difficult judging the restricted free-agent tenders will be
I think they're always difficult. We work through different scenarios and we're continuing to, to try to make sure it's the right thing because one size doesn't fit all in this thing. There are different circumstances around every player.
On how he would describe the Packers' punting the past two years
Inconsistent, probably.
On returners
It's a dangerous job because it seems like everyone we put out there to return punts or kickoffs gets hurt. Will Blackmon is a good returner. It hurt us when he got hurt last year. Some people, you kind of forget those things.
On how much their draft board changes after the combine
Our board gets set based on what we saw them play in the game. Then we come to this thing and I go back home and me and (director of college scouting) John Dorsey will get together and we'll move a bunch of names around by the time you get to the draft, those names go back to the original place they were before we came to the combine. I swear it happens. You go back and watch the tape and you say, 'You know what? We're nuts.' But it's a hard job to predict what a young man who's 21 years old, you watched him play in college, what he's going to be like when he's 23. That's some of the biggest growing you're going to do in your life. So it's a crapshoot. So as much as we can, we try to lean on the football stuff and say, 'Is he a good player and does he like to play the game?' If he can do those two things, he has a chance to be a Packer.
END