Green Bay Packers Thread

Brendan Bendar

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

Yeah no need to draft for the future when you have a declining old te

I didn’t say that, dude, I said we have a BBTE who I think can still do some business.

Our record in drafting TEs is not stellar.

Mark Chmura and JMike being the exceptions.

raze_them_all_

Brendan Bendar wrote: »

I didn’t say that, dude, I said we have a BBTE who I think can still do some business.

Our record in drafting TEs is not stellar.

Mark Chmura and JMike being the exceptions.

Jmiich was awesome it was so disappointing whe. He was injured. Though I remember a lot of frustration with him as his hands weren't the best

raze_them_all_

Well d. K. Metcalf had himself a combine.

OldMrBrennan83

Could easily be a workout warrior. Doesn't look like a hugely talented football player on videos.

That said, NFL teams never care about the latter so he's going top 10.

raze_them_all_

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

Could easily be a workout warrior. Doesn't look like a hugely talented football player on videos.

That said, NFL teams never care about the latter so he's going top 10.

He's a freak athlete, he has had a lot of injuries would be my concern

Brendan Bendar

Ooooh..... some big moolah being spent by the Packers.

What’s the opinion of you folk out there........

OldMrBrennan83

Brendan Bendar wrote: »

Ooooh..... some big moolah being spent by the Packers.

What’s the opinion of you folk out there........

Fairly average players but all bar the lineman is still a big upgrade. Way overspent on the face of it but then again when every team is overspending then it doesn't count.

Needed to do something anyway so it's nice to see a different strategy for once. The old one hasn't worked for a long time.

Brendan Bendar

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

Fairly average players but all bar the lineman is still a big upgrade. Way overspent on the face of it but then again when every team is overspending then it doesn't count.

Needed to do something anyway so it's nice to see a different strategy for once. The old one hasn't worked for a long time.

Yeah... we’ll wait for the fallout though.

I’d wait for the ‘experts’ to give us a steer on this lot.

Interesting.

Blut2

Some details here:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001022114/article/packers-add-trio-of-highpriced-free-agent-defenders

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday morning that the Packers are expected to sign former Baltimore Ravens edge rusher Za'Darius Smith and ex-Bears safety Adrian Amos, per sources informed of the deals. Amos' deal, Rapoport added, will be for four years worth $37 million, $21 million coming in the first two seasons. Smith's contract comes in the form of four years for $66 million with $34.5 million across the initial two seasons.

Green Bay is also expected to get a deal done with former Washington Redskins edge rusher Preston Smith, per Rapoport. RapSheet adds Smith's deal is for four years with a base value of $52 million.

And the spending wasn't done there, as the Packers added a piece the the offensive puzzle with Rapoport reporting they will sign former Broncos offensive lineman Billy Turner, a versatile get who can play guard or tackle. Turner's deal is for four years with a maximum value of $29.5 million.

Its very exciting news I think. A nice change from previous conservative years. Should make the draft a lot more interesting now too, that some of the "needs" are less pressing and some of the "wants" can be focused on.

Can anyone speculate as to how much cap space this leaves the team with?

Brendan Bendar

Blut2 wrote: »

Some details here:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001022114/article/packers-add-trio-of-highpriced-free-agent-defenders



Its very exciting news I think. A nice change from previous conservative years. Should make the draft a lot more interesting now too, that some of the "needs" are less pressing and some of the "wants" can be focused on.

Can anyone speculate as to how much cap space this leaves the team with?

Too early to say until the fine details of the contract come out but the word is that the signings were good value at good spots for the Packers.

Dude on Packers Pod. Reckons about $5 million which could be increased with cuts.

Jimmy G... Hi

OldMrBrennan83

He has to go for the money he's on.

Brendan Bendar

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

He has to go for the money he's on.

Yes or take a good cut.... Really frustrates me when I see other TEs on other teams coming up good on usually vital third downs whereas the Packers recently anyway have struggled big time to keep the O on the field.

Still think he wants to prove himself in GB as injuries blighted his first season.

Jays we had a stud in Jarrod Cooke and we got rid of him after a year.

With relatively good QBs on the other NFC N division teams, we can't let them stand around in the pocket, have a cigarette , and toss one untouched 30 yards downfield.

The two Smiths should at least ensure we have pressure there.

The secret next season will probably the ability to keep the O on the field and for the D to get it back quickly if it is lost.

As Mike used to say..."fundamental" but it wasn't happening no matter how "fundamental" is obviously was.

cosatron

With Jake Ryan going to jax Thus closing the book on Ted Thompson's Failed 2015 draft. A bad draft really can make a fcuk of things

1. Damarious Randall, CB (30th overall pick)

2. Quinten Rollins, CB (62)

3. Ty Montgomery, WR (94)

4. Jake Ryan, LB (129)

5. Brett Hundley, QB (147)

6. Aaron Ripkowski, FB, (206)

6. Christian Ringo, DE (210)

6. Kennard Backman, TE (213)

Billy86

That was some bad draft alright, though Randall seems to have found his old self in Cleveland somewhat (still seems a bit of a locker room cancer, mind). Montgomery was a bit meh but a handy utility player we never used right who seemed to lose his attitude too with some others at the end of the McCarthy reign. Hundley we almost got the pick back on from Seattle (6th rather than 5th if I recall?) but him being on the roster that long and being that underprepared was inexcusable. Ripkowski I felt got a bit of a raw deal, FB is a peripheral position but I thought he was quite handy. Jake Ryan is going to have a solid career for another 4-6 years I reckon - poor in pass coverage, lacks blitz abilities, but is very good against the run for goalline and 3rd/4th and short situations. I think his injury last year is a little underplayed in our going from being good against the run to woeful last year (though it lies largely on the OLBs, so hopefully the Smiths fix that up a bit this season).

So definitely a poor draft for selections, but also poorly managed in terms of how they were used and evaluated for progression. Let's hope for much better next month!

raze_them_all_

Billy86 wrote: »

That was some bad draft alright, though Randall seems to have found his old self in Cleveland somewhat (still seems a bit of a locker room cancer, mind). Montgomery was a bit meh but a handy utility player we never used right who seemed to lose his attitude too with some others at the end of the McCarthy reign. Hundley we almost got the pick back on from Seattle (6th rather than 5th if I recall?) but him being on the roster that long and being that underprepared was inexcusable. Ripkowski I felt got a bit of a raw deal, FB is a peripheral position but I thought he was quite handy. Jake Ryan is going to have a solid career for another 4-6 years I reckon - poor in pass coverage, lacks blitz abilities, but is very good against the run for goalline and 3rd/4th and short situations. I think his injury last year is a little underplayed in our going from being good against the run to woeful last year (though it lies largely on the OLBs, so hopefully the Smiths fix that up a bit this season).

So definitely a poor draft for selections, but also poorly managed in terms of how they were used and evaluated for progression. Let's hope for much better next month!

Would agree about ripkowski but you can literally make any big bodied rb and fb these days. They just need less talent ha

raze_them_all_

Clay Matthews off to the rams after a decade in gb and all time leading sack leader for us. Personally outside of being a great locker room guy I feel like he has been working off his name the last few seasons and not his work on the field, good luck to him out there though

Brendan Bendar

Yes, despite falls in performance sad to see Randall Cobb and Clay leave the Packers.

Looks like #12 #69 and #75 would be the senior men now in terms of Packer experience.

End of an era methinks.

Billy86

I wouldn't have minded either back on the cheap - we kind of lack a real slot guy that I am aware of, and Cobb on a $5mn or less 'prove it' deal could have been useful there. Matthews, though way way past his best, would have been amazing to have as the primary backup across the LB corps.

Cobb was had a $5mn so probably could have been brought back, though Matthews' deal is worth $16.75mn over two years... it's likely top heavy as the Rams if I recall still have a good bit of cap space for this coming season, but it is way more than he is worth at this point.

Blut2

Totally agree on both points. Its obviously sad to see Matthews go, but at that price the Rams are welcome to him.

Shame Cobb couldn't have been kept for under $5mn. I'm sure he would have preferred to avoid to move so would have taken slightly under that to stay.

I wonder if there are plans afoot to get Nelson back to fulfill that role at an even lower cost.

OldMrBrennan83

It's the NFL and they haven't performed in a while so time for a change.

Jofspring

Does Matthews going free up some money to bring someone else in or would the signings so far be eating that up?

cosatron

both Matthews and cobb were free agents so no cap saving. At present we are 13m under the cap and I say Crosby could be getting cut as his 4.5m against the cap, which is allot for a kicker. Delighted to see Matthews and cobb get contracts else where as there production was will down and they weren't healthy. It looks like we will be going olb, o-line, wr, ilb and safety in draft.

Billy86

I would also not at all be surprised to see Tramon Williams cut to save another $4.8mn. Great locker room guy and all, but he looked past it last year and turned 36 a few days ago; that's a good bit of money to be spending on a no.5 or no.6 CB/backup safety.

Beyond that, any other cuts are really hard to identify. Jimmy Graham was decent last year but nowhere near worth the $12mn he is getting this season, but even if we draft Fant or Hockenson I think we still need Jimmy to be safe (esp with so many young pass catchers - I love their upside, but right now Geronimo Allison is basically our third most experienced 'skill position' player, not including Marcedes Lewis who will be doing well to get into double digits this year for passes caught.

I also see we retained Marcedes Lewis on a cheap one year deal. Very happy with that, he is one of the peripheral players I really wanted to see us keep since he is still a quality blocker, and assuming we do draft a TE, having them learn to block from one of the best blocking TE's of the last 10-20 years, and learning in the passing game from one of the top receiving TE's of the last 10-20 years, with well over 20 years experience betwen them, would be a huge benefit.

Lance Kendricks has also been released outright, which is certainly a good thing. I thought he could be a great fit at TE2/3 having had 30-40-50 catch seasons before, but the guy just isn't an NFL level player beyond an emergency stopgap for injuries during the year.

cosatron

allot of talk about drafting a tightend with one of our first round picks, I would prefer if we drafted an OLB and right tackle with those picks. I don't think tightend is worth a first round pick.

raze_them_all_

cosatron wrote: »

allot of talk about drafting a tightend with one of our first round picks, I would prefer if we drafted an OLB and right tackle with those picks. I don't think tightend is worth a first round pick.

gronk, kelce,kittle would beg to differ

cosatron

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

gronk, kelce,kittle would beg to differ

gronk was a second round pick, Kelce was a third round pick and kittle was a fifth round pick.

raze_them_all_

cosatron wrote: »

gronk was a second round pick, Kelce was a third round pick and kittle was a fifth round pick.

pie.face.me.

Billy86

cosatron wrote: »

gronk was a second round pick, Kelce was a third round pick and kittle was a fifth round pick.

This is true, but we're any taken in the first they would still have proven excellent value. A truly game changing TE I would argue is even bigger than a game changing WR, and plenty of those get taken first. The hit rate on first round TEs isn't great though, if I recall. That is a concern.

OldMrBrennan83

Bubba Franks was a first rounder too, so we all know how much luck is involved in the draft.

Really unhappy to see them shell out that much to keep a passenger like Graham around for next year though, regardless of who they draft.

Brendan Bendar

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

Bubba Franks was a first rounder too, so we all know how much luck is involved in the draft.

Really unhappy to see them shell out that much to keep a passenger like Graham around for next year though, regardless of who they draft.

#88 Bubba Franks was a top class blocking TE. A fcuking stud.

I would hold fire on JimmyG.... jeez man we have had so many no name TEs working for us, since Bubba, at least Jimmy is a name.;)

Clutching at straws:cool: