You Must Listen to Aaron Rodgers

After the Packers were routed by the Falcons in the NFC championship game the "Man Who Must Be Listened To" Aaron Rodgers said this, "I don't think we need to rebuild. We need to reload 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."

Reading the lines were easy. Rodgers was saying it was time to bring in the final pieces of the puzzle since his time was drawing down, which is something I've been saying since before the Super Bowl. General Manager Ted Thompson built a playoff team that has made the playoffs for eight seasons in a row, but he absolutely refuses to build a Super Bowl team.

The Ted wasted the final years of Brett Favre and since the Super Bowl is bound and determined to waste the final years of Aaron Rodgers. No team since the San Francisco 49ers transitioned from Joe Montana to Steve Young has had the good luck or whatever you want to call it of having two Hall of Fame quarterbacks back-to-back.

In the case of the 49ers Joe Montana was quarterback from 1981 to 1990 and the Montana team won the Super Bowl four times (1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989). Steve Young was quarterback from 1991 to 1998 and the Young team won the Super Bowl in 1994. That was 5 Lombardi Trophies over an 18 year span.

The Packers under Ron Wolfe with Brett Favre at quarterback (1992-2000) made 2 Super Bowl appearances (1996 and 1997) winning one (1996) in 9 seasons. The Mike Sherman-Favre team (2001 to 2004) didn't make a Super Bowl appearance in 4 seasons. The Ted Thompson-Favre team (2005-2007) didn't make a Super Bowl appearance in 3 seasons. The Ted Thompson-Rodgers team (2008 to present) has made one Super Bowl appearance and won it (2010) on 9 seasons. To sum it up the Packers with Favre and Rodgers at the helm have made 3 Super Bowl appearances winning two over a 25 year span.

And now with the days winding down on the Aaron Rodgers era (he just turned 33) The Ted is twiddling his thumbs continually building a team for the future on the cheap while ignoring the present. Read what Rodgers said again because that is exactly what he said.

If the Tedders and Ask Vic can pull their heads out of Ted Thompson's ass for a few seconds even they can see The Ted is in the first stage of Alzheimers, where a person gets fixated on something and in his case he has been fixated on three things.

First, he can't get beyond tight end. With all the holes in the Packers lineup on defense The Ted signs 2 tight ends in a very volatile free agent market where, except for a few at the top, the market value for most of the free agents is not outrageous.

Second, cost cutting no matter how little is actually cut. The loss of T.J. Lang on the offensive line with no "next man up" on the roster is puzzling. Lang wanted to come back and signed with the Lions for a little over $9 million a year (for a Pro Bowl guard) which is not a budget buster. 

Third, the hole in his gaze concerning the defense is puzzling also. The Packer defense has been the Achilles Heel of the Packers for many years and especially last season. The re-signing of 2 outside linebackers (Nick Perry and Jayrone Elliott) combined with the loss of OLB Julius Peppers and SCB Micah Hyde has left a flawed defense more undermanned with big question marks at cornerback and inside linebacker.

Cornerback play was a major reason the Packer defense got blown on a regular basis last year. The falloff of No. 1 pick Damarious Randall, the lack of progression of No. 2 pick Quinten Rollins and the starting status of undrafted free agent LaDarius Gunter, who also had a falloff last year after a decent rookie season is a reason for concern. Add to that the backups are not starting or backup quality and cornerback cries for attention. And yet The Ted signs 2 tight ends.

Inside linebacker with 2015 No. 4 pick Jake Ryan, 2016 No. 4 pick Blake Martinez and undrafted free agent/practice squad signee Joe Thomas was spotty at best, despite the Susie Sunshine assessments by The Ted ("We think it’s a pretty good group.”) and his tiny minions the Tedders and Ask Vic. In fact, Joe Thomas was the best player of the bunch by the end of the year and he was originally the third down inside backer only and is a journeyman at best. Two more draft picks that didn't pan out for the "Master Drafter".

In fact, Fansided by Gil Alcaraz IV of Fansided agrees with me on my assessment of the inside linebackers, "Unless the Packers plan on moving Clay Matthews back to the middle, some more talent is needed at inside linebacker. I’m confident Blake Martinez can be an exceptional starter, but an upgrade on Jake Ryan is sorely needed."

So with cornerback and inside linebacker the neediest of positions The Ted, who was pushed by Rodgers to go "all in" signs 2 free agent tight ends and re-signs two outside linebackers (Nick Perry and Jayrone Elliott) and a terrible backup offensive tackle (Don Barclay). I don't think that's what Rodgers had in mind when he said, go "all in".

The signing of off-injured outside linebacker Nick Perry to a big contract (5 yrs. / $59 million) after having a career season with a career-high and team-high11 sacks while playing on a 1-year "show me" $5 million contract leaves me cold. While he and safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix may have been the most consistent players on the defense last year, I predict, the big money given to Perry will come back to bite the Packers in the ass, when he misses big chunks of playing time with injuries next season.

In fact the loss of Julius Peppers to the Panthers may or may not have been a good transaction saving $3.5 million (his new Panther contract) with signs he was starting to show his age despite being the second leading sacker as a situational player and no longer a starter on the team with 7.5 sacks, However, at that minimal price it might have been a better move if he was re-signed for his final season considering the lack of production behind him and Perry.

The re-signing of Elliott was curious. He started his career three years ago with a splash sacking the quarterback 3 times in his first preseason game. However, since then he has fallen off the face of the earth with 4 sacks in 38 regular season games. Last year he missed 5 games with a hamstring and hand injury and was supplanted by rookie Kyler Fackrell late in the season. I think it was time to move on from him, but I was wrong to the tune of a 1 yr. $1.3 million contract.

There is still 2 top-end inside linebackers available in free agency (Dont'a Hightower and Zach Brown), but they may cost more than The Ted wants to spend with $26 million remaining in cap money. There is also several serviceable cornerbacks Davon House (cut by the Jaguars), Morris Claiborne (UFA Cowboys), Brandon Carr (UFA Cowboys) and Alterraun Verner (UFA Bucs) to name a few still available who won't cost much and be an upgrade.

However, I feel The Ted has already stuck his head out of own ass and saw his shadow and went back to sleep until mini-camp. I don't expect any more big free agent signings, except for the official re-signing of the exclusive rights free agents (WR Geronimo Allison, RB Don Jackson, FB Joe Kerridge, DT Christian Ringo, ILB Joe Thomas) because they all, except RB John Crockett, have been offered tenders.

I also expect the remainder of the unrestricted free agents (RB Eddie Lacy, TE Jared Cook, OLB Datone Jones, LS Brett Goode, RB Christine Michael) to sign elsewhere although there is a possibility that Lacy might be re-signed because there doesn't seem to have much of a market for him. I would say the same for Jones, but he has drawn some interest. However, I think The Ted has decided to move on from him like he did last year with Mike Neal making Jones a failed No. 1 draft pick.