As I said when free agency started the FAKE NEWS put out by
the Trump...er...Thompson Administration made everyone salivate thinking about
the quick fixes The Ted was going to sign to fix the Packers defense. Everyone
took the feelers sent out by Trump....er....Thompson as gospel truth, except
me, and once again the fools got fooled.
Going into the free agency the top positions needing
attention were on defense. with cornerback, outside linebacker and inside
linebacker the top positions. Running back and offensive line and the
re-signing of tight end Jared Cook were the priorities on offense.
First The Ted went on a spending spree with his $43,568,612
cap room by signing 3 of his own free agents, former No. 1 pick bust Nick Perry
to a 5 yr. $59 million dollar contract, current bust at left and right tackle
Don Barclay to a 1 yr. $1.3 million dollar contract and the day before
re-signing punter Jacob Schum to an undisclosed contract presumed to be worth
$615,000.
So before free agency began outside linebacker was
shored up with the re-signing of Perry and his team-leading 11 sacks, but it
became unshored when Julius Peppers and his 7.5 sacks left to return to the
Panthers.
The offensive line was shored up if you think Barclay
is a good player, but it became unshored when center JC Tretter signed with the
Browns and today when former Pro Bowl right guard T.J. Lang signed with the
Lions.
In the kicking game The Ted kept his punter and
signed rookie Taybor Pepper as long snapper leaving unrestricted free agent
long snapper Brett Goode still unsigned.
Almost immediately cornerback/safety became more of
an acute problem with the loss of Micah Hyde to the Bills (5 yr./$30.5m). Hyde
indicated he wanted to come back to the Packers, but had no talks with The Ted
about re-signing.
Then The Ted jumped into the deep end of the
unrestricted free agent market for the first time since 2012 when he signed
defensive end Anthony "Bountygate" Hargrove and center Jeff
"Empty Tank" Saturday and signed former Bear tight end by way of the
Patriots Martellus Bennett to a 3-year $21 million contract when the talks
between last year's street free agent signing Cook went south.
To compare the 2 Cook, who will turn 30 on April 7,
was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft by the Titans. He spent 4
seasons with the Titans and wasn't re-signed after suing the league to be
treated as a wide receiver instead of a tight end and ended up signing with the
Rams to a 4-year contract, but was cut after 3 before signing with the Packers.
Cook is coming off an injury-filled season where he
missed almost all of training camp after foot surgery and then played the first
3 games (starting 2) catching 6 passes for 53 yards and no TDs, or basically
being a non-factor. He then injured his ankle and missed 7 weeks (6 games + the
bye) before returning for the final 7 games of the regular season (starting 3)
and again he was basically a non-factor catching 24 passes for 324 yards and 1
TD. It was during the playoffs that Cook suddenly became Aaron Rodgers favorite
target and he responded during the 3 games catching 18 passes for 229 yards and
2 TDs, including "The Catch" against the Cowboys.
Bennett just turned 30 on March 10, but has spent
one more season in the NFL after being drafted in the 2nd round of the 2008
draft by the Cowboys. After being a backup to Jason Witten he played out his
4-year rookie contract and signed with the Giants for 1 season in 2012 and then
with the Bears in 2013. Since then he has missed just 5 games (he finished his
last season with the Bears (2015) on injured reserve with fractured ribs).
Since 2012 Bennett has been one of the top tight
ends in the league averaging 64 catches, 688 yards, 5 TDs a season, including
90 catches for 916 yards and 6 TDs in 2014 with the Bears and last season he
caught 55 passes for 701 yards and 7 TDs with the Patriots.
Beyond replacing Cook tight end doesn't seem to be a
high priority with Richie "Hail Mary" Rodgers still on the team.
Rodgers had his breakout season in 2015 finishing 58 catches for 510 yards and
8 TDs, including the "Hail Mary" against the Lions, but fell back
last year with 30 catches for 271 yards and 2 TDs with the arrival of Cook.
Rodgers' 58 catches fell 3 short of the team record for season catches by a
tight end held by Jermichael Finley.
But for some reason Coach Mike McCarthy and The Ted
don't like Rodgers and it showed on Friday when The Ted signed recently waived
Rams tight end Lance Kendricks to an undisclosed contract. For the record
Kendricks is a street free agent, not an unrestricted free agent. Kendricks was
a 2011 2nd round draft pick by the Rams and has missed just 3 games in 6 seasons
with the Rams averaging 34 catches, 355 yards, 3 TDs a season.
Kendricks is coming off his best season with 50
catches, his second best yardage total with 499 (519 being his best) and 2 TDs
(5 TDs being his best). It is reported that he was cut because he dropped too
many passes.
It is now Day 4 of free agency and the top free
agent available would upgrade the Packers defense significantly. Former Patriot
Dont'a Hightower, ranked the 4th best free agent overall and best inside
linebacker, is still unsigned. NFL.com states about him, "Author of two of the most important plays in
the Patriots' last two Super Bowl victories, Hightower also has emerged as the
best blitzing inside linebacker in football and a leader on New England's
defense."
This is a quality football player
who is just 27 years old. Last year another Super Bowl hero, inside linebacker
Danny Trevathan, who was 25 at the time, wanted to sign with the Packers and
The Ted ignored him. He signed with the Bears. After playing 9 games he ended
up on injured reserve with a knee injury.
Can you imagine how great the
Packers defense would be with Trevathan and Hightower manning the middle
instead of lightweights Jake Ryan and Blake Martinez, who couldn't stop the run
and couldn't defend the pass leaving the middle a wide open "no man's
land".
With Jordan Tripp having not been
offered a tender the remaining inside linebackers are Ryan, Martinez
The No. 20th free agent Bills inside linebacker Zach Brown
is also available after having a breakout season. He would also be an upgrade.
With the release of Sam Shields and the loss of Hyde that
leaves Damarious Randall, LaDarius Gunter and Quinten Rollins as the top
cornerbacks backed up by Demetri Goodson, Josh Hawkins, Makinton Dorleant and
Herb Waters. This is not a Super Bowl quality lineup, but The Ted has ignored
this position, so far.
The top free agent cornerbacks have all be signed. (No. 5
A.J. Bouye signed with the Jaguars; No. 6 Stephon Gilmore signed with the
Patriots; No. 23 Ryan Logan signed with the Titans; No. 40 Prince Amukamara
signed with the Bears; No. 43 Dre Kirkpatrick signed with the Bengals). Only
injury prone Morris Claiborne (#44) and Brandon Carr (#54) from the Cowboys
from the top 60 are left as well as former Packers Davon House and Tramon
Williams. I would re-sign House, but evidently The Ted doesn't think that way.
The Ted didn't offer a tender to outside linebacker Jayrone
Elliott and former No. 1 pick Datone Jones is an unrestricted free agent after
The Ted didn't pick up his 5th year option, leaving just Perry, Clay Matthews
and 2nd year Kyler Frackrell at outside linebacker.
Outside linebackers still available are former Packer and
Colt Erik Walden, coming off an 11 sack season, along with DeAndre Levy from
the Lions and Jarvis Jones from the Steelers.
At running back it seems The Ted has no interest in
re-signing Eddie Lacy and Christine Michaels. He has already cut James Starks
and didn't offer a tender to John Crockett leaving just Ty Montgomery as the
only running back on the roster.
The free agents available are questionable at best with the
top 2 being Adrian Peterson (#8) from the Vikings and LeGarrette Blount (#56)
from the Patriots. Considering the history between the two teams I would
consider signing Peterson, if he would take an incentive laden contract and
would want to "stick it to his former team" at least twice a season.
I think he might rebound behind the Packers line, if T.J. Lang is re-signed
(and that is doubtful). He could be a good one-year fix.
There are a lot of holes on the Packers, especially on
defense, and now the offensive line at right guard I find The Ted's obsession
with tight end being quite curious. I don't know why his only signings (outside
of the Perry, Barclay, Schum, Pepper) are at tight end. Bennett is a good
signing to replace Cook, but adding Kendricks when other positions (cornerback,
inside linebacker, outside linebacker and running back) are a higher priority
in my thinking are left unaddressed makes this off-season a major
disappointment with the Packer roster at a crisis point.
On the afternoon of Day 4 of Free Agency the Packers count
is 3 re-signings (Perry, Barclay, Schum), 3 new signings (Pepper (in January),
Bennett, Kendricks) and 4 losses (Hyde, Tretter, Peppers, Lang). It would seem
The Ted is +2, but it is a very little +2 with no impact on the defense and
overall a detriment on offense with the loss of Lang.
What's left on the free agency home front is the re-signing
of unrestricted free agents Lacy, Michael, Goode, Jones and Cook (basically let
go); re-signing of restricted free agents Elliott and Tripp (both not
tendered); and exclusive rights free agents Thomas, Crockett
(not tendered), WR Geronimo Allison, RB Don Jackson, FB Joe Kerridge, and DT
Christian Ringo.
So in conclusion I find the FAKE
NEWS about The Ted “There certainly are some
indications that the Packers might be a little more aggressive in free agency this
year. From what I am told, I would think the Packers are going to try to get
some free agents this year, along with trying to re-sign Jared Cook.” being
just that.
With no signings on the defensive side besides Perry and
three big losses in Peppers, Hyde and Lang and just two signings overall and
those being at one position on offense does not a "little more aggressive"
make. Let's hope more are coming and not just losses, but I sincerely doubt it.
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