Like most guys who have played for the Chicago Bears in the past 10 years, new Green Bay Packers tight end Martellus Bennett hated Aaron Rodgers.
“I hated playing against Aaron,” Bennett said. “I just got off the phone with him, I said, ‘I hate that guy on the other side,’ but it’s going to be pretty good to be on the same side with him and catching passes. I’ve seen him make a lot of amazing throws and he’s been one of the best for a really long time. I’m just going to try to come in and contribute to the best of my ability.”
And like most jokes, there’s an element of truth to it.
Naturally, if you played for the Bears, as Bennett did for three years, of course you hate the Packers and Aaron Rodgers.
That’s because they’re always whooping your ass!
Lately, Bennett has had it good, though.
In those three years in Chicago, the Bears went 19-29. Then he got traded to the Patriots and won a Super Bowl, while Tom Brady was throwing him the ball.
Now Bennett will get to try to duplicate that with Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball.
I’ve always liked and respected Martellus. He has a great sense of humor, too. Called himself “Black Unicorn”. He is a very good signing by TT and for a fair price.
That said: Martellus is taller with better hands but he is also slower and older. He does not threaten the seem deep like Cook can and is much more likely to break down (although maybe not if the Packers get him on their PED program). Martellus is very good and quite different than Cook but not an actual upgrade over him.
Getting him instead of Cook is much better than just losing out on Cook with no replacement. TT is very lucky that, after he alienated Cook, Martellus was still there and willing to sign. Otherwise it would have been quite ugly. How ugly? Richard Rodgers ugly.
So, lose Cook, gain Bennett = A push.
(*I believe Cook also could have been signed for less $ than Martellus)
Resign Nick Perry = very necessary but, still, a push. Not an improvement. Just… same.
Meanwhile lost are Micah Hyde (a guy I really respect), J.C. Tretter, Julius Peppers, and, almost certainly, T.J. Lang. I’ll assume they resign Eddie Lacy.
So, following free agency, are the Packers better? No. They are worse. Clearly. Obviously.
Sure, they have the draft coming up but so does every other team. Most of them pick higher or have better GMs. Heck, most of them have both.
If the injury bug does not hit the Packers and Aaron is focused and healthy I think they have a shot to make it to 9-7. That said, I think Aaron is due for an injury. A major injury. The Due Theory. Am I rooting for it? No. (Aaron is a jerk but an injured jerk is still a jerk. Injuries do not cure poor character.) Is the Due Theory a real thing with a proven track record? Again, no. But, no Sitton, no Tretter, most likely no Lang… maybe this is more calculation than theory…..
How could Cook have been signed for less money when he was supposedly turning down offers of more than the Packers paid Bennett?? It seems Cook was trying to strong arm the Packers, and take serious advantage of the TE situation, and he lost. Also, Bennett is a much better overall TE than Cook. He’s a much better blocker, better route runner, and Cook isn’t all that much faster than Bennett anymore. Cook isn’t a 4.5 guy anymore. Also, Bennett can get up the seam downfield and cause some headaches himself. He had a long of 58 last year, Cook 47. Cook had a 20+ yard catch every 5 catches, Bennett every 5.5 catches. Bennett averaged 12.7 yards per catch, Cook 12.6. And Bennett definitely is more reliable hands wise. It’s better than just a push, it’s an upgrade, and for cheaper than what they were offer Jared Cook.
Keyword…supposedly
Bennett, might be an upgrade from Cook, time will tell, he does block better. But the Packers have to feature him more than they did Cook for it to matter.
As far as The Packers signing Bennett cheaper than Cook. PFT has 2 separate articles contradicting each other on that. Plus Demovsky also reported it and what does that tell us….pretty much nothing, because it’s Demovsky.
Jared Cook says he never turned down an offer. That would mean, the Packers never offered him one. i find that hard to believe.
Here’s what i think….Cook and his agent got greedy and overplayed their hand. and they both got punked!!
Well played Ted, on this go around anyway.
And only 9-7?? That’s pretty ignorant. First off, TJ Lang will be back. He’ll get an offer somewhere around 4 years, 35 mil outside of Green Bay, and he’ll re-sign in Green Bay for 4 years, 30-32 mil. With the Oline fully intact, Lacy returning healthy, Jordy, Adams, Cobb, Allison, Bennett and Ty, this will easily be one of the league best and hardest to stop offenses. Defensively, you have to trust in player development. Most teams don’t get better by having an amazing free agency, or a draft, most get better from year to year with player progression. Right now, there’s maybe 7 projected starters 24 years old or younger. That’s a very young defense. Also, I wouldn’t count on Ted Thompson not doing anything the rest of the time. Could definitely see them add Connor Barwin to help the pass rush, and probably bring back Davon House. Clearly, there’s no telling what he’s doing, cause nobody had a clue what was going on with Nick Perry, and nobody had a clue what was going on with Bennett until after he signed. Healthy Packers team, they will be 11-5 at least. And it’s even more ignorant on your part to say somebody is “due” for a major injury. Complete ignorance!!
Here’s some thoughts to that….
1) We best get Lang back
2) What have we gained, from trusting Ted and player development the last 6 years…Next to nothing.
3) Teams’s get better all the time from free agency, Denver built a defense that won the SB through free agency. The Patriots surely utilize free agency. Stop with this player progression nonsense. I can name a list a mile long of players we haven’t developed. And a handful we have. And please don’t come at me with…..you don’t build a team through free agency…..we all get that for the 100th time, but free agency can help your team with missing pieces.
4) We all had a clue with Nick Perry, that he would be signed, and overpayed. Read some past post poindexter.
5) How has player development worked for our defense.
6) What’s ignorant….is stating this team will be at “least” 11-5. with this current defense. Complete ignorance!!
First post had some good points and useful stats. Second post was sort of Kool-Aid ingestion spewed forth.
I did ignore the blocking factor and that is a good point as Bennett is an incredible blocker. Also, I thought Cook was younger but they are both “old folks” at age 30. I am not sure what Cook was demanding (and neither can you be) which is why I couched my observational comment in the “I believe” language.
We’ll see what he signs for — I’d wager he signs for less than Martellus Bennett. Remember, what a player asks for (and, again, we don’t know what he asked for) is often very different from what they sign for in the end. If another team signs him for 5 million a year then I’m sure the Packers could have gotten him for that, too.
Soooo… you say you have some inside knowledge on how Cook is slower now? I guess most players slow with age but that would apply to Bennett also, right? So, they would slow about the same amount being the same age? When drafted Cook was nearly two tenths of a second faster in the 40 than Bennett. He was also faster in the 10 yard dash.
In my post I gave Bennett credit for being taller — and he is by one inch — but he actually does not play as tall as his vertical leap is 34 inches vs. Cook’s incredible 41 inch vertical. So, play wise in contested ball situations or jumping for the overthrow Cook is actually 6 INCHES TALLER! So on that I gave Bennett too much credit.
With the age factored in I will give Bennett the nod as being the slightly better player. Also, NFL.com has Bennett as the 16th best free agent and Cook at #34.
But the catch stats from last year you site are almost completely irrelevant and useless. Two very different offenses. Brady is famous for using his TEs. So is Belichick. Rodgers and McCarthy are just the reverse of that. If Cook had been on the Patriots and Bennett on the Packers last year they would have had the opposite stats most likely.
Second post you kinda ran off the rails but proved your Packer blind zealotry. It would be almost shocking if Lang returned to the team. Not impossible but very surprising. They back-stabbed his buddy Josh and they disrespected Lang personally. It is also not a forgone conclusion that Lacy comes back at all.
The Packers were 10-6 last year against the easiest schedule in the NFL. Next year it will be 18th. Still easier than average but not a cakewalk. The Packers will likely lose Lang, the #14 free agent, did lose Hyde, the #25 free agent, might lose Lacy, the #32 free agent, and have lost Tretter the #70 free agent. So, an average team would have one free agent in the Top 32 and the Packers had 4. Bennett may be a small upgrade over Cook but you also lost Peppers and that is 7.5 sacks out the door. Can Kyler Fackrell pick up that slack? Maybe. Maybe not.
Fans always talk about injured players coming back but, guess what? More injuries happen.
My above post was in response to Nelson Cobb, btw.
Good luck with someone reading it…lol
We’re waiting for you to write a post why a viking fan is so interested and obsessed with the detailed inner workings of another team. Call me crazy, but i’ve never seen anyone do that. But hey, maybe they were normal.
No judgements.
Fuck you killer. NOBODY reads your garbage. We see your name and tell you to go away. Don’t clarify your comments nobody read them.
The Packers will win the division and make a deep playoff run. It’s what they do.
The mouth-breathers in purple will be watching the post-season on TV. It’s what they do.
Nobody here reads or cares about your opinion. I don’t know why you keep writing once anyone sees your name on top they don’t read your garbage. Oh wait yes I do know why you do it, because you have no life outside of the computer screen. Go back to surfing porn now.
I care about Nelson Cobb’s opinion, I just don’t totally agree. You should be nicer to him, FERRIS. He posts less often than you and seems much more knowledgeable. Only low brows rely on attacks and insults. And, hey, this America, if Nelson wants to surf porn I say, God Bless Him.
Killer, i believe Ferris post was directed at you, but no expects you to understand everything you read so it’s all good.
Killer has a good point though….This is America!!
Killer has every right to surf porn.
Just as killers mom and sister have a right to be $20 street walkers.
God Bless America.
I meant your opinion idiot. You’re proving my point that you have no life outside of porn and trolling.
There were two guys that the Packers could never stop when playing the bears. Bennett and Forte. The only way the Packers could slow those two down from was blitzing Cutler to keep Bennett and Forte in pass protection. Forte did not do so well in pass pro, Bennett was very good.
I feel like we are trading sideways….that’s totally based on emotion.