Catching Up Before the Draft

It's been a very busy (well sort of) first 100 days for The Ted and his front office administration, but not the kind of busy the local kiss-ass media and the national types were led to believe when The Ted gave the impression he would heed the desperate request of Aaron Hollywood Rodgers when the usually tight-lipped Quarterback said, "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."

Before I get to The Ted's Big Week I hope everyone took notice of Hollywood's third sentence, "We've just got to make sure we're going all-in every year to win", and take it for what it was a big swipe at The Ted and his cheapskate ways. It seems I'm not the only one who thinks The Ted is wasting the prime years of Hollywood and it seems it's Hollywood himself who thinks that is the case.

Now let's look at the big steps The Ted made since the season ended in a defensive blowout in late January.

The Ted has made 30 transactions since the season ended January 22, but as it always is the world of The Ted most of the transactions were minor with only two that could be listed as really major and mostly major.

The Ted signed 8 players from last year's practice squad and 1 other player to reserve/futures contracts:  LB Reggie Gilbert (1yr. $465,000); WR Antwan Goodley (1yr. $465,000); LB Derrick Matthews (1yr. $465,000); G Lucas Patrick (1yr. $465,000); DT Brian Price (1yr. $540,000); FS Jermaine Whitehead (1yr. $465,000); C Jacob Flores (1yr. $465,000); TE Beau Sandland (1yr. $465,000) and signed 1 player who didn't catch on with another team last year: LS Taybor Pepper (2 yr. $1.020M).

(Price was the only one of these players that spent any time on the active roster. He was up for just 2 weeks and active for just 1 game. The rest are training camp bodies, except for Patrick since the Packers need a starting right guard. Last year Pepper had tryouts with Ravens and Seahawks, but wasn't signed after graduating after being a 4-year starter at long snapper for Michigan State).

The Ted re-signed 6 of his 7 exclusive rights free agents (P Jacob Schum (1 yr. $615,000); RB Don Jackson (1 yr. $540,000); FB Joe Kerridge (1 yr. $540,000); ILB Joe Thomas (1 yr. $615,000); DT Christian Ringo (1 yr. $540,000); WR Geronimo Allison (1 yr. $540,000);  his 2 restricted free agents after not offering either a tender (OLB Jayrone Elliott (1 yr. $1.6m); ILB Jordan Tripp (1 yr. $690,000); and 3 of his 11 unrestricted free agents (OLB Nick Perry (5 yr. $59m); C/T Don Barclay (1 yr. $1.3m); RB Christine Michael (1 yr. $800,000).

(The re-signing of Barclay and Michael are only because there are no other players at their positions, so the big names here are Geronimo Allison, Jacob Schum, Joe Thomas and Nick Perry. Schum is the only punter. Thomas became the leading inside linebacker by the end of the season. Allison is a legitimate contender for the No. 3 wide receiver. And Nick Perry....he had a career year leading the team with 11 sacks, but was still injured (missing 2 games with a hand injury) and you never know when his next injury (which is his history) will knock him out. Giving him a 5-year, $59 million dollar contract ($11.8 million a year) is a big gamble. I predict he won't play out the contract and that he will be hurt next year making him the 2017 free agent version of Joe Johnson. Remember the passing rushing defensive end. He signed a 6-year, $33 million dollar contract ($5.5 million per year) after two Pro Bowl seasons with the Saints. He spent 2 seasons, playing 11 games with 2 sacks. He is the main reason the Packers have The Ted. Since his signing the Packers have shied away from big ticket free agents (Charles Woodson not withstanding), except it seems for The Ted's own free agents. Damn Johnson and Mike Sherman for saddling us with The Ted).

The Ted signed one unrestricted free agent in former Cowboys, Bears and Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett and that signing came only after The Ted broke off negotiations with last year's big player, former street free agent tight end Jared Cook.

(I think this is a good signing. I said last year when he was being shopped around by the Bears after wearing out his welcome for a big mouth that he would be a good pick up. He was trading with 1 year left on a 4-year, $20.5 million contract and despite having a good year with the Patriots (55-701-7TD) didn't want to stay. He is the one month older than Cook and hasn't had injury issues having missed just nine games his entire career with 5 coming at the end of the 2015 with fractured ribs. The other 4 came when he was with the Cowboys and those were 2 in 2009 and 2 in 2011 when he wasn't a starter, so they might have been just be inactive).

The Ted signed 4 street free agents (his bread and butter during free agency): TE Lance Kendricks (Rams > 2 yrs. $4m); CB Davon House (Jaguars > 1 yr. $3.5m); DE Ricky Jean Francois (Redskins > 1 yr. $3m); G Justin McCray (1 yr. $540,000).

(Here the big signing is Davon House. The Packers are a disaster at cornerback and with Sam Shields' career now over (no matter what Shields seems to think) the Packers needed some experience back there. The Ted said "goodbye" to his former 2011 #4 draft pick when his rookie contract ran out after a very spotty, in part because of injuries, 4 years. House hit it big with Jaguars signing a 4-year, $24.5 million contract and earned his money his first season with a career high 4 interceptions and a league-leading 23 passes defensed. But he lost his starting job last year and was released with 2 years left on his contract. The signing of Kendricks almost certainly means the end of the line for the Rodgers-to-Rodgers connection. Richie "Hail Mary" Rodgers is now the third-string tight end and the former 2013 No. 3 draft pick will either be traded or cut shortly or let go after his rookie contract runs out at the end of this season. Francois is an addition to a position that The Dom doesn't have. He uses just 2 defensive linemen and he was signed to help with the run game. McCray is the twin brother of a former Packer Jordan McCray, who has never played a game in the NFL. Jordan was a 2014 undrafted rookie free agent (another The Ted bread and butter), who spent time on the Packers practices squad and played with Justin in the Arena Football League with the Orlando Predators last year. Justin signed as an undrafted free agent with the Titans in 2014 and was a member of its practice squad. He was cut at the beginning of 2015 and didn't show up again until he played with the Predators. He was selected in the 2nd round of the dispersal draft by the Tampa Bay Storm, but was put on the suspended list when he decided to look at catching on in the NFL. He was an offensive lineman and fullback for the Predators, but, of course, he will be one of the many journeymen who will be competing to replace Pro Bowl right guard T.J. Lang).

The Ted claimed 1 player off waivers: Former Bears 2014 No. 2 draft pick nose tackle Ego Ferguson.

(However, he failed his physical 2 days later most likely because of a shoulder injury and was waived. After his cup of coffee at 1265 Lombardi Avenue Ferguson worked out with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders on April 12).

The Ted signed 1 rookie free agent: Long snapper Derek Hart (1yr. $465,000).

(His signing and that of Pepper are interesting in only it seems they are to compete to replace Brett Goode, who had a serious knee injury at the end of the 2015 missing the last two games (the only games he's missed since becoming the starter in 2008) and was only re-signed just before the preseason began last season. He played the entire season, but is 1 of only 2 free agents that remain unsigned by either the Packers or some other team. Hart graduated from James Madison in 2015 and spent the last two years as an engineer with Harley-Davidson).

Now to the negative side: The Ted released 3 players: RB James Starks, CB Sam Shields and CB Makinton Dorleant.

(Starks' career fell off so much last year even though he eventually was shelved with a concussion he suffered in a car wreck. Shields suffered a concussion in the first game and never returned. His career is over I'm thinking. Dorleant blew his chance. The Ted and The Dom really wanted him to succeed last year after being signed as an undrafted rookie free agent. He injured his hamstring and was placed on the injured reserve/designated to return list. He was activated for 4 games and got playing time on the field with all the injuries and terrible play the cornerbacks were suffering, but he tore his knee in the season finale was re-placed on injured reserve ending his season. Then he suffered a brain fart during the offseason. With all the good will the Packers have shown him he decided to hang around with Deiondre' Hall of the Bears in Iowa, which is fine, except he didn't get the "Pacman Memo" that states bars and NFL players don't mix. He was arrested on March 26 along with Hall at Sharky's Fun House in Cedar Falls, a few blocks from the University of Northern Iowa campus, where both players played. Hall got into a fight and when he was being arrested the Mental Giant Dorleant decided to try to liberate him from the backseat of the police car. The police just pushed him away and told him to calm down. Of course, MGD didn't leave it at that and after the police car drove away with Hall he went nuts. According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Dorleant approached an officer while “yelling and waving his arms in a threatening manner. He did the same with two additional officers, which prompted one of them to pull his ASP baton. The defendant was yelling and using profanity at all of the officers. The defendant was admittedly ‘jacked up’ on adrenaline.” The Packers released him on April 11 with the official "waived/failed physical" designation, but we all know his lack of judgment had more to do with his demise. All young NFL players really need to read the "Pacman Memo" if they have any sense).

The Ted also made 7 transactions by doing nothing by letting 7 of the Packers unrestricted free agents sign with other teams: S Micah Hyde (UFA > Bills > 5 yr. $30.5m); C JC Tretter (UFA > Browns > 3 yr. $16.75m); OLB Julius Peppers (UFA > Panthers > 1 yr. $3.5m); G T.J. Lang (UFA > Lions > 3yr. $28.5m); OLB Datone Jones (UFA > Vikings > 1yr. $3.75m); RB Eddie Lacy (UFA > Seahawks > 1 yr. $5.5m); TE Jared Cook (UFA > Raiders > 2 yr. $12.2m).

(Lacy, Hyde, Tretter and Jones were allowed to walk after playing out their rookie contracts (4 years). Hyde is the big loss here. I don't understand why he wasn't re-signed with the problems the secondary had last year. According to Hyde, he wasn't really approached to re-sign. I think letting him go was a big mistake. Jones never panned out as a No. 1 pick and Tretter was injury prone, but played well when he got on the field. Evidently the coaching staff thinks Lacy has a weight problem, so they let him go without anyone to replace him. I think he will have a banner year in Seattle and will come back to bite The Ted's ass in the season opener. Now letting T.J. Lang walk with no backup on the team will also be a BIG mistake not only for the Packers, but letting him sign with the Lions. This transaction was predictable, which I did, because The Ted won't pay big money for a guard. He, and we, will regret this like we did when he let Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle walk in his first season as GM. The loss of Cook was wiped out by the signing of Bennett. The loss of Peppers was also predictable because he had been benched and you don't pay big money to a situational player).

To Sum It Up: Big losses in Lang, Hyde and Lacy. Big acquisitions are..........mum maybe I should have said acquisition in Bennett. Another semi-big acquisition is House, who I hope will rebound after being benched and cut last year.


The "Reload, All-In, Big Step" offseason has begun with a whimper and a not a bang. That means the draft is going to have to produce producers for a change and not projects. The Packers are at a cross roads and The Ted has to produce with his supposedly specialty drafting great players. His myth doesn't live up to his reality, but this year he better live up to the hype or the Packers will have a terrible season beginning when Eddie Lacy runs all over the weak Packers defense in week one. Heaven help us because The Ted doesn't.