The Green Bay Packers made a good-faith effort to keep receiver Donald Driver around this season by restructuring his contract. If they hadn’t done so, he likely would have been cut since nobody pays a No. 4 or 5 receiver $5 million per season.
The contract, which substantially cut into Driver’s salary, made several things pretty clear. One of them is the Packers expect Driver to ride off into the sunset after the season is over.
Donald Driver has not received that memo.
On Wednesday Driver said he plans to play two more years.
“I’m going to play two more years, this one, then next year, then I’m completely done,” he said. “(I’m) gonna put my cleats on the shelf and do something different.”
“I’ve always said I wanted to retire a Packer,” Driver went on, “and now I get that opportunity to retire for, as I always say, the best franchise in the world.”
Has anyone seen What About Bob?
Although we love Driver, this dude is pretty much bending the Packers over a barrel and pulling their pants down with crude intentions on his mind.
First, the issue of too many receivers is well documented. The Packers have seven legitimate NFL receivers. They’ve traditionally kept only five on the final roster. One of those guys — Randall Cobb — needs to be on the field more often. Two more — practice squaders Tori Gurley and Diondre Borel — are going to be on another team’s roster if not the Packers’.
So the first issue is, the Packers will have to sacrifice at least one youngster with a hell of a lot more upside than Driver just to keep the vet around this year.
Second, there’s the public relations issue. After winning Dancing With The Stars, Driver has never been more popular. The Packers front office puckers their collective butthole every time someone mentions the PR disaster brought on by the Brett Favre situation. If the Packers part ways with Driver before he’s ready to go, they’re going to have some angry fans on their hands. That’s an especially uncomfortable situation for a small-town, image-conscious organization like the Packers.
So the second issue is, by publicly stating he wants to play two more seasons, Driver puts the Packers in the unenviable position of either using a roster spot on a guy past his prime or dealing with the PR fallout of parting ways with another long-time fan favorite.
Thanks a lot, buddy!
Love Donald, and I’m glad he’s back this year. This was the organization doing him a solid…But I’m a Packer fan first and foremost, and if he has to play elsewhere next year to ensure a stronger receiving corps well into the future, I’m fine with it. I’ll be treating this season as his swan song.
Driver is my favorite Packer of all time (granted I’m too young to remember the teams of the 60s, 70s, and 80s). If he goes elsewhere in 2013, so be it. I just hope he goes out of the division. He’ll do like LdT and honorarily retire a Packer anyway, I’m sure.
I think he’ll make the most of his time on the field this year, too. The old man has something to prove.
Tone it down there dude. WR’s are a dime a dozen, and neither of the 2 extra we have even come close to DD.
We haven’t had an injured WR in forever. We’re about due, and if it happens we’ll be glad we still have DD the stud.
I swear on all that’s holy, Monty, you do this shit to piss me off. Crude intentions in his mind? I love you to death but right now if you were here, I’d punch you in the junk. Did he have crude intentions when he agreed to less money without so much as a tweet?
Doing him a favor? He is not a drag on the team, like Favre became in his final days, and Driver’s off the field leadership is unmatched. I don’t recall him making the Green Bay Packers arrested list.
Was his production down last season? Yes it was, but so was everyone elses. Only Jordy Nelson was over 1000 receiving yards. When you have a receiving & TE corp as deep as ours, its going to happen. Unlike Finley, however, he didn’t whine on twitter about it….he just told the press that’s how it is when you have this much talent on a team.
Donald is rugged. He went 7 years…SEVEN YEARS without missing a game due to injury.
Iltarion, before you start in on me, in the forum you have Don Hutson & Sterling Sharpe on your top 20 all-time greatest Packers, however, Driver’s all-time receiving yards beats them BOTH. He ranks 5th in the NFL for receiving yards since 2000.
I’m sick to death of hearing about the practice squad guys who’s spot Driver is supposedly taking…if the PS guys are so incredible, why are they still on the practice squad? Why hasn’t another team snapped them up? Someone who REALLY wants to play will play somewhere… anywhere….if they get an offer. Driver earned his spot on the roster, and will do so again this year… and hopefully give all you doubters a great big shitburger to eat. If he really does decide to play another year, so be it. I’d be willing to bet cash that when we win it all this year, Driver will rethink his retirement target. When he does retire, then the organization should put him in charge of player development.
Keeping him on the roster for 2 more years will not hurt the team, but it will give a dedicated player the dignity he deserves for his class and loyalty. For all of you that say sentimentality should mean nothing in the NFL or within the Green Bay Packers organization, then please send your worthless Packers stock certificates to me in the mail–Monty has my address.
Whew. I need a drink.
Couldn’t agree more or have said it any better!
So, what is more predictable?
Monty going off about DD taking a roster spot from Gurley or Borel.
nurseratchett defending DD.
Or me piling on either or both?
I think we’ve had this discussion before and my thoughts have been made clear. I don’t know when Gurley or Borel bought the Golden Key to the Crapper.
I have to see something from them before I’m ready to give them a roster spot over DD. Something more than the mere happenstance of youth.
Personally, I don’t have any doubt that he who traded Favre would have no problem cutting DD if he isn’t one of the best 53. Last I checked, public relations don’t factor into TT’s decisions.
And NR, DD is one of the greatest Packer WRs of all time. Hutson and Sterling are two of the greatest NFL WRs of all time. There is a difference.
Your right, there’s a huge difference. If you say Hutson or Sharpe to the casual NFL fan (aka none of we Packer geeks that frequent here), they’re probably going to say 1) Who? and 2) Yes, I love Shannon’s commentary on CBS & the NFL network…..
Like Shannon said, he is the only HOF member who isn’t the best player in his own family.
Why are we developing Gurley and Borel? For charitable reasons? I think not. DD is (and will soon be was) a great Packer. This is a biz’ness after all. He’s got one more year w GB and one of the other aforementioned young WRs is gone this season as a result.
This is simple, folks. As of July 12, neither Gurley or Borel have earned a spot on the 2012 roster. The same goes for Driver, and f he isn’t one of the fifth or sixth best receivers at the close of camp, you cut him. That’s the way a football team is supposed to be run. Everyone gets a fair shot. The winners earn their place while the losers take the walk. You may have seen this harsh yet effective selection format on display in another game: life.
Team image and public relations have no place for consideration in this debate. One of Ted Thompson’s strongest qualities is his willingness to make a hard and sometimes unpopular decision for the betterment of the franchise. Our fanbase was practically split down the middle after he let Favre walk. Look where the team, as well as its fans, are after the dust settled. Now more than ever, in Ted I trust.
Hey nursegenious, he didnt really mean driver has crude intentions on his mind. It was an analogy pretty much saying he has the front office by the balls and they have no recourse
Oh, gee, really?
I love the Green Bay Packers…and Donald Driver. Donald Driver is no where near the drag you describe him to be. He wants to finish out a great career for the Packers, an awesome and honorable decision. But at the Packers expense? On the contrary. He stayed because he knows he has a lot to offer. Maybe you didn’t watch the last season games. only the end of the year stats. He was one of the, if not the most consistent receiver on the team. Very few dropped balls. and when it counted…who was catching passes in the last playoff game? Donald Driver, when everyone else was dropping them right in the frickin bread basket. The fact that he won Dancing with The Stars us just a plus…and shows additional versatility. Hes been a top notch player and he will still be one when he retires. Whether that is this year or next year.