There is quite a bit of speculation that Green Bay Packers director of player finance Russ Ball will become the team’s next general manager.
By and large, fans hate this idea. There are now rumors that coach Mike McCarthy hates the idea. And, Jason Wilde says quarterback Aaron Rodgers hates the idea.
Wilde: I had also heard that @AaronRodgers12 doesn't like the idea, at all, of Russ Ball being the GM. #Packers #NFL
— ESPN Madison (@ESPNMadison) January 5, 2018
Wilde has a relationship with Rodgers, so we expect he heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.
What’s there to dislike about Ball?
Plenty.
He has no scouting background. Only in recent years has be started sitting in on film sessions in an effort to pick up some player evaluation skills.
More so, there are reports that Ball is, like Ted Thompson, largely anti-free agency. That’s surely what gets Rodgers, right there.
We all know the Packers need an influx of talent. Players have been railing on the good old draft-and-develop philosophy.
Aaron Rodgers may mask the Packers’ weaknesses on an annual basis, but he needs to be surrounded with more talent if he’s going to win another Super Bowl.
Now the question is, will team president Mark Murphy listen? We know he’s close with Ball, but when the franchise and possibly the coach are sending a clear message — don’t hire Russ Ball to be the GM — Murphy has to listen.
Right?
This whole thing has been such a roller coaster, first McCarthy reportedly likes Ball, they have a history of working together etc. Only now it comes out he’s against him. Rodgers’ input should really hold some weight because he’s due for that contract extension and if he really wanted to force the issue he absolutely could threaten to leave. I don’t think he’d put the packers in that situation, but part of me wishes he would. Save us all from Russ Ball!
No, Murphy will NOT listen to Rodgers and McCarthy. Ginger gap tooth has not listened to Rodgers or McCarthy the past several years when the Quarterback and Head Coach have each hinted at their displeasure about Ted Thompson not acquiring and keeping more marquee players on the roster. Only recently did it take a gaped-mouth Ted Thompson exhibiting symptoms of dementia on national television for Murphy to finally realize it was time to remove Thompson as GM. However, Murphy’s plan all along has been for Russ Ball to eventually step into the GM position. Ball is a Mini-Me of Mark Murphy, and he will continue the status quo of the Packers being overly conservative financially, with little or no participation in signing and trading for big-name players. Look for the draft and develop philosophy to continue for years to come under Ball, along with the unwillingness to re-sign pro bowl caliber free agents such as Julius Peppers, Casey Hayward, Micah Hyde, Josh Sitton, TJ Lang, etc. It goes without saying how sad and pathetic the impending hiring of Ball really is when you consider the Packers have a future hall of fame QB turning 35 this year. The Packers franchise is at a crossroads right now, and Murphy is fully prepared to take the Packers down the wrong road, where simply winning a division championship and going 1 and done in the playoffs will continue to be good enough.
I think Murphy is stuck in a bind because the Executive Committee told him “Get Thompson out, keep McCarthy”. The Executive Committee panicked thinking the last shot the Packers will have at a Super Bowl is the next few years. At this point, every path that could be taken by Murphy will have a big downsides.
Keeping Thompson would have been better.
I disagree with the last part – Thompson needed to go.
Murphy HAS viable options in house if needed, the problem is all the reports saying he wants to go with the least qualified candidate of that group.
I think this mostly goes along with what’s been said on this site before. Murphy was hired for his ability to run a business, not an NFL franchise. This is Green Bay, the fans and the money will always be there, but now he’s being forced to make an actual football decision and he’s completely shitting himself left and right trying to do it. He’s a deer in the headlights when it comes to anything related to the football side of this team. When Murphy got this job he was the right man for it. Our scouting system, our executives, and our entire front office was absolutely loaded with talent from the Wolf era. Now that a lot of those guys have moved on to other teams, it’s forcing Murphy to make more football decisions which he is woefully unqualified to make. Ironically if he had decided to hire a true outside search consultant (and not the guy who GOT him his job as ceo) then we’d all be much better off right now.
Should have kept Thompson?,,,lmao……That’s gold Jerry….GOLD!!….lol
I think Deepsky’s Kenny Bania act might have been a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that keeping a nose-breathing, half-dead Ted Thompson might not have been nearly as disastrous as the holier-than-shit mess that’s about to be created when Russ Ball is promoted to GM.
Mark my words.
This will end up much worse for the Packers than any of you anti Thompson folks realize.
Well….I don’t know that, and you don’t know that.
Here’s what i i do know though….The drafts have sucked, the recent free agency signings have largely been a bust, and Ted looks like he’s ready for a recliner and a personal assistant to help him wipe his ass. The next GM almost can’t do any worse.
To say….this will end up worse than it was with Thompson…..makes me want to remind you all i still have that Mackinac Bridge for sale. It’s only $5,000, and i will even finance dead beat credit with 50% down.
Supernaw, what makes you think Murphy can’t make a football decision? He played 8 years in the NFL as a safety, won a Super Bowl with the Redskins, once led the NFL in interceptions (9 in ’83), and snagged a couple of Pro Bowls. I’m not saying he is a personnel genius or has GM skills, but he is more than an accountant who only knows how to “run a business.” He also has an MBA and law degree.
The problem isn’t Murphy.
It’s executive committee forcing things.
Remember McCarthy has family ties to the executive committee. That’s why they handcuffed Murphy.
A top GM wants full control. That means bringing in his own coach and being allowed to consider trading Rodgers for picks.
Now we should be trading Rodgers?…lol.
If anyone had to suggest anything to Murphy, it was that he needed to finally make a move. In simpler terms….Do his one and only job.
What top GM wants to come into a situation with an aging QB? How long did Thompson stick with Favre? Belichick got rid of Bledsoe and replaced him with Brady. AJ Smith, the new GM of the Chargers got rid of Drew Brees brought in his guy Philip Rivers. When Mike Martz took control of the Rams, although he wasn’t GM, he got rid of Warner and Mike Bulger was his quarterback.
Drew Bledsoe is not Aaron Rodgers. And who are you going to replace him with? Brett Hundley? Some first year rookie QB? With the way things are going maybe they can try to bring back Matt Flynn. Bulger < Warner. The Chargers originally drafted Eli Manning. Imagine how that would have went. They didn't do anything with Rivers either other than put up stats. Brees has a ring, Rivers doesn't.
I’m not saying the replacements were better. I’m saying many new GM/coaches want their own QBs. Many won’t be interested in the Packers job BECAUSE of Rodgers.
Bledsoe was never a great QB. He threw a lot of passes to make some of his AGGRAGATE numbers look good.
Brees hadn’t played all that well until AFTER they traded for Rivers. Then after ne good season played less than stellar again going into a contract year. So five years in SD with a barely 500 record and only 80 TDs versus 53 picks.
Warner and Bulger? Martz and Warner were hand in hand as OC and QB. Becoming head coach I doubt had anything to do with parting ways. More likely it was the two seasons as HC under Martz Warner was 0-7 with 2 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. During those same two seasons Bulger was 18-3. While only having a 36-28 TD/interception ratio it is certainly better than Warner’s.
Then Favre. We all watched Favre. 2005 was about as bad as a QB could play. It sure looked like a QB who was done. McCarthy reigned him in and made him play under control. While he chafed at that, like we would expect Favre too he also revived his career until ultimately throwing yet another playoff game away. Look I know there were other contributers to that loss, but when the game is tied after everything else that happened you want you HOF QB to have the ball in his hands and it is his time to deliver.
So the first three all the QBs played two years after the coach/GM change before the QB changed. Favre got three years, was 38 and was going on about year 10 of will I or won’t I retire? None of those situations are remotely close to Rodgers in GB who is still at his peak and has said he plans to play until 40 something.
As you know, I have a knack for seeing through to the truth. The true truth not immediately evident to all. (Long Deep Chuckle… followed by a wink)
Let’s assemble these little star details into a constellation of uncomfortable transparency.
So Ball has been watching scouting film for years? Assuming this is not pure BS (peer BS?) cooked up to prop up the candidate — I know, never assume this org is not full of BS, but, even so — that obviously means,
1) He was not doing his actual job when he should have been
2) He was groomed and decided upon as the successor years ago when eh began watching that film instread of doing his actual job.
I’m sure young Wolf and Gutekunst have that figured out. So did Highsmith obviously.
Now there is some pressure — some actual awareness taking place — regarding the idiocy of putting Ball in that position. Avert, Avert, Avert !!!
But Ginger Gap doesn’t want to select Wolf or Gutekunst. They are secondary options. + he has already told Ball he would take Ball over them. And Ball is his buddy. If he is going to back-stab Ball by doing the right thing he has to make it look like there was a great “unexpected” candidate that made it impossible to take Ball.
Notice how internals were interviewed first — that is normal — but only after public outcry has any reaching out to external candidates taken place. That is abnormal.
But the funniest thing is that Ginger Gap is getting shut down by them across the board. Now, it could eb on purpose — he chooses those he knows will turn down interviews or teams will block them (all 3 fit that category and no, the Buffalo guy Whaley does not even count as one of them or one of any candidate — he is pure Rooney Rule going through the motions). He may want to make it look like he tried and had an open mind and was not scared of outsiders. Or he may really desperately now want the “out” of an outside guy and is failing.
This is ugly.
The bears, Packers and Lions were all down this year. In other words, the only time when the Vikings win the division.
Now if they were still playing outside, I could see them getting to the Super Bowl by beating Rams, Falcons, Saints, or Panthers in subzero temps, winning undeservedly like they did in the 70s.
But I think the saints or falcons will embarrass them at home.
This is the first time Murphy has had to make a decision which does not involve snow slides or theme parks and it sounds like he will fail miserably. Perhaps it’s time to make a change at the top for the good of the franchise.
KILLER
01/05/2018 at 4:18 pm
As you know, I have a knack for seeing through to the truth. The true truth not immediately evident to all. The truth of the matter is, i truthfully will be rooting for my truly talented Vikings to go all the way and win the Super Bowl on their home turf. But i truly, truly doubt, that when the truth rears it’s head, that the Vikings have any truthful chance in hell at truthfully winning a Super Bowl, and that is the true truth as i see it. (Long Deep Chuckle… followed by a wink)
^^^^ THAT ^^^^^