No Easy Answers These Days For Packers
Team-By-Team Offseason Roundup
Green Bay Packers
Players Released:
William Henderson, FB
Free Agents Lost:
Ahman Green, RB
David Martin, TE
Kendrick Allen, DT
Free Agents Re-Signed:
Tyson Walter, T/G
Free Agents Added:
Frank Walker, CB
Draft:
Rd. 1 (No. 16 overall) Justin Harrell, DT, Tennessee
2 (63) Brandon Jackson, RB, Nebraska
3 (78) James Jones, WR, San Jose State
3 (89) Aaron Rouse, S, Virginia Tech
4 (119) Allen Barbre, T, Missouri Southern
5 (157) David Clowney, WR, Virginia Tech
6 (191) Korey Hall, LB, Boise State
6 (192) Desmond Bishop, LB, Cal
6 (193) Mason Crosby, K, Colorado
7 (228) DeShawn Wynn, RB, Florida
7 (243) Clark Harris, TE, Rutgers
Analysis:
There is a fundamental difference between the way that the Green Bay Packers are going about things under General Manager Ted Thompson and Coach Mike McCarthy, and the way that quarterback Brett Favre wants them to go about things. It's not that difficult to understand why each side is thinking the way that it is thinking, but the clash is creating an air of tension that probably will exist until Favre retires.
The Packers aren't particularly close to winning a Super Bowl. They were a dreadful team two seasons ago, and they were better last season but still missed the playoffs in the pitiable NFC. The way that Thompson and McCarthy seem to be looking at things is that this is not a time for roster fine-tuning. It's a time for a roster overhaul, which they already have begun at practically every position.
Except quarterback.
Thompson and McCarthy can't afford to be seen as pushing a football icon like Favre out the door, so their roster overhaul can't really begin in earnest. The Packers are young at most positions but old at quarterback, and when your team is old at quarterback it's old period. The would-be successor, Aaron Rodgers, is in the fold but continues to sit and wait his turn. The Packers have no better idea about whether Rodgers is their long-term solution at quarterback than they did the day that they drafted him.
Favre, however, is in a win-now situation. He doesn't have enough seasons left to worry about how good the Packers will be in three years. He looks around and sees a team that nearly made the playoffs last season, and wants the front office to do something to improve the roster on a short-term basis and get the storied franchise back into the postseason. If Randy Moss is available, the thing to do, in Favre's mind, is go get him.
Who's wrong? Neither, really. Favre has earned the privilege to leave the sport on his terms, when he thinks the time is right. He doesn't want to end his career playing for lousy teams. But Thompson and McCarthy weren't hired to safeguard Favre's legacy. They were hired to try to win a Super Bowl. Clearly, that's not about to happen for these Packers, and the Moss non-trade--and Favre's frustrated reaction to it--underscores just how uneasy things are in Green Bay these days.
By Mark Maske |
May 15, 2007; 11:48 AM ET
| Category:
Packers
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Posted by: pack4life | May 15, 2007 1:28 PM
I kinda have to agree with pack4life that it's a lot too Favre-centric. He's old and he's got to go. We all know that. What are they going to do at RB this year with Green's departure? What about the defense?
Posted by: greg | May 15, 2007 2:48 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
so, did you have an actual "team preview" scribbled out before this favre stuff hit the newswire? this isnt a "team" preview at all, its another edition of "as the favre turns" - nothing at all that we havent already read in your lil' blog and can't get everywhere else. lazy blogging, homey, lazy blogging.
i was really looking forward to this one, i had made it a personal note to respond to every team's preview. but now i'm so butt-hurt that i just may boycott this barely-read corner of the 'net from here on out. i do get pretty bored here @ work, though, & will probably still read this crud - though under protest, mind you, under protest. you suck.
p.s. - deshawn wynn is a fruitcake