It was astutely pointed out this morning that the Green Bay Packers once again haven’t signed an unrestricted free agent from another team.
They’re the only team in the NFL to fall into that category.
Well, what about Julius Peppers you say? He was released by the Bears. Doesn’t count. Well what about that dude the Packers signed away from the Vikings? Same thing.
And it looks like this M.O. was taken with purpose. Ted Thompson is looking to stockpile compensatory draft picks.
The NFL awards these picks based on some top secret formula, but we know at its simplest level if you lose more unrestricted free agent than you sign, you get picks. The Packers got two compensatory picks this year — a third and a fifth — for losing Greg Jennings and Erik Walden last year and signing no one.
Now, if you look at it from the perspective of a trade, it makes some sense. Would you trade Walden for a fifth? Sure, why not? Would you trade Jennings for a third? Probably.
The only problem with that philosophy is then you actually have to go out and get somebody who’s worth a shit in the draft. Ted hasn’t been so great at doing that lately.
This year, the Packers have lost four guys in unrestricted free agency. Two of those guys — Evan Dietrich-Smith and James Jones — were starters. We could see the Packers landing a fourth and a fifth next year as compensation.
That’s the problem with not signing unrestricted free agents though. Next year.
When the hell are we going to get a team built for this year?