The offseason is here for the Green Bay Packers after another disappointing playoff finish.
What will that offseason hold? There are plenty of free agent decisions to be made with the Packers’ own players. Typically, other than the draft, that’s pretty much what the Packers’ offseason comes down to.
However, quarterback Aaron Rodgers seemed to suggest the team needed to find a way to get stronger this year in order to make another Super Bowl run, following the Packers’ latest playoff dud.
“I don’t think we need to rebuild. We need to reload,” Rodgers said.
“We’ve just got to make sure we’re going all-in every year to win. And I think we can take a big step this offseason.”
Those are an interesting choice of words.
Much is made every year the Packers don’t field a top-tier team of how the organization is wasting Rodgers’ prime. You could again make that argument this year.
The Packers’ defense ended up having a shortage of playmakers. The running game was often nonexistent.
Is this the year the Packers actually do something in free agency to really load up for a Super Bowl shot? As long as Ted Thompson is general manager, we highly doubt it.
I suppose we can dream though. Rodgers obviously is.
Maybe we should all start to get that Super Bowl mindset before week 10. Of course, that starts with the front office. *cough cough
Based on the lack of urgency displayed yesterday when “attempting” to mount a comeback in the second half, it may be reasonable to think anyone in an administrative capacity within the organization does not understand time is of the essence.
The Falcons let up after being up 31-0. It would have taken an “Act of God” to win that game. the Players knew it, the coaches knew it, we all knew it. By halftime, instead of being pissed off, i already resigned myself to laughing instead of crying. A skill i’ve acquired over the years in the playoffs.
We all have to look ahead….but that’s hard to do with Thompson in charge .
What Rodgers said was a indirect shot at TT. ( “We’ve just got to make sure we’re going all-in every year to win.”) Rodgers knows the Packers are sitting on player money. Rodgers knows that TT doesn’t do everything he could to put the best team on the field. Rodger knows TT doesn’t utilize all his tools to improve talent. Rodgers is nobody’s fool.
If Rodgers wanted to leave and go to a better situation. I wouldn’t blame him one bit.
Couldn’t have said it any better.
I used to get so irate and in a trance after losses, the brutal losses since 10 have pretty much made it to where I’m not as mad anymore. It’s kind of expected now. Like many, after about 5 minutes yesterday I was laying back comfortably on the couch knowing what was gonna happen. Only thing is this makes the Seattle game hurt that much more because they had that one wrapped up.
I think what pissed me off more yesterday was knowing and seeing all the problems and needs and knowing it’ll be status quo.
Should be an awesome time to be a pack fan, living through the favre and Rodgers era. Instead it’s gonna go down as one of the most painful failures in sports. I just feel for Rodgers. I was one to get on him early in the season but this guy does so much and can only do it alone for so long.
He needs a leader on that d to step up and make plays. Like clay used to. He’s done. They don’t have a Woodson or tramon at cb. Butler or Collins at s. The d line pass rush is non existent. There’s no Reggie white, KGB, kampman, Gilbert brown etc.
It’s so tough just to get this close let alone win it all. I keep saying it, I hate them but Dallas is gonna be a monster challenge for the rest of Rodgers career.
Some say it was on the o as well which is true to a certain extent. Yeah they should have scored something, anything before half. That was surprising but the fact is they’ve played almost perfect for what 8 or more games in a row now. There was bound to be a game where they made a mistake or didn’t score 38. It happened to be the biggest game of the season and while I didn’t expect the d to keep it 0-0 into the third, getting that fumble right to Ryan woulda sufficed. Of one of those 2 balls Ryan threw up for our guys before half woulda been nice. 17-0 or maybe 17-7 is better than 24-0. Especially when you get the ball back. Oh well. Here’s to an offseason of hope for changes. Oh and fuck you Brandon bostick!
I resigned myself to the fact earlier this season that this wasn’t going to be a repeat of 2010. It was nice not to have the gut wrenching loss like the past 2 seasons. It was over in the 1st quarter. Love the Packers but don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel right now. The future may very well be bleak, which no petition or amount of bitching from the fanbase is ever going to fix. Seems like only yesterday there was talk about how this decade could be ruled by Rodgers and the Packers after they won the Super Bowl. Like the song says
“Slip sliding away, slip sliding away
You know the nearer your destination,
The more you’re slip sliding away”
Agree Empac. We know what has happened the last 6 years in the playoffs, and my thought on that is…
The more things stay the same, the more things stay the same.
https://www.gofundme.com/help-packers-get-free-agents
PF4L
11/29/2016 at 11:56 am
I’m not sure why people value winning right now, and getting in the playoffs, more than they value possible change in upper management. I can understand team loyalty. but isn’t team loyalty looking at the future, the big picture of the next 5 years of Rodgers and the Packers? To me that’s loyalty.
90% of you have been calling for change, TT or MM or both. Realistically, what do you think winning now and making the playoffs this year will do to help make those changes? If the Packers make the playoffs, TT and MM go no where, Period. End of Story. Yes, Capers will still be fired. but to me, the defensive problems are caused more by TT than DC.
Now lets say the Packers reach your dream of getting into the playoffs.
Has anything happened this season, or in the past 5 seasons in the playoffs or this current GM or HC that makes you believe the Packers have any chance in hell of getting to the Super Bowl this year, especially with no running game, and no defense?
PF4L
11/30/2016 at 12:57 pm
I guess for some Packer fans. the last 5 years of playoff futility isn’t enough for them, they want to endure another year or 2 of it.
Guaranteed…. Everyone that is rooting for wins right now and getting into the playoffs, will be clamoring for the removal of TT and MM immediately after the 1st embarrassing playoff loss.
In the past 5 seasons, we’ve had better teams go into the playoffs than we have this year. This team can’t run, and can’t play defense. Where do you think this team is going even if they got in the playoffs?
If i said it once, i’ve said it 30 times….This team needs new blood. This teams upper management is old and stale….Enough already.
And find a President, who has the balls to say/do something…besides saying…….. “I don’t 2nd guess Ted”.
The only question now is when do they fire the fall guy.
To me, Capers is that fall guy. I don’t know that’s necessarily a function of anything he did or didn’t do, however. When Kevin Greene says at the HOF induction ceremony that Dom Capers is an outstanding coach. Every player knows what their assignments are on every play. That they don’t says there are either mental limitations, athletic limitations, or communication issues. As a player, a coach that communicates and teaches all those things is a great coach.
But when your BEST corner is a 2nd year undrafted free agent that ran a 4.7 40 coming out, you have not successfully stocked the cupboard. The swiss army knife of your secondary in Micah Hyde ran a 4.6. We continue to have one of the youngest rosters in the NFL year in and year out. That we win the division and make the playoffs is a sign of excellent coaching.
I said at the start of the “run the table” conversation that I didn’t necessarily want success because it meant that the status quo would remain. I was glad to see Elliot Wolf and Gutekunst interviewed for GM jobs. It’s forcing Murphy’s hand to do SOMETHING.
The gotcha is that none of us know next to nothing about any of those guys because TT doesn’t allow them to be interviewed by the media. Will Wolf (or whomever) sign reasonable free agents? I have no idea – but I do have hope.
I think you have to provide Rodgers full quote at the end of last nights press conference to get the full statement to TT and Murphy.
“I still feel pretty young. I think I have a number of years left in me. I can play at a high level. We just got to make sure we are going all in every year to win, and I think we can take a big step this offseason”
To me Rodgers is not only calling out TT he is saying my contract is up soon and if you don’t do something I will be out of here and playing for another team as soon as possible. I still think TT will step down this offseason.
The one thing about Rodgers saying he thinks the team needs to reload not rebuild indicates to me he does not want to see coaching changes. For better or worse Rodgers must feel his final years are tied to MM. They are married to making it work. Rodgers probably does not want a new head coach or a change to the offensive system in place. Rodgers does want the team to address player upgrades or holes in free agency.
Capers probably is going to be the fall guy, but I still would like to see a different defensive system and coordinator. Not sure what that means for the defensive position coaches. To me TT or the new GM does have to get Capers or the new D.C. the right guys to run the system.
I know Shawn does his pod cast with Monty. Some of those go to long to listen to and the longer they go the drunker Monty sounds. That is really bad when Monty starts out drunk. I would sure like to see Shawn’s take on the management, coaching staff and player changes that he may suggest or have strong feelings about.
If i could pick just one person to be gone, it would be TT. As he effects the defense as much or more than Capers. Don’t get me wrong though, new blood anywhere is welcome.
I think your contention of TT stepping down is very possible, especially with the new contract of Wolf. There has to be new language in the contract as far as guarantee’s of the GM position. I guessed after next season, so i hope i’m wrong.
I vote for Kevin Greene.
I raised the same name in the predictions comment yesterday. I only said a Kevin Greene personality. I wonder how he would be with play calling? I know that his attitude of what a defense should be is something I would love.
I’ll tell you….i heard a long interview with him awhile back on audio. He had a lot of nice things to say about Capers. He said if you buy in, his system works. But he also said, it’s complex and difficult to learn for the newer guys, and even some veterans. He said back in 2010, they had the players to pull it off.
He didn’t get into details, but he also made it very clear he does not like Ted whatsoever. And the problems that he had, were with him. Even insinuating Ted’s the reason why he left, leaving no gray area. I don’t recall if he had problems with McCarthy.
Even just on this taped audio in retirement. This dude is passionate, intense, and full of energy and enthusiasm
Howard, i’d love to talk about Rodgers contract, a new one, and how it might relate to the ultimate goal. But another time as i gotta bounce.
PF4L- got a link handy by chance? I wouldn’t mind hearing this. Him not liking TT is very interesting.
A few things in my super hungover state:
1 Damarious Randall is NOT a corner. The packers need to stop playing this cute game. He is a safety, period. He doesn’t have the tools to consistently excel in man to man coverage. His only shot at succeeding in the NFL is to play FS.
2 Capers needs to go. Had since the 2012 playoff loss to the 49ers. When his defense isn’t giving up 35+ points in the playoffs, they fail to step up when it counts. See 2013 and 2014 playoff games.
Mike needs to grow a pair and move on from Capers.
3 Ultimately, I place the blame for this debacle on Ted Thompson. Not Mike. Hindsight is 20/20 on deferring. The packers have always excelled at scoring at the end of the half, then taking the opening kick-off in the second half down the field and doubling up. This has no effect on the outcome of the game. The packers were overmatched on defense, period.
TT should have kept either House or Hayward. Preferably House. His size and physicality were a dimension that this cornerback group lacks. He has success against guys like Megatron and Julio Jones. The running back situation was a joke this year.
4 This off-season will be very telling about the direction this team is going. If the packers don’t negotiate a contract with Rodgers this offseason, he may very well be leaving the packers. Not saying I support this in any way, but the packers have shown in the past that they aren’t afraid to move on from players.
Ted could have kept both House and Heyward financially. But TT put his chips all in on his draft picks. They also would have had to figure out how to bring out the best in those two. But it’s hard to do any worse than what they got right now.
Some of us have declared Gunter the Packers #1 cornerback. After watching yesterday, if he is in fact our #1. We’re in big trouble.
If reloading means replacing the three stooges, which would be good, we do understand that implies rebuilding afterwards don’t we?
Ted Thompson is the culprit here. He gets no credit for “North” division titles–there are only two
teams in the division! (Detroit and Chicago don’t count, and are incapable of winning it.) So big
fucking deal that GB makes the playoffs every year–how could they not?
Think it’s time for D.C. To go. New blood is needed and a new schem. Hard to totally blame him as he can only use what ted gives him. Pull up the last 5 years or so of packer drafts and you see how horrible ted has done. Might have to go a little farther back for some really stupid picks. Don’t know who they would bring in but something has do be done.
Whomever does want to inherit this shit show is in for a big challenge. Didn’t have much but it looks like peppers perry and jones are gone and we’ll replace them with the awesome draft picks of Lowry and throw in Christian ringo and maybe Elliot.
Noticed early in the game yesterday there was a play, I believe on a third down completion. The pack rushed 2 guys. 2! And still the guy was wide open. They blitzed, no one got home guys we’re wide open. They played zone, no pressure and guys were wide open. All around just an embarrassing performance. Rodgers could only mask this for so long.
At least we can say we have a bunch of playoff appearances in a row, and only one trip to the super bowl to show for it. Good thing playoff births are all we strive for so Murphy can build his little amusement park and ignore everything football related.